How Google’s Partner Program Requirements Affect Brand/Agency Relationships

Google announced plans to implement new requirements for its Google Partner Program in early February. The requirements take effect in June 2020. And search engine marketers on the agency side are not happy.

In this post, we’ll dive into the details of the changes occurring and discuss the questions that brands may want to ask their agency partners about how they’re handling the updates.

The Purpose of the Google Partner Program

First, let’s take a closer look at why the Google Partner Program exists. The program provides agencies and freelancers with a handful of perks. These benefits include:

• Specialized education on Google’s products.

• Direct support from Google’s team.

• Opportunities to host co-branded events to demonstrate thought leadership.

• A partner badge to show businesses that you are a trusted provider.

To earn the Google Partner badge, an agency must undergo the proper Google Ads product certification exams, meet certain spend requirements across managed accounts, and have demonstrated strong performance by delivering client and company growth.

But the recent changes to Google’s partner Program requirements have agency-side markers questioning whether they are meant to serve a client’s best interests -- or Google’s.

Google Partner Program Spend Threshold Changes

First off, it’s going to cost more for agencies to participate.

Previously, Google required agencies to spend a minimum of $10,000 over 90 days on Google Advertising in order to be in the Partner Program. Now, the spend requirements have been doubled to $20,000 over the same timeframe.

This change may have a heavy impact on freelancers and consultants who lack large budgets. But the increase feels like a step in the right direction if Google seeks to reduce the number of one-person shops who are only working with a small number of accounts as part of the Partner Program. The argument could be made that the spend threshold should be pushed even higher, as it’s not uncommon for certain industries to maintain this level of spend from a single account.

If you’re from the brand side and working with agencies and freelancers who participate in the Google Partner Program, this update may not raise too much concern. Based on what you may be spending from your account -- and your knowledge of the minimum Google advertising spend that your agency requires to engage with other clients -- you should have a good idea if this change will affect your agency's status as a member of the Google Partner Program.

What you need to do: If you are still unsure if your agency will maintain their status based on spending requirements, have an open conversation about how they currently leverage the program. Ask if this change will affect their standing.

Google Partner Program User Certification Requirements

Previously, agencies were required to have only one user on their managed account complete the required certifications tests (search, display, video, and shopping). But now Google requires at least half of the users who have administrative or standard access to their manager account pass the certifications.

This update will likely create more stress for agencies with larger teams. If you’re running a three-person shop, it should be a quick process to ensure that two of those three team members go through all of the proper certifications. When you look at a larger team that may have 10+ employees with standard access to an account, it will naturally be more of a challenge to meet this requirement.

While this may be an easier achievement for smaller agencies, these certifications are beneficial for ensuring that team members are kept up to speed on the range of Google Ad products.

What you need to do: ask what percentage of your agency team has gone through these tests. If you find out that only a small percentage of your agency’s team has achieved Google’s proper certifications, ask how they continuously educate their employees on Google’s products. It’s not uncommon for larger agencies to forgo making everyone take the certification tests, but still foster a culture of education by maintaining a close relationship with their Google reps, scheduling status calls, and lunch-and-learns.

Google Partner Program Optimization Score Evaluations

This is the update that has search engine marketers raising their pitchforks. In an attempt to force agencies to pay more attention to Google’s automated recommendations tab, Google announced that it will start evaluating the optimization score within an agency’s manager account.

To maintain partnership status, accounts will now be required to adopt 70 percent of Google’s automated recommendations. If agencies fall below the 70 percent threshold, they will be provided notice and be given a 60 days to implement the recommended optimizations to stay in good standing.

This is a HUGE red flag for anyone familiar with these automated recommendations. They are known for prioritizing increased reach and budget rather than building campaigns that are catered to specific client objectives.

What you need to do: ask your agency partners how these optimizations have played a role in their strategies in the past -- and why they may or may not implement them moving forward.

If it sounds like your agency may be prioritizing Google’s partnership status over your specific objectives, you’ll likely want to reevaluate your relationship with said agency. Ad platform revenue should never take priority over client performance.

Contact Investis Digital

While these changes are still a couple of months away from being implemented, it’s important to be aware of how your digital partners plan on handling these updates. Investis Digital embraces clarity as one of our core brand values. Our performance marketing team always puts a client’s objective first. Contact Investis Digital to learn more.