The answer is yes, it is possible to sell a PPC account — but with some qualifiers and caveats.
First, a PPC campaign cannot literally be sold as a self-contained asset, because it is software that runs on a PPC platform owned by the platform provider. Ownership of the account is subject to the overarching terms and restrictions you agree to under the platform provider “Terms and Conditions”.
With that being said, control and ownership of a PPC campaign can be transferred between companies or individuals when it’s beneficial to the parties involved. Typically the value is the greatest when a website is sold along with the PPC account(s).
PPC campaigns have a symbiotic relationship with the website they drive traffic to, and that strengthens over time. Due to this symbiotic relationship, campaigns become more valuable if they are sold along with the website that they drive traffic to.
How is PPC Account Ownership Affected?
The best way to re-assign ownership it to add an Administrative User to the account. Terms of ownership should be itemized in a signed contractual agreement.
If you purchase a website along with a campaign, be sure the content has been copyrighted and that ownership is transferred in the agreement.
This is not legal advice, please consult an attorney before buying or selling a campaign.
PPC Campaigns Can Become Valuable Business Assets
A successful PPC account contains campaigns that can develop significant economic value. It’s accurate to think of the campaigns as software that runs on the infrastructure of a PPC advertising platform.
The account, campaigns, and platform are all required to operate an advertiser’s campaigns. A sale is of only the advertisers’ intellectual property contained within the PPC campaigns within their PPC account.
Typically PPC campaigns have the most value when sold along with the website they drive traffic to. It is important to copyright the content of a website before negotiating a sale.
We use several different methods to estimate the market value of a PPC campaign. Of course, conversion value and volume are key metrics involved.
Feel free to contact us, we’ll be happy to discuss assessing the estimated value of your account.