Have we to meet Google Adwords account requirement and pass examination concurrently?

[niravs]

Allow me to explain in brief about my scenario. According to Google mentioned at
https://adwords.google.com/support/s...y?answer=12241,
one needs to "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." and "Pass the Google Advertising Professional Exam. We suggest that you take the exam after you meet the above requirements. However, you can take the exam at any time." -

I started and maintained a client's account in My Client Center for more than US$1000 during a 90-day period. After that, I started learning and reading more to appear for the examinations. When I thought, I was ready to appear for the examinations, I logged in my Pro Center and to my horror, I found that the system told me that I haven't even met my account requirements. I started communicating with Google Adwords Support and talking to Adwords Specialists. It was difficult to make them understand this problem properly and they always mailed back with standard answers. Later, I took this issue with some senior specialists out there and I was asked to call them. I did that and spoke to one of them - she said that it seemed that I was correct and they would rectify the status of the account requirements but she will need to talk to someone in the technical department. A day after, I got a mail saying that one needs to maintain the account during the last 90-day period - I pointed them to the page where Google mentions during the 90-day period and not during last 90-day period - I asked her if that means that if I need to appear for the examination on the 91st day or else how could we completed. She replied saying that both the requirements have to be completed together - how is this possible? When Google on the above given page suggest that you take the exam after you meet the account requirements, here she was suggesting otherwise. This is very unethical on part of Google and really frustrating. The same company coming up with two different answers for the same problem.

I want to know if someone else has faced the same problem and if so, how was it solved? I have asked them to take this up seriously since this means so many of them would maintain the account for 90-days for more than US$1000 and then study for examinations for a few days and appear later only to find out that the account requirements are still not met since they did not appear immediately on the 91st day - absolutely frustrating.

I'll appreciate if some specialist who understands this well can answer this or if anyone who can help me to solve this issue. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
Nirav

[Chris_D]

I suspect that you have misread this part:

Please note that you must have met and/or be maintaining all requirements concurrently to become Qualified. So, if you have not yet passed the Exam by the time you reach 90-day the minimum managed spend requirement, you must still be maintaining that spend level (at least £500) when you pass the Exam.

https://adwords.google.com/support/s...y?answer=12241 (my bold)

[niravs]

Originally Posted by Chris_D

I suspect that you have misread this part:


https://adwords.google.com/support/s...y?answer=12241 (my bold)

Chris, the URL you gave does not mention your part in bold. Kindly check again.
Can anyone read what Chris has mentioned above?

[Chris_D]

Ok - try this:

https://adwords.google.co.uk/support...y?answer=12241

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...n&ct=clnk&cd=1

Niravs, are you saying you can see the text I quoted - but without the bolded part?

[niravs]

Hey Chris

It's there in the .uk URL but not in the .com URL. This is sad. I didn't give my examinations only because Google suggested you take it after you complete managing an account. I hope they acknowledge this and rightly credit me for my account requirements.

Thanks for your help.

Has anyone encountered the same problem?

[Chris_D]

Hi Niravs

I'm in Australia - our billing is handled by Google Ireland - so a lot of the stuff we see comes via UK.

So is the US one different to the UK one? Maybe its a recent change?

[niravs]

It's not a recent change. Infact, it was never mentioned on the Google.com site which is the parent website. Did you check the URL (insert .com instead of .co.uk)? Kindly check and see that you won't find that content there. It's not written at all.

I've written to Google Reps but they write back with boilerplate answers ... lately one of them has partially agreed to the problem. I'm waiting for them to revert or am planning to have my attorney write to them.

What do you say?

[Chris_D]

Niravs - where are you? I'm seeing excatly the same content on both UK & .com

I suspect its geotargeting

Ie the US version https://adwords.google.com/support/s...y?answer=12241 is identical to the UK version

Note that I'm getting the "Pound sterling" spend on the .com version

you must still be maintaining that spend level (at least £500) when you pass the Exam.

[niravs]

You are being redirected to the .co.uk URL. Do one thing, once you are on that page, see the address bar in the browser. You'll be seeing a co.uk there, just replace .co.uk with .com without changing anything else and you'll see the correct version. If you sight a pound sign again, you are being redirected. You should be seeing $ there. I'm located in India.

[niravs]

Have you been able to check, Chris?

[AdWordsRep]

niravs, I'm sorry to hear that you've gotten conflicting information from our support team. This leads me to wonder if you may have been contacting general AdWords support, rather than the Google Advertising Professionals support team?

For questions relating to the Google Advertising Professionals program, it is best to use the 'contact us' link at the bottom of this page:

Google Advertising Professionals Support
https://adwords.google.com/support/s...professionals/

Once there, you'll see a drop down menu with four options - one of which is for questions relating to 'Qualification'.

I have noted the inconsistency in our messaging, as pointed out in this thread - and I certainly apologize for any confusion this has caused. This inconsistency has been mentioned to the appropriate team, and is now being addressed.

To clarify, the text which reads "Please note that you must have met and/or be maintaining all requirements concurrently to become Qualified. So, if you have not yet passed the Exam by the time you reach 90-day the minimum managed spend requirement, you must still be maintaining that spend level ...when you pass the Exam" does present the correct information. I do understand that the lack of this text in your view of the documentation was confusing.

As I am not able to address individual support situations as part of my participation in this forum, I'd ask that you contact Google Advertising Professionals support using the method suggested above, and give them the particulars of your situation. I've alerted them to watch for your email, and have also sent them a link to this thread by way of providing background. Tell them AdWordsRep sent you.

AWR

[niravs]

Hello AWR

Thank you very much for replying.

I appreciate that you were able to understand and figure out the problem. I now see that the changes have been made at the Google Requirements Page. This is good for all those who would now have a clear understanding of the requirements to be a Google-approved Qualified Professional.

I have passed my examinations as well. I wrote to the Google Advertising Professionals support from the link you mentioned and am awaiting their reply. I hope they rightly credit me with the correct status and not make me suffer due to their mistake. With a lot of effort and time, I had managed a client's account in MCC for a spend of more than US$1000 over a 90-day period thinking to be the first step on completing the requirements and then passing the exams (which I have already now) to be a successful Qualified Professional.

I'll let you know the response I get from them. I don't know if it's right, but I would appreciate that you please make sure that I'm rightly credited for my efforts.

Once again, thank you very much for your response and help.

Regards
Nirav

[niravs]

Dear AWR

I just got a response from the Google Professional Support Team and they agree to the mistake that the important point was not mentioned at all on the requirements page and now they have added it. At the same time, they are not ready to credit me for the mistake they have made. Any company would not let their users suffer for a mistake they make and in this case it's quite serious. AWR, I kindly request you to take this case on an individual basis and help me solve this issue. Thanks.

Regards
Nirav

[niravs]

Dear AWR

Can you please look into the matter? The mistake is accepted but there is no action happening accept apologising. This is getting really frustrating. I hope you understand. I kindly request you to personally look into this matter and solve it rightly. Please.

Nirav

[AdWordsRep]

...AWR, I kindly request you to take this case on an individual basis and help me solve this issue. Thanks.

Nirav, please know that I do understand your frustration, and am very sorry that this unfortunate misunderstanding has occurred. And while I wish there was bandwidth for me to take-on and champion particular issues for individual advertisers, that is not the case.

I am able to spend perhaps 20% of my time at Google as a participant in forums such as this one, and my role is to step in when I can provide information that will hopefully be useful to dozens if not hundreds of advertisers. In addition, I compile feedback from many sources regarding what advertisers would like to see from AdWords, what is working, and what is not. You may be certain that the right people have already heard and understood your feedback.

There is no question that assisting individual advertisers with their particular issues is extremely important. However, it is the role of the support teams who are trained and equipped to assist. For this reason I would ask that, if you are not satisfied with the answer you've received, that you please reply to the email you refer to - and continue to work directly with the Google Advertising Professionals support team.

Truly, I wish you the best of success with AdWords, and as a Google Advertising Professional.

Best regards,

AWR

[niravs]

Dear AWR

Thank you for your prompt response.

We cannot term this as misunderstanding since it was NOT mentioned at all. If it would have been, as I said earlier, I would have given my exams earlier during the 90-day period.

I appreciate all your information and help provided. At the same time, I've been writing to the Google Ad Professional Support team as well, but as I said I've been getting replies of just regrets.

Imagine someone wanting to buy a software and before buying that he checks the requirements page. He sees that he does not have the requisite hardware and OS required for the software to run on his machine. He spends time, money and effort to upgrade his machine and OS. He then goes and buys the software only to realise that it still does not run. This happens because the software vendor, on the requirements page, does not mention crucial information of what else is required for the software to run. All the time, effort and money is wasted. Won't the company help the user who is a customer of that company? The user here has suffered only because the company didn't mention that crucial information.

I'm sorry if this seems irrelevant to you but trust you get the point.

I hope you take this to the concerned authorities who can help me out with this. Thanks AWR for all your time and help.

Regards
Nirav

[Chris_D]

When I, and one of my staff, first passed the GAP exam in November 2004 (we were 2 of the first 100 globally - AWR even sent us special GAP caps when we officially became GAPs in Feb 2005) we each had to have separate MCC accounts - an account for each GAP.

Having a separate account for each PPC consultant proved to be a problem - what was the point of having multiple MCCs within an SEM Agency environment?

So we didn't get any more staff to do the GAP exam - because then we'd just end up with more MCC accounts - and clients spread out over 4 or 5 MCCs. Sort of defeated the purpose of having an MCC....

So we've had staff who've been managing Client campaigns for years - and I mean years - who didn't do the GAP exam because it didn't make sense for us, as a specialist SEO/ SEM Agency - to keep on opening new MCC accounts.

Last month - our Google rep asked us why we didn't have more qualified GAPs - and when I explained the above - he told us we could now 'add' multiple GAPS to ONE MCC - and we no longer had to open a new MCC for each GAP. So in the past fortnight - 2 more staff have completed the GAP exam.

But the two staff who've just passed the GAP exam still have to wait 3 months to qualify - even though one of them has been managing client accounts for over 2 years.....

That's life, them's the rules.

What I don't know - but I'll probably find out in the next 2.5 months - is whether each of these new GAPs (3 or 4 GAPS in one MCC account) actually gets their own Google GAP verification page? As its an 'individual' qualification - I would expect that they do .... Do you know for sure AWR?

[niravs]

Chris, first accept my congratulations on being amongst the first 100 globally to pass the examinations. I had started during that time and later had added the first client in MCC. I started managing his account over a period of 90 days from March to May with a spend of over 1000$ as specified in the requirements. I wanted to study then and pass, but due to some health problems and other engagements, I could appear for the exams now and pass.

Infact from your reply as well, there is a feeling of not being well informed. I am assuming that you would be managing a considerable ad spend for your clients. As you say that more of your staff didn't appear for examinations since you didn't want many MCC's to be created - and later you were informed in one of your talks with Google rep, that you could link multilple GAP's to one MCC - Don't you think someone should have informed this earlier to you?

Also, in the last fortnight, two more of your staff has passed the examinations - won't they get the certifications soon - am sure the ad-spend you must be managing would be more than 1000$ for the last 90 days - which would automatically qualify them to be a GAP. Isn't it?

I'm passing through a feeling of being cheated. I'm expecting a reply from the support team and would brief here again after I have one.

I wish you and your staff all the very best in all your future endeavors. It's nice to know you.

Regards
Nirav

[Marcia]

This is the part that bears repeating:

if you have not yet passed the Exam by the time you reach 90-day the minimum managed spend requirement, you must still be maintaining that spend level (at least £500) when you pass the Exam

The exam can be taken before those 90 days have elapsed, but what that's saying is that if the 90 days have already elapsed when taking and passing the exam that the person must still be spending at the same level.

So - if they're NOT still spending at that level at the time of passing the exam, then they aren't meeting the requirement and for which you might not have met the requirements.

It isn't spend and pass, it's spend and pass and still spending that's required. It sounds like the "still spending" part might have been the problem about which there was a misunderstanding.

Also, in the last fortnight, two more of your staff has passed the examinations - won't they get the certifications soon - am sure the ad-spend you must be managing would be more than 1000$ for the last 90 days - which would automatically qualify them to be a GAP. Isn't it?

No, the more than $1K in the last 90 days would NOT automatically qualify them to be a GAP. Repeat: NOT! They would have to still be maintaining that level of spending - it is not automatic. Even after this discussion explaining, it seems that's the part of it that your're still missing and that's causing the problem.

At the same time, they are not ready to credit me for the mistake they have made.

By credit you, do you mean that because of a misunderstanding they should make an exception and waive their requirements for you to be certified?

[Marcia]

Something needs to be added here:

There is no question that assisting individual advertisers with their particular issues is extremely important. However, it is the role of the support teams who are trained and equipped to assist. For this reason I would ask that, if you are not satisfied with the answer you've received, that you please reply to the email you refer to - and continue to work directly with the Google Advertising Professionals support team.

niravs, while it's very nice that someone from Google spends some of their time here answering questions, and is very much appreciated, it should be pointed out that the person's role is not that of personal representative of or advocate on behalf of individual members. It isn't fair or correct to request or expect that.

Also, it's fine to discuss matters here, that's what we're here for - even to the point of sharing whether we think what ever rules made are fair, unfair, right or wrong. And in this case, to discuss the validity of requirements and whether they've been met or how they can be met.

BUT - individual matters need to be taken up directly, as AWR stated above. It is not the function of the forums to be a venue to try to put a company's back against the wall and publicly intimidate them into acquiescing from their stance and bending standard policies, nor is it the place to function in the role of arbitration in a matter between an individual and a company.