Google + YouTube ads sit at the bottom of the stack. The reason our accounts scale past where typical agencies stall is the five layers we stack on top.
Core
Google + YouTube Ads
Search · Shopping · Performance Max · YouTube · Demand Gen. Run by senior buyers capped at 6 accounts each. YouTube ads led by a dedicated specialist on the team.
Layer 1
Landing pages, end-to-end
5 to 10 production-ready pages per month, in-house. Advertorials, listicles, VSL pages, sales pages, third-party comparisons, keyword-theme PDPs. Traffic does not hit your generic homepage.
Layer 2
YouTube scripting & direction
18 angles per 14-day batch. Script-hook-angle matrix, mass tested. We script and direct; your editor (or ours) cuts. Vertical, in-feed, and 16:9 from the same source.
Layer 3
Image creative pipeline
PMax, Shopping, product-page, and editorial imagery generated on demand. Brand consistency enforced by the operator, not the model. Cost of a fresh asset stops being the bottleneck.
Layer 4
Feed + GMC engineering
Title structure · custom labels · store quality · reviews aggregation · multi-country · product duplication. Worth ~30% of ROAS in most accounts and the work most agencies skip because it is tedious.
Layer 5
AI ops layer
Weekly audits, same-day spend-drop alerts, competitor moves caught the same week, weekly POAS + MER + ROAS reports written automatically. Same engagement, no extra cost, nothing for you to learn.
Why this works
Ad performance is 30% of what compounds past $50K/month. The other 70% is the system around the ad: how fast you ship LPs, how often you refresh creative angles, how clean your feed is, and how much repetitive operator work the AI ops layer removes from the buyer's plate. Most agencies own the 30%. We own all 100%.
Brands we've scaled
How it works
Day-by-day, what happens after you book Ad-Lab.
Day 0
Book the call
Direct Calendly link. Pick a 15-minute slot. No qualifying form, no lead-rep gatekeeping.
Day 0 (the call)
Screenshare the audit
Patrick walks every leak we find in your Google Ads, GA4, and Shopify. You see the work happen live. Questions answered as we go.
Within 24 hours
Audit doc delivered
Sent via email. Specific findings, specific fixes, specific 90-day timeline. Yours to keep regardless of whether you hire us.
Day 7+
Decide later, no pressure
If the audit was useful and you want our team to execute, reply to the email. If you want to take it in-house, take it in-house. Either is fine.
Real client work
Real before-after numbers, pulled from the daily newsletter.
Every case study below was originally published on Patrick's Beehiiv newsletter the week the numbers landed. Click any card for the full breakdown plus a link to the original write-up.
Ad-Lab vs the three other ways to run paid for an ecom brand.
Honest take. Each option wins where it actually wins. Pick the row you care most about and read across.
Topic
Ad-Lab
Typical agency
Freelancer
In-house buyer
Pricing model
Performance-priced. Pay on results.
Fixed retainer regardless of result.
Hourly or low fixed. Cheapest option.
Salary + benefits. Highest fixed cost.
Account ratio per buyer
1 operator capped at 6 accounts.
1 buyer juggling 8 to 15 accounts.
1 person split across 5+ side gigs.
1 person 100% on your account.
Senior operator runs the work
Founder runs the audit. Senior buyer runs day-to-day.
Senior on the sales call, often.
Whoever bid lowest gets the job.
Junior hire learning on your spend.
Strategy depth
350+ ecom accounts of pattern-matching.
Broad portfolio, varied verticals.
One-vertical specialist at best.
One brand of context. Slow to compound.
Knows your brand voice
Onboarding window of 2 to 3 weeks.
Onboarding window of 4 to 8 weeks.
Onboarding window of 1 to 2 weeks.
Lives the brand every day.
Audit cadence
Weekly, structured, documented.
Monthly review deck.
When asked, ad hoc.
Real-time, but only one set of eyes.
Landing pages produced
5 to 10 per month, in-house.
Subcontracted or absent.
Out of scope.
Bottlenecked by dev team.
Creative volume
18 video units per 14-day batch.
Client-supplied, sporadic.
Out of scope.
Limited to in-house creative team.
Tracking + attribution
Modern conversion tracking, set up end to end.
Inherits whatever was there before.
Out of scope.
Depends on dev team's priorities.
Reporting depth
POAS + MER + blended ROAS, weekly.
Channel ROAS, monthly.
Screenshot of the platform.
Whatever the founder wants.
Contract length
Month-to-month, no lock-in.
6 to 12 month minimum.
Project-based or weekly.
Hire and fire cycle is months.
Recommended
Ad-Lab
Performance-priced ecom Google + YouTube
Pricing model
Performance-priced. Pay on results.
Account ratio per buyer
1 operator capped at 6 accounts.
Senior operator runs the work
Founder runs the audit. Senior buyer runs day-to-day.
Strategy depth
350+ ecom accounts of pattern-matching.
Knows your brand voice
Onboarding window of 2 to 3 weeks.
Audit cadence
Weekly, structured, documented.
Landing pages produced
5 to 10 per month, in-house.
Creative volume
18 video units per 14-day batch.
Tracking + attribution
Modern conversion tracking, set up end to end.
Reporting depth
POAS + MER + blended ROAS, weekly.
Contract length
Month-to-month, no lock-in.
Typical agency
Retainer model
Pricing model
Fixed retainer regardless of result.
Account ratio per buyer
1 buyer juggling 8 to 15 accounts.
Senior operator runs the work
Senior on the sales call, often.
Strategy depth
Broad portfolio, varied verticals.
Knows your brand voice
Onboarding window of 4 to 8 weeks.
Audit cadence
Monthly review deck.
Landing pages produced
Subcontracted or absent.
Creative volume
Client-supplied, sporadic.
Tracking + attribution
Inherits whatever was there before.
Reporting depth
Channel ROAS, monthly.
Contract length
6 to 12 month minimum.
Freelancer
Marketplace media buyer
Pricing model
Hourly or low fixed. Cheapest option.
Account ratio per buyer
1 person split across 5+ side gigs.
Senior operator runs the work
Whoever bid lowest gets the job.
Strategy depth
One-vertical specialist at best.
Knows your brand voice
Onboarding window of 1 to 2 weeks.
Audit cadence
When asked, ad hoc.
Landing pages produced
Out of scope.
Creative volume
Out of scope.
Tracking + attribution
Out of scope.
Reporting depth
Screenshot of the platform.
Contract length
Project-based or weekly.
In-house buyer
Full-time hire
Pricing model
Salary + benefits. Highest fixed cost.
Account ratio per buyer
1 person 100% on your account.
Senior operator runs the work
Junior hire learning on your spend.
Strategy depth
One brand of context. Slow to compound.
Knows your brand voice
Lives the brand every day.
Audit cadence
Real-time, but only one set of eyes.
Landing pages produced
Bottlenecked by dev team.
Creative volume
Limited to in-house creative team.
Tracking + attribution
Depends on dev team's priorities.
Reporting depth
Whatever the founder wants.
Contract length
Hire and fire cycle is months.
Brands we've scaled
Hear from brands we've scaled.
I hired them about two years ago after being completely sick of agency after agency prom.
Ad-Lab has treated my small business like a large company. My sales have been increasing.
$20k → $170k/mo, 1500% ROAS
+45% revenue
4.9 / 5 on Trustpilot
What founders say after working with us.
“I've previously used other companies to boost my Google Ads and didn't receive the results I expected for the money I was investing. I was just about to give up but thought I'd give one more company a go and found AdLab and got instant results. I haven't looked back!”
Aiden Hodges
Director, Driven Off Road
“We'd never used an agency for Google Ads before, but with the changes with iOS I knew this was something we couldn't ignore any longer. Ad Lab was recommended by a trusted partner and was super up-front and professional and definitely knows the stuff. Highly recommend working with Ad Lab for Google Ads.”
Laz Smith
Co-Founder, Apero The Label
“Until I was introduced to Adlab and the team, I was yet to discover an agency who could beat my own advertising performance. Adlab conducted a thorough audit of my account, and saw many opportunities for improvement so I happily handed over the keys. Before long, our business started to beat all sales records reaching targets we never thought possible.”
Because we close more clients with the audit than with a pitch deck. Showing the work is more persuasive than describing the work. About 30-40% of audited brands hire us inside 90 days; the rest run the playbook in-house and that is fine too.
What do you need access to before the call?+
Read-only access to Google Ads (manager-level invite to our MCC), GA4 (Viewer role), and your ecom platform's order data (CSV export of last 90 days is enough). 5-minute setup. No SSO needed.
Will you try to sell me on the call?+
No deck. No pitch. The call is the audit. If you want to talk about working together at the end, we will. If you don't, we send you the doc and you go run the playbook in-house. The audit is the deliverable.
Who runs the call - a sales rep or a real operator?+
Patrick. The same operator who would run your account if you hired us. No sales reps, no junior buyers, no SDRs.
Is this for my brand if I am spending less than $30K/month on Google?+
We typically engage with brands at $30K+ monthly spend, but the audit is open to anyone serious about scaling. If your account is under $30K we will still document the leaks and give you the plan; you just may not need agency execution at that level.
What if my account is in a different vertical than your case studies?+
We have run accounts in every major DTC vertical (skincare, supplements, fashion, home goods, jewellery, fitness, food, beauty, pet, baby, outdoor, kitchen, electronics, health-wellness, luxury, sports apparel, accessories, furniture, automotive). The audit is tailored to your vertical.
Can multiple people from my team join the call?+
Yes. Founders, in-house marketers, fractional CMOs, existing agency teams. The more aligned the team is on the findings, the faster the rebuild lands.
Free 15-minute audit
Find what is leaking on your account this week.
Patrick walks every leak we find. You leave the call with the rebuild plan. The doc lands in your inbox within 24 hours. Yours regardless.
