Google recently announced that they will be phasing out the Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) program in order to implement a more rigorous testing system composed of 4 individual exams. The new Google Adwords Certification program provides agencies and their staff with more current, comprehensive, strategy-focused training. Similarly to the GAP program, the new learnings, practical skills and knowledge provided by the Google Adwords Certification program will be verified with the successful completion of the 4 individual certification exams. Google have created 4 new exams to better focus on and represent expertise in specific areas of Adwords advertising. The exam areas include Fundamentals, Search Advertising (Advanced), Display Advertising (Advanced) and Reporting & Analysis (Advanced).The restructure of the Google Adwords certification program enables Google to provide much more targeted training and exams to highlight individuals’ competency in specific areas. It is also a useful measure to demonstrate the relevant areas of proficiency to existing & potential clients while verifying in-depth knowledge & practical skills. Adwords advertisers can then be confident in the capabilities of the Agency managing their Google Adwords accounts.A redesigned Certified Partner badge (below) directs user to the partner’s profile page to verify the qualifications of each online marketing agency.

Qualified online marketing agencies can then opt into Google Partner Search, which is an online directory that helps advertisers find Adwords Certified Partners that are qualified to meet their advertising needs. Google will be promoting this feature a lot more over the coming months to ensure advertisers are aware of this avenue to finding the most suitable Adwords agency. The Google Partner Search feature can be found at https://adwords.google.com/professionals/search/