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You might have already heard or seen the words “Google AdWords Qualified Company” on SEM company websites and advertising. Google's certification is meant to position these SEO companies as AdWords experts. But does this certification really mean anything?

According to Google, the following are the reasons to get certified--

1. Google’s recognition as a tested and Qualified AdWords Individual or Company.

2. The official AdWords Qualified Individual or Company Logo can be displayed on your website and in many other materials to showcase your skills and help attract clients.

3. Distinction as a skilled professional.

4. A Professional Status page which profiles your business name and displays Google’s validation that you’re an authentic Qualified Individual or Company within Google Advertising Professionals program.

5. Promotional credits at a higher value, which can be applied to new client accounts to help bring in more business.

6. A warm, fuzzy feeling for this grand accomplishment.

According to Google's requirements page , to become a Qualified Individual in the Google Advertising Professionals program, a company needs to accomplish the following--

1. Sign up for the program successfully and be in good standing. This means that you've accepted the Rules of Use and aren't in violation of them.

2. Manage at least one AdWords account (yours or someone else's) in My Client Center for 90 days.

3. Build and maintain at least US$1,000 (or your local currency equivalent) total spend for your or your team's My Client Center account during the 90-day period.

4. Pass the Google Advertising Professional Exam. Google suggests that you take the exam after you meet the above requirements. However, you can take the exam at any time.

There is some debate on the value of AdWords certification. On the negative side, read Social Media System's “Google AdWords Qualified Company – Fraud or Not” .

For a more positive view of certification, read this article by Wisam Abdulziz.

In our view, AdWords qualification in and of itself is not yet sufficient to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to selecting an AdWords partner. Advertisers should look beneath the Qualified Company logo and examine the SEM firm's track record with care.

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Google AdWords
Qualified Company Program

Pay only for ads that get results? What a novel idea! In reality, not a totally new concept, but something that search behemoth Google has finally decided to deliver upon. Google’s new pay-per-action advertising system allows advertisers to pay only for ads that fulfill a predetermined action on the part of the consumer, be it a sale, a lead, subscription to a newsletter, etc. In short, you decide what you want the ad to compel the user to do and only pay for ads that actually do so. The new system went live for testing on March 20th , and is only available to US advertisers for now.

What this means to you—

Reduced risk. You don’t get charged for online ads that don’t produce the results you’ve defined.

Greater control over your budget. Google allows you to set predetermined costs for each action that your customer takes, based on what value that action has to your business

Open to all (or most) advertising “wallets”. There is no minimum spending requirement to take advantage of this system.

Targeted reach. If you are a very localized or area/specific business, Google is able to set your ads to appear only for people searching in your particular area.

Further reading--

More details straight from Google’s AdWord’s Product Manager- Rob Kniaz.

Andy Beal on Google's new program.

Competition between Google and Microsoft is heating up on several fronts. An area of special interest to us is in the pay-per-click arena. Yahoo! Search Marketing hasn't put much of a dent in Google AdWord's market share. Can Microsoft's adCenter fare better?

Tech Quotient presents a thorough overview of Google versus Microsoft on all fronts.

Josh Einstein voices concerns over the adCenter back end. He is not alone.

But then, some rant just as loudly about Google's customer service, as Matt Heaton's post and ensuing discussion make clear.

Matt Grehan from ClickZ discusses the relative merits of personalization versus customization. In his view, that is what separates AdWords from adCenter.

A look toward the future from Random-Success.com. The competitive dust won't be settling any time soon.

Thoughts to share? Please let us know!