Google Launches New Certification & Tools for AdWords Partners
While Google has been busy recently, announcing new products and features, search engine marketers have been feeling a little neglected. Well, that is about to change as Google AdWords is set to announce today a whole host of new features aimed at webmasters, agencies and search engine marketing firms.

The three-component rollout is part of what Google is calling their Google Advertising Professionals program. Overture may have gotten a head-start with search engine marketing (SEM) firms, with their Ambassador program, but Google, not accustomed to playing catch-up, is hoping its new offerings will help cement relationships with its many AdWords partners. “We want to encourage these companies to utilize Adwords,” said Salar Kamangar, director of product management for Google.

My Client Center

First off the new product conveyor-belt is the new My Client Center which aims to make handling multiple AdWords campaigns a whole lot easier. The self-service interface provides a master console where campaign managers can access all of their client’s campaigns with a single log-in. While My Client Center doesn’t offer much more in the way of reporting, the ability to access hundreds of AdWords campaigns from a single console is likely to be very well received by SEMs and agencies.


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Google Learning Center

The next offering for Google Advertising Professionals will help educate AdWords campaign managers and show them how to get the most out of their client’s campaigns. A series of online streaming videos take you through multiple topics all designed to help the beginner thru to the expert. Different categories tackle various levels of complexity and each of the videos are self-paced allowing you to practice what you have learnt, before moving on to the next video. Lesson categories include "Getting Started with AdWords, Advanced Campaign Management, and Making AdWords Your Business."

Qualified Google Advertising Professional

The last component of the Google Advertising Professionals program will help those shopping for SEM’s, have a considerably easier task. The Qualified Google Advertising Professional certification will be available to any individual looking to demonstrate their expertise in managing AdWords campaigns. While Overture took the step of certifying at the company level, Google looks to develop expertise by providing certification at the individual level.

The certification is not too hard to achieve, but not a piece-of-cake either. In order to obtain the new qualification an individual must:

1. Pass an annual proficiency exam consisting of more than 100 multiple-choice questions.
2. Manage at least one AdWords client, using the new My Client Center, for more than 90 days.
3. Manage at least $1000 of AdWords spending, using the My Client Center, over a period of 90 days (in both cases, that “client” can be your own company)
4. Pay a $50, non-refundable, exam fee which goes directly to Google’s testing partner.

Once qualified, they will receive a logo that confirms their status. These professionals can display this logo on their website and marketing materials to showcase their experience and expertise to new and existing customers.

Embracing SEM's and the future

At many of the search engine conferences around the country, you’ll often hear whispers of worry from some SEM’s, as they ponder whether Google will continue to embrace them as valuable partners. Today’s launch will no doubt ease a lot of those concerns and, at the same time, go a long way in helping position search engine marketing as a professional service. If Google hopes to continue its meteoric growth in the paid search arena, ensuring that its partners are viewed as professionals is a vital step in maintaining that growth.
Andy Beal | permalink | +marktd |