Most paid search agencies in Japan charge a management fee of about 20% of your monthly media spend, usually with a monthly minimum and a one-time setup fee. The model itself is fairly standard. What varies is what the fee covers, and many foreign teams only find out after signing that landing pages, creative or English reporting cost extra.
This guide is for marketing managers at foreign B2B companies who are about to hire a Japan agency for Google Ads, Yahoo! JAPAN Ads or Microsoft Ads. It covers how pricing works, what to check before you sign, and, at the end, what we charge.
1. How do paid search agencies in Japan charge?
Most charge a percentage of your media spend, usually around 20%, plus a one-time setup fee.
There are three common models.
Percentage of media spend. This is the default in Japan. The agency takes a fixed share of what you spend on ads each month, and 20% is the figure you'll see most often in Japanese agencies' published price lists. Some agencies lower the rate once monthly spend gets large.
Fixed monthly fee. A flat amount regardless of spend. You see this more with freelancers and with small accounts, where 20% of the budget wouldn't cover the work.
Performance-based. A fee per lead or per sale. It sounds attractive, but it's rare for B2B, because a “lead” is hard to define fairly and the agency can't control your sales follow-up.
Most agencies also charge a one-time setup fee for building the account structure, keywords, tracking and the first set of ads. In Japan this is usually somewhere between zero and ¥100,000.
2. Is there a minimum ad spend or contract term?
Usually there's a minimum monthly fee rather than a minimum ad spend, and often an initial term of about three months.
If an agency charges 20% with a ¥100,000 minimum, you pay ¥100,000 a month until your spend passes ¥500,000. Below that point, the minimum is what you're really paying, so it's worth doing that math before you choose a budget.
Many agencies also ask for an initial term, often around three months. That's not just about locking you in. Search campaigns in a new market need a few weeks of data before bidding and keywords settle, and B2B lead volume in Japan is rarely meaningful in the first month.
Two things to ask here:
- What happens after the initial term? Month-to-month, or another fixed term?
- How much notice do you need to give to stop?
3. What's included in the fee, and what's quoted separately?
The ads and their ongoing optimization are usually included. Japanese landing pages and creative usually aren't.
This is where proposals that look alike can differ the most. Ask the agency to say clearly whether each of these is included:
| Item | Often included | Often quoted separately |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword research and account structure | Setup fee | — |
| Writing Japanese search ads | Management fee | — |
| Ongoing bidding, keywords and ad tests | Management fee | — |
| Monthly report | Management fee | — |
| Report and calls in English | Varies | Sometimes extra |
| Landing pages in Japanese | — | Yes |
| Display banners and other creative | — | Yes |
| Translating or transcreating existing content | — | Yes |
| Tracking setup in your MA or CRM | Varies | Sometimes extra |
For foreign companies, the line that matters most is landing pages. Sending Japanese search traffic to an English page, or to a machine-translated one, is the most common reason campaigns in Japan produce clicks but no leads. If your Japanese landing pages don't exist yet, budget for them separately from the media and the management fee.
It's also worth asking whose ad account the campaigns will run in. Some agencies use their own account and invoice you for media; others build the account under your company. Either can work. What matters is agreeing upfront who can see the data, and what happens to the account if you change agencies.
4. Can the agency work inside our marketing automation platform and report in English?
Check how leads will reach your platform, agree on what counts as a lead, and expect reporting in English.
Whether your leads go into HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot), Oracle Eloqua or another platform managed by your HQ or regional team, check three things:
- Forms and tracking. Can the agency build Japanese forms in your platform, or connect its landing pages to it, so that leads arrive with the right source and campaign data?
- Lead definition. Agree on what counts as a lead before launch: a content download, a webinar registration, or a sales inquiry. These have very different costs in Japan.
- Reporting language. Day-to-day communication and reports in English should be standard for an agency that works with foreign companies. If it's an add-on, you'll feel it every month.
5. What B2B experience should we look for?
Look for work with specialist audiences, content-led lead generation, and results reported as cost-per-lead.
Paid search for B2B in Japan behaves differently from consumer campaigns. Search volume for specialist terms is low, buyers research for a long time before they talk to sales, and many leads come from content rather than “contact us” forms.
Useful signs of relevant experience:
- Campaigns aimed at a technical or specialist audience, such as engineers, compliance teams or IT managers
- Lead generation through whitepapers, webinars and other content, not just inquiry forms
- Combining search with other Japanese channels, such as industry media and email, when search volume alone is too thin
- Results described as leads and cost-per-lead, not just clicks
As an example, for a global B2B software and information provider, we ran a Japanese webinar program through paid search and email that brought in 151 qualified leads at roughly ¥8,000 per lead, 51% over target. You can read more in our case studies.
6. What should we ask on the first call?
These eight questions cover most of the risk.
- How do you charge, and what's the minimum monthly fee?
- Is there an initial term, and what notice is needed to stop?
- Which items in our brief are included, and which would be quoted separately?
- Whose account will the campaigns run in?
- Who writes the Japanese ads, and who reviews them?
- How will leads reach our CRM, and how will you track them?
- What will the monthly report include, and in which language?
- Can you share a B2B result in a similar category, with cost-per-lead?
Comparison: agency fee models in Japan
| Model | How it works | Works best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| % of media spend | About 20% of monthly spend, plus a monthly minimum | Budget is stable or growing | Below the minimum, your effective rate is higher than 20% |
| Fixed monthly fee | Flat fee regardless of spend | Small or very stable accounts | Scope can shrink to fit the fee |
| Performance-based | Fee per lead or sale | Simple, high-volume conversions | Hard to define a fair B2B lead |
What we charge
We share our standard pricing up front, so you have a number to work with before you talk to HQ. Treat it as a starting point: the setup fee and the monthly minimum depend on the scope, and we're happy to adjust them to fit your budget.
| Item | Standard pricing |
|---|---|
| Management fee | 20% of monthly media spend |
| Minimum ad spend | None |
| Initial setup | Around ¥100,000, depending on scope |
| Monthly minimum fee | Around ¥100,000, depending on scope |
| Initial term | Usually three months |
| Landing pages and creative | Quoted separately |
All prices exclude Japanese consumption tax, which is added where it applies.
Writing the Japanese search ads is included in the management fee. Campaigns can run in your company's ad account or in ours, whichever suits your setup, and we can work directly inside HubSpot, Marketo, Account Engagement (Pardot), Eloqua and other marketing automation platforms. You can pay by credit card, and we don't need a purchase order to get started. Reports and day-to-day communication are in English.
Starting with a small test budget is fine. Tell us what you have in mind and we'll suggest a setup that fits.
The takeaway
The 20% fee is the easy part to compare. The real differences are in the minimum, the term, what's included, whose account the campaigns run in, and whether the agency can get leads into your CRM in a way your team trusts. Ask about those before you compare prices.
Where to go next
- How to Advertise in Japan — which paid channels to use for B2B
- How to Explain Japan Timelines & Budget to Your HQ — making the case for your Japan budget
- Localization vs. Transcreation — why your landing pages need more than translation
- Our Paid Media service — how we run paid search in Japan
FAQ
How much does a paid search agency cost in Japan?+
Most charge around 20% of monthly media spend, with a monthly minimum and a one-time setup fee, usually no more than about ¥100,000.
Is there a minimum ad budget for Google Ads in Japan?+
Google doesn't set one, and many agencies don't either. Agencies usually set a minimum monthly fee instead.
Do we need Yahoo! JAPAN Ads as well as Google?+
For most foreign B2B advertisers, Google comes first, and Microsoft Ads is often the better second channel because a lot of B2B research in Japan happens on office desktops. Yahoo! JAPAN Ads is a secondary option. Our paid media guide covers this in more detail.
Can we pay by credit card or without a purchase order?+
With us, yes. We accept credit cards and can start without a purchase order. Policies differ between agencies, so ask early if your company has specific procurement rules.
Can you also run Japanese DSPs such as MicroAd and Shirareru?+
Yes. Alongside search, we run campaigns on Japan's own DSPs, including MicroAd and its B2B platform Shirareru, which targets by company attributes and job role, as well as Logicad and others. We choose the platform based on your audience and goals. Our paid media guide covers these in more detail.
Are landing pages included in the management fee?+
Usually not. Japanese landing pages are typically quoted as a separate project.
Planning paid search in Japan?
Tell us about your audience and budget, and we'll show you how we'd set it up.