You fire your marketing agency. You move on. You assume the relationship is over.
It is not — if you forgot to remove their access.
Here is a real case. A business terminated their digital marketing agency. No one revoked the agency’s admin credentials on Google Business Profile. Days later, calls dropped. Traffic dropped. The business had no idea why.
The answer was sitting in their Google account the whole time.
Table of Contents
- What Actually Happened
- How Google Ads Auto-Syncs Your Business Profile Locations
- How a Foreign Address Destroyed Local Ad Performance
- The Step-by-Step Audit After Firing an Agency
- The Agency Offboarding Checklist
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Actually Happened
The terminated agency still had admin access to the client’s Google Business Profile. While under contract, the agency had added a property profile based outside the United States to the client’s dashboard.
When the agency was fired, that foreign property profile stayed.
Google Ads was configured at the account level to auto-sync “All locations” from the Gmail account linked to the Business Profile. That setting pulled every location in the dashboard — including the foreign one — into the active ad asset pool.
No one caught it. No one checked.
The result: a Caribbean address appeared alongside the company’s real US locations as an active ad asset.
The Moment It Became Visible
A live mobile search ad preview showed the international address directly beneath the company’s phone number.
US buyers searching for a US manufacturer saw a foreign address.
They moved on.
How Google Ads Auto-Syncs Your Business Profile Locations
Google Ads offers an account-level setting called “All locations selected.” When active, it automatically pulls every verified location from the Google Business Profile linked to your Gmail into your ad asset pool.
This is a feature. It is also a liability when stale data from a former agency is still attached to your account.
Why the “All Locations” Setting Is a Risk After Agency Termination
Agencies add location profiles, manage Business Profile listings, and link additional accounts during their time with you. When they leave, those additions stay unless you remove them.
If Google Ads is set to sync all locations automatically, any location they added — even if it no longer reflects your business — gets pulled into your live ads.
You do not get an alert. Google does not flag it. The bad data runs silently.
Ask yourself: do you know every location currently syncing into your Google Ads right now?
How a Foreign Address Destroyed Local Ad Performance
The foreign address damaged performance in two distinct ways.
It Broke Consumer Trust
When local US buyers see a foreign address on an ad from a business they expected to be domestic, they do not call. They do not click. The trust signal breaks before the interaction starts.
Click-through rates drop. Call volume drops. Most business owners blame the algorithm.
The real problem is the data.
It Confused Google’s Local Geo-Targeting Algorithm
Google’s local matching algorithm uses location assets to determine where to show your ads and to whom. When a foreign address enters your asset pool, you send conflicting signals to the system.
Google gets confused about where your business operates. Local search visibility in your primary markets drops.
Your own ads tell Google you are not in the market you are trying to win.
The Step-by-Step Audit After Firing an Agency
Run this audit the same day you terminate an agency relationship. Do not wait for performance to drop before you check.
Google Business Profile Audit
- Log into your Google Business Profile dashboard at business.google.com
- Review every profile listed under your account
- Remove any location, profile, or listing the agency added that does not belong to your business
- Go to the “Users” section and remove every agency email address with manager or owner access
Google Ads Audit
- Log into Google Ads and go to Settings > Account settings
- Check Business Profile linking — confirm which Gmail is connected
- Go to Assets > Locations
- Review every location listed as an active asset
- Remove any address that does not belong to your business
- Pull a live ad preview on mobile and confirm what address displays
Other Platforms to Audit
- Google Analytics: Admin > Account Access Management — remove all agency users
- Meta Business Manager: Business Settings > Partners — remove partner access
- Google Search Console: Settings > Users and permissions — remove agency users
- Third-party tools: Change any shared passwords immediately
- Email forwarding rules: Check for any rules the agency may have set up in your Gmail
The Agency Offboarding Checklist Every Business Owner Should Follow
Do this before the final invoice is paid. Not after.
- Google Business Profile: Remove manager and owner access for all agency emails
- Google Ads: Remove user access, audit location assets, check account-level sync settings
- Google Analytics: Remove agency users at the account and property level
- Google Search Console: Remove agency users from all properties
- Meta Business Manager: Remove partner access and any ad accounts they connected
- Passwords: Change every shared credential immediately
- Email rules: Audit your Gmail for forwarding rules or filters the agency set up
Firing an agency is step one. Revoking their access is step two. Most businesses only do step one.
Access left open is damage left open.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I remove an agency from Google Business Profile?
Log into business.google.com, go to your profile, select “Business Profile settings,” then “Managers.” Find the agency’s email address and remove their access. Do this for every profile under your account, not just the primary one.
Can a fired agency still affect my Google Ads after termination?
Yes. If the agency’s email still has user access in Google Ads, or if location profiles they added are still syncing from your Business Profile, their data stays active in your campaigns. Remove their user access in Google Ads and audit your location assets immediately after terminating the relationship.
How long does Google take to update ad assets after removing a location?
Google typically clears cache and updates ad assets within 24 to 48 hours after you remove a location from your Business Profile or Google Ads account. During that window, the old location data may still appear in live ad previews.
What is the “All locations” setting in Google Ads?
The “All locations” setting is an account-level configuration in Google Ads that automatically imports every verified location from your linked Google Business Profile into your location assets. It runs without requiring individual approval for each location, which means any location added by an agency — even after termination — gets pulled into your active ads automatically.
What happens if a foreign address appears in my Google Ads?
It damages local consumer trust and confuses Google’s geo-targeting algorithm. Buyers who see a foreign address on a domestic business’s ad are less likely to call or click. Google may also suppress your visibility in local markets because the foreign address sends conflicting location signals to the algorithm.
How do I check what locations are currently active in my Google Ads?
In Google Ads, go to Assets > Locations. This shows every location currently active as an ad asset. Cross-reference this list against your actual business addresses and remove any location that does not belong to your business.
Protect Your Google Account Before the Next Agency Leaves
Your Google account is your business’s backbone. A former agency’s leftover access — even one profile, one location, one email address — is enough to damage your ads, drop your calls, and suppress your local rankings.
Do not wait for performance to drop before you audit.
Need a Google account audit or want to work with an agency that hands back full access on day one? Contact Digitalism Pro.