Search engine marketing is the process of reaching people by buying ads within search engines. It’s also known as PPC (pay per click) or paid search. Keyword targeting is the core of it, but layering in demographic, audience, interest and behavioural targeting makes for highly targeted, highly effective campaigns.
We’re an Auckland PPC agency and certified Google Partner, specialising in Google Ads management (you may still know it as Google AdWords) and Microsoft Advertising, the platform behind Bing ads. We’ve been working in search since the early 2000s, and we plan paid search alongside our SEO and AEO work, so every dollar is informed by the full picture.
A Google Partner agency, with Google Ads certifications in Search, Display, Video and Shopping.
Strategy & insight
Digital strategy & planning
Know where you’re going before you spend a cent.
The first step in any SEM programme is to develop a strategy that suits your market, clearly defines your goals and targets, and sets out a plan to reach them. We love figuring out how best to reach your audience and deliver success.
Learn more about SEM bid strategy- Goals, KPIs and budgets tied to leads, sales and revenue
- Conversion tracking in Google Ads and GA4, including offline and CRM conversions
- Campaign structure and bid strategy planning
Market analysis & campaign review
An honest second opinion.
The SEM landscape is continually changing, with new advertising products emerging and competitors launching new campaigns. We provide market analysis for your category, and objective feedback on how your campaigns have performed.
- Google Ads and Microsoft Ads account audits
- Competitor and auction insights analysis
- Search term reviews to find wasted spend and missed opportunities
Campaign management
Google Ads management
Pay for intent, not impressions.
Paid search is an effective channel for reaching highly qualified audiences. The hard part is making sure you’re granular and targeted enough that you aren’t wasting budget. We focus on data-driven, performance-based campaigns that look beyond low-cost clicks to ROI. Our experience helps us identify the right keywords, audiences, behaviours and search intent to get you the best results possible.
- Keyword research, match types and negative keyword management
- Responsive search ads, written and tested by people, not left to autopilot
- Smart Bidding set-up and oversight, with audience layering
- Coverage across Google Search, including the ads now showing in AI Overviews in New Zealand (Google)
Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads)
The searches your competitors forget about.
Google dominates search in New Zealand, but it isn’t the whole market. Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo, which all show ads through Microsoft Advertising, handle around 1 in 9 Kiwi searches, and around 1 in 6 on desktop.
Fewer advertisers compete for those searches, which often means cheaper clicks for the same high-intent queries.
- Campaigns imported from Google Ads, then tuned for Microsoft’s audience rather than copied and forgotten
- Search, Shopping and audience ads across Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and the wider Microsoft network
- UET tag and conversion tracking set-up, so Microsoft results are measured properly
Google Shopping campaigns
Put your products in front of shoppers.
Google Shopping should be on the radar of every ecommerce merchant and online store. We help you navigate the requirements of optimising your product feed, and manage your Shopping and Performance Max campaigns on an ongoing basis.
- Merchant Center set-up and product feed optimisation
- Standard Shopping and Performance Max campaigns
- Product-level reporting, so budget follows your best sellers
Display, YouTube & remarketing
The right message at the right time.
Custom audiences and remarketing lists are an effective way to talk to your audience at every stage of the sales funnel. The right message at the right time is crucial to making this channel work.
- Remarketing to website visitors and customer lists
- Google Display Network and Demand Gen campaigns
- YouTube video campaigns
We do Facebook and Instagram too! Meta advertising is getting its own page soon. This page is all about search ads on Google and Microsoft. In the meantime, just get in touch.
Paid, organic and AI search, planned as one
Most PPC agencies only see the paid side of the results page. We work across all of it, which changes the decisions we make:
- SEM proves what converts. Paid search data shows which searches turn into customers, which tells us where SEO and AEO effort will pay off first.
- SEO takes pressure off your ad budget. When you rank well organically for a valuable search, paid budget can go where it works hardest.
- Ads are moving into AI answers too. Google now shows ads in AI Overviews in New Zealand, alongside the brands AI recommends organically. Our AEO service covers the organic side.
Why work with us on Google Ads
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Certified Google Partner
Partner status means meeting Google’s requirements for campaign performance, ad spend and certification. Our team holds Google Ads certifications in Search, Display, Video and Shopping.
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Search specialists since the early 2000s
Search is all we do. Paid search isn’t a bolt-on to a web design or social media business, and we understand the organic results your ads sit alongside.
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Talk directly to a partner
You’ll talk directly with Charles or Paul, the partners behind Relevance & Intent, not an account manager relaying messages.
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Reporting on ROI, not clicks
We report on the leads, sales and return on ad spend your campaigns deliver, in plain English, with recommendations rather than just charts.
Get a free Google Ads account review
Already running Google Ads or Microsoft Ads? Give us read-only access and we’ll show you:
- Where budget is being wasted
- Keywords, audiences and platforms you’re missing
- Whether your conversion tracking can be trusted
- What we’d fix first
Google Ads & PPC FAQs
What does a PPC agency do?
A PPC agency plans, builds and manages your pay-per-click advertising, mainly on Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising (Bing). That covers strategy and budgeting, keyword and audience research, writing ads, setting up conversion tracking, managing bids, and continually testing and refining campaigns so more of your budget goes to the clicks that turn into customers. A good agency also tells you plainly what’s working, what isn’t, and why.
Is Google AdWords the same as Google Ads?
Yes. Google renamed AdWords to Google Ads in 2018, as the platform had grown well beyond text ads on the search results to include Shopping, Display, YouTube and more. Plenty of people still call it AdWords. Whatever you call it, AdWords management and Google Ads management are the same service.
Do you manage Bing ads as well as Google Ads?
Yes. Bing Ads is now called Microsoft Advertising, and it also shows ads on Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. Together those search engines handle around 11% of searches in New Zealand, and around 16% on desktop (Statcounter, August 2026). We usually launch Microsoft campaigns once Google Ads is performing well, then tune them for Microsoft’s audience rather than simply copying them across.
How much should I spend on Google Ads?
It depends on your industry, how competitive your keywords are, and what a new customer is worth to you. In some categories clicks cost cents. In highly competitive ones, such as legal or finance, a single click can cost many dollars. The more useful question is how much you can afford to pay for a lead or a sale while staying profitable, and we’ll help you work that out before you spend anything. Your ad spend is paid directly to Google or Microsoft, separately from our management fee. For a recommendation for your business, get in touch.
How quickly will I see results from Google Ads?
Faster than almost any other marketing channel. Ads can start showing within a day or so of launch, once they’re approved. Automated bid strategies then need a learning period, usually around a week and longer for lower-volume accounts, and campaigns typically improve steadily over the first few months as we refine keywords, ads and audiences using real conversion data.
Should I invest in PPC or SEO?
Ideally both, because they do different jobs. PPC delivers visibility straight away, but it stops when you stop paying. SEO and AEO take longer to build, but keep delivering without a cost per click. Many of our clients use PPC to drive demand now and to learn which searches convert, while their organic and AI visibility builds in the background.
Do you manage Facebook and Instagram ads?
Yes. Meta advertising is a separate service and it’s getting its own page soon. This page covers search advertising on Google and Microsoft. If you’d like help with Meta ads in the meantime, get in touch.
What does it mean to be a Google Partner?
Google Partner status is given to agencies that meet Google’s requirements for campaign performance, client ad spend and Google Ads certification. It shows an agency is actively managing campaigns to Google’s standards, and it gives us access to Google’s partner resources and support. You can check our status on our Google Partner profile.