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Burned by AI? We're Humans Helping Humans.
The ZATO team of senior Google Ads specialists

Hire an Entire Team of Senior Google Ads Experts.

Expert Google Ads management for serious ecommerce brands, driven by senior humans, not bots.

With ZATO, you don't get a bloated agency or a bot steering your ad spend. You get a powerhouse team of senior PPC experts dedicated to scaling your brand with precision and honesty. Our senior account managers work with our data analyst, and strategic level executives to find the best Google Ads setup and strategy for your specific needs, vertical, and goals.

Your business isn't like everyone else's, so your setup and management shouldn't be either. Contact ZATO today to see if we can help take your Google Ads account to the next level.

ZATO by the numbers
3
Tiers of Support on Every AccountYou don't get just one ZATO member, you get three levels of support: senior account manager, data analyst & conversion code specialist, strategic leadership support.
10 years
Avg Experience Per Senior Account ManagerSenior specialists who have seen it all and know how to handle what's coming next. No interns on your account here!
#4
Most Influential PPC Expert in 2026Founder Kirk Williams (@PPCKirk) named #4 most influential PPCer in the world by ppcsurvey.com. Author, speaker, and an expert other marketers learn from.
30 days
The Length of Every ContractZATO clients stay with us because they want to, not because they're legally locked in with us.
2011
Trusted SinceManaging Google Ads for serious ecommerce brands since before Smart Shopping existed.
Trusted for Google Ads support by leading brands since 2011
Purple Traeger Groove Life The Ridge KURU Adapt Naturals Natural Dog Company Zima Dental Sewing Parts Online TireConnect Kitchen Warehouse USPolyPack Purdy & Figg OneStream

Other agencies build a machine. We built a team.

Hire a solo freelancer and they can get overwhelmed, OR in 2026 they can be over-indexed on outsourcing to an LLM hallucinating your ad changes. Hire a massive agency and your account gets handed to a junior trainee, and you're paying for 12 people to have a meeting every day. We built a third option: a specialized, senior team deployed on every single account.

Your Team on Every Account
Included
Tier 1

Your Senior Account Manager

Your day-to-day account decision maker and primary point of contact: a seasoned, senior-level Google Ads expert who takes full ownership of your account's execution, testing, and proactive strategy. Humans talking to humans.

Included
Tier 2

Your Dedicated Data Analyst & Conversion Expert

Stability is everything in Google Ads. Every account is backed by our dedicated data analyst and conversion specialist, a relentless second set of eyes running deep-dive audits, helping set up tests, troubleshooting real-time issues, and monitoring feed health and conversion tracking to keep your account stable and accurate.

Included
Tier 3

Your Strategic Leadership

Your AM doesn't work in a silo. They have direct internal access to the strategic firepower of our Director of PPC, Eric Marshall (20+ years in marketing), and owner Kirk Williams (globally recognized PPC expert). Whether in the setup process, when your account hits a complex challenge, or just when the AM has a question... that senior insight gets pulled in, constantly.

Meet the Team

Real Experts for Real Results

A quick look at the people behind your account.

Our PPC Philosophy on AI

Expert Human PPC Marketers. And Proud of It.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: digital agencies are pouring their time and your fees into building custom "AI agents" that primarily increase their own profits, instead of mastering the nuances of Google Ads.

This is especially alarming, because there is real risk in predominantly run AI agent campaigns, and it's a risk that you carry for their reward... efficiency so they can take on more clients.

At ZATO, we use AI as an internal tool, primarily around helping us better understand and compile data... so that we can make the best decisions possible from that data. You are paying for expert human eyes, human context, and human ingenuity. And with ZATO, you get real strategy, real accountability, and real conversations.

80%
of AI projects fail.

That estimate is from a RAND Corporation survey. Look, we get that AI is incredible and smart and all the things... but it's also a shiny side project for most agencies. You're not paying us to learn Claude on your dime. You're paying us to drive more profit from Google Ads, and that's where we spend our time.

Hire the Agency That Trains the Others

The Knowledge Behind Every ZATO Account

Founder Kirk Williams (@PPCKirk) has spent over a decade building the books, courses, talks, and content thousands of PPC marketers have learned from. Every ZATO team works from, and personally expands upon, that playbook for your account!

Ponderings of a PPC Professional book cover
Book

Ponderings of a PPC Professional

Stop the Scale book by Kirk Williams
Book

Stop the Scale

PPC Ponderings Podcast artwork
Podcast

PPC Ponderings Podcast

YouTube

Merchant Center Mastery

16K subscribers

From Strategy to Execution: the DTC Google Ads course
Course

The DTC Google Ads Course

31 lessons, 9+ hours

40+ conference talks

Across the US, UK, Europe, and Australia, including a TEDx stage.

Published in

Shopify, Moz, PPC Hero, Search Engine Land, and Microsoft.

30,000+ hours

Of hands-on PPC experience behind the playbook.

Hire Kirk to Speak At Your Conference →

Three Ways to Grow With Google Ads

Whether You're Learning, Bootstrapping, or Ready for a Senior Team

We've built resources at every level so you can find the right fit for where you are right now.

PPC for DTC Course
Learn It Yourself

The PPC for DTC Course

Built for founders and in-house marketers who want to learn Google Ads from a 16-year veteran, covering only the things that actually matter for your store.

  • ZATO's proven framework, start to finish
  • Self-paced: learn at your own speed
  • Built for 6-7 figure early stage DTC brands
Buy the DTC Course
ZATO Essentials
Affordable Expert Help

ZATO Essentials: Small Budget PPC

Hire our expert PPC strategists in a product-like stripped-down tier (you get just the essentials), at a price point built for small brands.

  • Real experts, not interns or automation
  • More like an expert-built and guided product
  • Ideal for growing brands under $15K/mo in spend
Learn About ZATO Essentials
What Our Clients Say

Real Results from Real Brands

★★★★★
"ZATO gave us the best SEM/Shopping audit we've gotten from any outside firm. It was insightful, thorough, actionable, and delivered in a clear professional way. We were able to implement their recommendations within months and saw significant improvements."
Connor MacDonald, CMO at The Ridge
Frequently Asked Questions

Everything You Want to Know About Hiring a PPC Agency

Three things. First, every account is senior-led and backed by a full team: a dedicated account manager, on-tap access to our Director of PPC and owner Kirk Williams, and a dedicated data analyst auditing your account. Second, we only do paid search (Google and Microsoft Ads), which makes us elite at one thing instead of mediocre at everything. Third, we are human-first: we use AI for internal efficiency, but humans own your strategy.

ZATO uses scoped flat-rate pricing based on the complexity of your account, not a percentage of your ad spend. That keeps your fees predictable and keeps us incentivized to make your budget smarter, not bigger. We operate month-to-month with no long-term contracts.

Google Search Ads, Google Shopping (including Merchant Center and Performance Max), YouTube and Demand Gen Ads, and Microsoft Advertising. We are a pure paid search agency. We don't manage Meta, TikTok, email, or SEO. That singular focus is what lets us deliver elite-level expertise.

We use AI as an internal tool for compiling and analyzing data to help us humans make the best decisions for the good of the ads account. A RAND Corporation survey found over 80% of AI projects fail, and we would rather spend our time on expert human strategy than on a shiny side project. You are paying for human eyes, human context, and real accountability. Learn more about PPCKirk's deep philosophical thinking on AI in PPC.

A senior account manager with around a decade of paid search experience owns your day-to-day execution and strategy. They have direct access to our Director of PPC (Eric Marshall) and owner (Kirk Williams) for complex challenges, plus a dedicated data analyst running audits and monitoring your tracking. You work with the people doing the work, not a salesperson or a junior hire.

Yes. If you need a second opinion, help diagnosing a performance drop, or expert eyes on a big change like a Performance Max migration or a bidding switch, our senior team offers hourly PPC consulting with no monthly retainer. You get senior ZATO specialists working on your specific question. See how it works and what it covers on our PPC consulting page.

Let's Talk About Your Google Ads

Ready for a Second Set of Eyes on Your Account?

Stop settling for agency churn. Get a dedicated, senior-level team focused entirely on managing Google Ads to your internal objectives and targets at the highest level of skill.

  • Flat-rate pricing
  • 30-day contracts
  • You own your account and data