Both Internet marketing agencies and independent contextologists, whose main area of activity is the provision of support services for advertising campaigns in AdWords, can become a partner of the Googles Partners program.
Google Partners can count on additional bonuses and benefits that are not available to other contractors of the platform. For example, they have the opportunity to place a partner sign on their site or receive advanced consultations of the service’s specialists.
Attention! From 2021, the rules for joining the program have changed. It is now somewhat more difficult to meet the requirements than before.
In this article we will tell you how to become a Google Ads partner and what prospects this status opens up.
How many calls and sales will I get by ordering contextual advertising from you?
The confirmed partner status allows us to say with confidence that the Google counterparty who has it, no matter whether it is an independent PPC-specialist or an entire company, has confirmed its professionalism in terms of interaction with advertising services of the platform. Those who are ready to strictly follow all the rules of the system, can count on certain privileges, including:
The legal right to publish the Google Partner Mark on your web site, in your sales proposal, presentation, resume, etc., as well as in your website.
You can earn points for Google Partners Rewards program members for achieving certain results. You can use your points to receive special branded gifts.
Opportunity to participate in private training sessions and get access to exclusive materials.
Gift coupons that allow you to pay for ads in new advertising offices.
Exclusive access to Google Ads tools. You can quickly generate detailed reports on key metrics, set up automatic rules to optimize bids and audience reach, and centrally manage dozens of campaigns from a single interface.
Priority testing of new services and functionality. As a Google partner, you’re among the first to get access to beta versions of tools before they’re officially launched.
Direct contact with Google Support. If you have complex technical issues or problems that require Google support, you can contact them directly.
And this is not a complete list of advantages of Google Partners. In addition to the new rules, the list of bonuses in the system was updated in 2021. Now all privileges are combined into several groups: access and support, education and statistics, encouragement and prizes.
What can’t Google partners do?
Publish the partner mark on web resources that contradict the legislation of Ukraine, in materials of age category 18+ or related to gambling, sale of alcoholic or tobacco products. Google partners also may not place the sign on resources containing information about the provision of search engine optimization services, when it is not explicitly stated on the screen that Google has not provided recommendations for this service.
Change the appearance of the affiliate sign in whole or in part, as well as translate the text into foreign languages.
Add elements of the affiliate mark to your own logo or make it less prominent than the Google affiliate mark.
Place the mark on the company’s products.
Explicitly or implicitly indicate that Google sponsors, recommends, or links to content from an affiliate agency.
Give access to your affiliate account to anyone else, even colleagues or contractors. Only a certified specialist who has been granted partner status can work with it.
In any way misrepresent data on the results of advertising campaigns in order to obtain a higher affiliate status.
Position yourself as an official Google representative or make it appear that Google itself recommends your services.
Use Google’s branding for commercial purposes, including the logos of AdWords and other products. You may only do so with Google’s written permission.
Disclose to third parties confidential client data and details of their campaigns.
Transfer or sell the status to another person or agency. One certificate per partner.
Compliance with these rules is the key to long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation with Google. Otherwise, your partner status with its privileges may be lost. If you have doubts about the admissibility of any actions, it is better to clarify this point with the support service.
Dynamic. If you put the mouse cursor over the dotted line, the name of the agency will pop up. Previously, information about the agency’s specialization was additionally displayed, but this functionality does not work after the terms of participation in the program were updated. This type of signs is placed on the main web resource or subdomains of the company, entered in the appropriate fields in the Google Partners office.
Static. The name of the partner and its specialization are immediately indicated on this type of sign. As a rule, it is placed on printed advertising products or social networks of the marketing agency.
How to become a member of the Google Partners program?
Becoming a member of the Google Partners program and receiving the corresponding sign is a great competitive advantage if you are focused on long-term development, increasing profits and improving the quality of your service. It will also help you keep your existing customers engaged and find new ones.
Create an account with Google Partners using the AdWords Control Panel. Open the program’s website and select “Become a Google Partner”:
How many calls and sales will I get by ordering contextual advertising from you?
Then log in to your AdWords account and check your account. It must have the status of administrator. If you do not have rights for administration, you will not be able to register. Familiarize yourself with the rules of work in the system and tick the checkbox to agree with them. Next, specify the management account and enter the necessary data: the name of the agency, the address of the company’s domain and central office.
In addition, you need to enter the number of employees involved in strategic planning and client RC management. Save your data and you will be granted access to the program, provided you meet the requirements.
What are Google’s requirements for partners?
Affiliate statuses are not for life. The rules must be strictly observed throughout the entire period of activity. The service prescribes three types of requirements: “Efficiency”, “Certification” and “Expenses”. Let’s reveal their essence in more detail:
Efficiency
According to the innovations, an affiliate must have an optimization rate of at least 70% in their management account. This ensures that he is an expert in Google advertising services and knows how to optimize client campaigns in the best possible way.
Tip! You will find the value of the optimization indicator in the “Recommendations” block. There are also published tips, following which you can increase the effectiveness of advertising. You are free to accept or reject each of them at your own discretion. How you react will not affect your partnership status in the future.
Expenses
According to the changes announced in February 2020, the total advertising budget of an account for the past 90 days could not be below the 20 thousand dollar mark for affiliates. However, Google later reinstated the previous restrictions and now requires you to spend $10 thousand dollars for accreditation over a three-month period.
Certification
It is mandatory for any Google partner to:
At least 50% of employees involved in strategic planning Google Ads have certificates issued by Skillshop. At the same time, the number of such specialists cannot exceed one hundred.
At least one certificate must correspond to each type of marketing activities that the agency carries out for its clients.
Only those specialists who are able to log in to the management cabinet or an account associated with it with standard access or administrator rights are taken into account.
How do I become a top partner?
Becoming a Google Ads lead partner is a significant achievement for any agency or freelancer. However, starting from 2022, the requirements for potential partners have significantly increased. Now only 3% of the best performing companies in each country can receive this status. And it is necessary to confirm their compliance with the criteria on an annual basis.
To assess the quality of work of the applicant companies, Google analyzes a number of indicators:
Spending dynamics of existing clients. Their total advertising budgets in the current and last year are compared. The growth of expenses indicates that clients are satisfied with the results and are ready to increase the scale of cooperation.
Inflow of new clients. Here, the advertising budgets of those who first launched campaigns in Google Ads with the help of a partner company are taken into account. The more such clients and the weightier their costs, the better.
Retention of current customers. It is measured by the percentage of customers who stay with the company from year to year. A high indicator shows that customers are loyal and satisfied with the cooperation.
Use of different Google advertising products. It is assessed how actively the company implements for clients not only search campaigns, but also other formats – video ads, banners, shopping campaigns, application promotion. The more diverse the tools and the larger the budgets for each area, the better.
