Introducing the New Google Adwords Certification Program

Google has made some changes by officially retiring the Google Advertising Professionals program and changing it to the Google Adwords Certification Program.  The new program provides agencies with comprehensive, strategy-focused training and certification on the latest tools and best practices for managing AdWords accounts.

About the New Program

The new program has set a new standard for the Adwords Certification Program.  It has also updated all of the training materials, exam requirements, eligibility, and program benefits to stay up-to-date with the ever-changing Adwords Program.

What’s New (from Google’s Newsletter):

New, comprehensive curriculum designed to improve strategic and tactical knowledge

Introduction of annually refreshed advanced level exams illustrating competency in search, display, reporting and analysis

To match the updated training materials, we’ve increased the exam requirements for individual qualification to two – Advertising Fundamentals and one advanced exam

We’ve reset individual & company spend criteria – company spend has been reduced to a $10,000 minimum, and we’ve removed a minimum spend requirement for individual qualification

Starting today, you can change your account profile settings to opt-in to the new Google Partner Search – an online, searchable directory of certified partners

Currently there is a 6 month grace period to make the transition over to the new program, however they recommend moving over as soon as possible to benefit from the new program marketing and training.

Company Certification

Getting “Adwords Certified Partner” status for your company, comes with a number of requirements. Those include:

• Have a billing and mailing address in a country where company qualification is available.
• Have managed at least a $10,000 spend over 90 days
• Have at least one individually qualified employee
• Agree to terms and conditions
• One member of your company must pass two certification exams

Once you met the necessary requirements your company will be able to take advantage of industry recognized training to improve your PPC campaigns, a company profile page that demonstrates that you have met all of the requirements, and marketing support, which will help you gain new clients.

Get your Company Certification

Individual Qualification

The individual qualification, although not as rigorous in terms of requirements still mandates that you pass the Advertising Fundamentals exam and one Advanced Level exam.  Once they are qualified they will received a Google branded certification that can be added to their website or resume.  This certification can help earn a position with an Internet Marketing company or in-house organization.

Get your Individual Qualification

Find a Partner

Google also offers a “Find a Partner” search, which will allow you to search the database of Certified Partners.  It will also allow you to check the status of a company to see if they are currently qualified or not.

Find a Partner

One question I have been thinking about for a while now, “Is the Google Adwords Certification Program that Well Recognized to Earn More Business?”.  To a client that has probably never heard of this program, do you think they are impressed by the program because it is a status given by Google?  or do you feel that most people are just saying “Adwords Professional, what……???”

I would love to what others think about the program.