Any PPC agency or freelancer working with Google AdWords should make the transition to the new Google Certification Program by the end of October, the Inside AdWords crew has declared.
The new Google Certification Program was launched this April as a replacement for the now-retired Google Advertising Professionals Program (GAPP). It introduced new training materials and ”more challenging certification exams” as well as advanced level exams, though the key new feature was the redesigned “Certified Partner Badge” - a hyperlinked logo which took advertisers to a partner’s profile to check their AdWords qualifications.
It also introduced Google Partner Search – a directory to help advertisers find agencies to manage their search engine marketing campaigns.
When originally launched, Google maintained the old GAPP scheme side by side with the new scheme, to provide a six month “grace period”, allowing users of the old programme to retain certified status and use the Certified Partner Badge in their marketing collateral. This grace period finishes on October 31st though.
“We’re informing all of you who have qualified under the old Google Advertising Professionals Program to update to the Google Certification Program,” writes Jason Shafton of the Inside Adwords crew. “In order to do so, a company must meet a minimum AdWords spend level and have at least one employee individually qualified under the Google Certification Program.”
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