Not a Google Premier Partner. Here's why.

The Google Partners certification, once a mark of expertise and experience in digital advertising, has turned into a scheme that prioritises Google's financial interests over advertiser success.

Our experience reflects industry frustrations with the program's shifting priorities and conflicts of interest, having managed Google Ads since its inception.

Here's why we've decided to discontinue this certification.

Erosion of Expertise Recognition

Early exam versions focused on practical knowledge and skill, while modern certification exams function as tests of commitment to Google's automation tools.

Continuing to qualify would balance the client’s needs and Google’s requirements.

For example, exam content increasingly promotes:

• Blind adoption of automated bidding strategies.

• Indiscriminate use of automated recommendations.

• Expansion of campaign budgets without performance justification.

The certification process discourages critical thinking.

Financial Conflicts of Interest

The program requirements create perverse incentives:

According to Google's documentation:

"Partners earn points towards prizes by growing client spend... an incentive to serve Google's interests".

This financial pressure explains why many advertisers feel Google's recommendations benefit their profits, not their clients.

Flawed Competency Metrics

Three key program pillars lack meaningful value.

1. Certification Exams:

• Cheat-Enabled Testing: Passing the exam demonstrates test-taking or quick search ability, not expertise, with answers available online.

• Outdated Content: Exams may test obsolete features while ignoring recent critical updates.

• No Practical Validation: Our (subjective) experience is that many certified professionals need more real-world account management training.

2. Optimisation Score:

A metric that

• Measures compliance with recommendations, not campaign performance.

• Penalises strategies that exceed Google's suggestions.

• Forces agencies to either accept or dismiss suggestions systematically.

3. Partner Badge:

Rendered meaningless by

• Widespread use of counterfeit badges without verification links.

• No quality control over certified agencies.

• Top-tier status (Premier Partner) awarded based on spend volume, not outcomes

The Automation Trap

Google's updated partner guidelines now bypass agencies. They instruct reps to "contact clients directly if partners resist recommendations".

This compels advertisers to:

• Automated bidding strategies that can significantly increase cost per acquisition.

• Use broad match keywords that reduce targeting precision.

• “Smart" campaigns that limit control over placement and messaging.

• Performance Max campaigns lacking transparency and granular reporting.

Effectively, you become a button-pusher for Google, rather than a strategic marketer.

The Need for Independence and Transparency

Maintaining certification requires complicity in strategies that:

1. Prioritise Google's profit over client KPIs.

2. Further erode transparency through black-box automation.

3. Can systematically increase ad spend without performance justification.

Abandoning the program allows us to:

• Reject Google's recommendations that may harm client ROI.

• Customise bidding strategies that exceed automated options.

• Allocate budgets based on business outcomes, not platform incentives.

The certification's transformation from quality indicator to compliance mechanism leaves advertisers with a clear choice: partner with Google's algorithms or advocate for client interests.

We choose the second option.

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