The Illusion of Performance:
First off, let’s talk about the “performance” requirement. Google wants your Ads manager account to have at least a 70% optimization score. Sounds fancy, right? But here’s the kicker: this score is largely based on how well you align with Google’s “suggestions.” Now, I don’t know about you, but in our agency, we think independently. Following Google’s recommendations like a recipe from a cookbook isn’t our style. Why? Because more often than not, these suggestions seem less about optimizing client performance and more about optimizing Google’s pockets. We prefer to tailor our strategies to our clients’ unique needs, not to a one-size-fits-all algorithm that often recommends increasing budgets and bids (shocker!).
The Spend Requirement: A Tale of Inflated Budgets:
Then there’s the spend requirement. Hold onto your seats, folks: your account needs to maintain a 90-day ad spend of $10,000 USD. Now, we could easily hit this number by telling all our clients to spend more, but guess what? We actually like our clients. We’re not about to inflate their budgets just so we can have a shiny badge on our website. We prefer keeping our clients’ budgets optimized for their actual needs, not Google’s arbitrary spending thresholds.
Certification: The Badge of… What Exactly?
Finally, the certification requirement. This one’s a real hoot. You need at least 50% of your account strategists certified in Google Ads, with a cap at 100 users. Imagine herding a hundred of your employees into a room for a Google Ads certification party. Sounds like a blast, right? Plus, they’ve got to be certified in each product area with some spend. We like to think of ourselves as lifelong learners, but not in the way where we have to pass a test to prove our worth. We believe our results speak for themselves.
Proudly Badge-less:
So, there you have it. We are an agency that’s proudly not a Google Partner. We don’t chase after Google’s ever-changing goalposts. Instead, we focus on what really matters: our clients. We’d rather be known for our independent thinking, custom strategies, and genuine results, not for how well we can dance to Google’s tune.
We sleep pretty soundly at night knowing that we’re not part of this “elite” club. Instead, we’re part of a more exclusive club: one that values client success over ad spend, customized strategies over standardized “optimization” scores, and real results over certifications.
In conclusion, while others might chase after Google Partner status, we’re happy sitting on the sidelines, sipping our non-Google-branded coffee, and watching our clients succeed. That’s the only badge we need. Cheers to being proudly un-partnered! 🥂
