Google releases Partner Program directory in latest effort to rebuild program

Google on Wednesday released a new directory of agencies and marketers participating in its Partners program so that companies looking to hire Google Ads experts have an easy resource to turn to.

However, for search marketers, the announcement meant a bit more: A recommitment to a program that previously lost a lot of good faith with marketers.

What happened? In February 2020, Google said it planned to change the requirements for participating partners, which included the doubling of the 90-day spending threshold. They also set an optimization score bar that would have disqualified half of the existing participants if they didn’t implement Google’s recommendations on behalf of their clients. The PPC community pushed back. Google never made those changes and ended up delaying the release of the revamped program for two years until its relaunch this past February.

What are the new requirements? Google settled on the following requirements to participate:

• Achieve an optimization score of 70%.
• Spend $10,000 across all of a partner’s managed accounts within a 90-day period.
• Have at least 50% of designated account strategists certified in Google Ads, with at least one certification in each product area (Search, Display, Video, etc.) with campaign spend of $500 (or more) in 90 days.
• The ability to dismiss recommendations without them counting against your Optimization score

Read next: Google finally launches revamped Partners program

Why we care. The promise of the Partners program is good for marketers and these recent moves show that Google is willing to invest in it and invest in their partners through better benefits and visibility. After trying to relaunch it with strict requirements, Google now seems intent on building goodwill among the PPC marketers who participate by finding ways to drive value back to Partners. The value added by the directory is just another step towards rebuilding the program and a nice perk that may drive additional business for their Partners.

About The Author

Henry Powderly

Henry Powderly is vice president of content for Third Door Media, publishers of Search Engine Land and MarTech. With more than a decade in editorial leadership positions, he is responsible for content strategy and event programming for the organization.