About the AdWords certification
The Google AdWords certification is a professional accreditation that Google offers to individuals who demonstrate proficiency in basic and advanced aspects of AdWords. An AdWords certification allows individuals to demonstrate that Google recognizes them as an expert in online advertising.
This article explains the benefits of getting certified, how to get certified, and how to share and communicate your certification status with others.
Before you begin
If you aren't signed up for Google Partners, you need to do so to access the AdWords certification exams and become certified. Review "Sign up for Google Partners" to get started.
Benefits
Any member of Google Partners can earn our AdWords certification. Here are the benefits of getting certified:
- Demonstrate your expertise. Show current and prospective clients that you're a certified online advertising professional with a personalized certificate that you can print as well as a Google Partners public profile page listing your certifications.
- Help your agency earn the Google Partner or Premier Google Partner badge. To earn either badge, agencies need at least one of their affiliated members to be AdWords certified, in addition to other requirements. Learn more about the requirements to earn the Partner badge.
How the AdWords certification works
When you sign up for Partners, you'll get access to our free AdWords certification exams and related study materials.
Requirements
You need to pass 2 of the AdWords certification exams to become an AdWords certified professional — the AdWords Fundamentals exam and one of the following: Search Advertising, Display Advertising, Mobile Advertising, Video Advertising, or Shopping Advertising.
Available AdWords certification exams
| Exam | Description |
| AdWords Fundamentals | The AdWords Fundamentals exam covers basic and intermediate concepts, including the benefits of online advertising and AdWords, and best practices for managing and optimizing AdWords campaigns. |
| Search Advertising | The Search Advertising exam covers basic and advanced concepts, including best practices for creating, managing, measuring, and optimizing search ad campaigns across the Search Network. |
| Display Advertising | The Display Advertising exam covers advanced concepts and best practices for creating, managing, measuring, and optimizing Display campaigns. |
| Mobile Advertising | The Mobile Advertising exam covers the basic and advanced concepts of mobile advertising, including ad formats, bidding and targeting, and campaign measurement and optimization. |
| Video Advertising | The Video Advertising exam covers basic and advanced concepts, including best practices for creating, managing, measuring, and optimizing video advertising campaigns across YouTube and the web. |
| Shopping Advertising | The Shopping Advertising exam covers basic and advanced concepts, including creating a Merchant Center account and product data feed, and creating and managing Shopping campaigns. |
Notes
- The Shopping Advertising exam is available in the following languages: Chinese (simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (US and UK), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.
How to share your certification status
Once you get certified, you'll be able to share your certification status with others by showing them your personalized certificate or Google Partners public profile page. Read each section below to learn how to access each one.
How to access your personalized certificate
Once you get certified, you'll be able to access a personalized, printable certificate from the "My profile" page in your Partners account. Follow the steps below to print your certificate.
How to access your Partners public profile
You can demonstrate your expertise with your public profile, a read-only page that lists your AdWords certification status and all of the exams that you've passed. This page is a unique URL that's hosted on a google.com domain, and you can choose who can access it.
To get your public profile's URL and choose who can access it, go to the "Public profile" section of your "My profile" page. Keep in mind that by default, your profile is visible to you only.
Here's what will appear on your profile page:
- Your name: This name will be the same name that you use for your Google Account. If you'd like to change your name, read the section below on updating your name.
- Agency's name: If your Partners individual profile is affiliated with a company profile, we'll show your agency's name and link to its Partners profile if the profile is published in Google Partner Search.
- Photo: Your Google+ profile photo will automatically appear on your Partners profile page (note that your Google+ profile photo is always visible to the public). If your Google+ profile doesn't have a photo, then a photo won't appear on your Partners profile page.
- Google+ profile: A link to your Google+ profile will automatically appear on your Partners profile page. Keep in mind that you can choose who sees sections of your Google+ profile with certain people. Learn how to choose who can see sections of your Google+ profile.
- Certifications: We'll show your AdWords certification status and a list of the exams that you've passed.
Tip
Not on Google+ yet? If you don't have a Google Account connected to your work email address, learn how to create one and access Google+. If you already have a Google Account connected to your work email address, find out how to add a photo to your Google+ profile.
How to share your Partners public profile
By default, your profile will be visible to you only, which means that no one will be able to see your profile page even if they have the URL to it. To share your profile with others, you'll need to make it visible to the public. Follow the steps below to edit your profile's visibility settings.
How to update your name for your certificate or public profile page
If the name that appears on your individual certificate or public profile page is incorrect, you'll need to update that information in your Partners account. To do so, you'll need to edit your Google Account information.
How to stay certified
A passing score on an exam is valid for 12 months after the exam date. To maintain your AdWords certification, you'll need to have valid passing scores on at least (1) the AdWords Fundamentals exam and (2) one of the other advertising exams (for a total of at least 2 passing exam scores at any given time).
For example, if you take and pass the AdWords Fundamentals exam in March and the Search Advertising exam in May, you'll need to retake and pass the AdWords Fundamentals exam by March of the following year and the Search Advertising exam by that May in order to maintain your AdWords certification.
Guidelines for communicating your certification status
Your AdWords certifications demonstrate that you're a certified online advertising professional. Here's what you can say to current and prospective clients about this recognition:
- Your AdWords certification recognizes that you're a certified online advertising professional.
- You received this accreditation after successfully passing the AdWords Fundamentals exam and either the Search Advertising, Display Advertising, Mobile Advertising, Video Advertising, or Shopping Advertising exam administered by Google Partners.
Example
Here's an example of what you can say about your certification status:
“Google has recognized me as an AdWords certified professional, meaning that I’ve passed multiple exams that assess my product expertise. I’m qualified to help you grow your business on the web using Google AdWords.”
Here are some additional guidelines about communicating your certification:
- You may only refer to yourself as certified if you, personally, have passed the certification exams. It's not enough for a co-worker to be certified or for your agency to be badged.
- You can refer to yourself as "certified" as long as your certification remains in effect. After the expiration date, you won't be able to refer to yourself as "certified" until you pass the exams again.
- You're allowed to mention your certification on your resume, business cards, LinkedIn profile, and other social media profiles. Keep in mind that Google Partners logos can only be used in accordance with our usage guidelines.
Common questions about certifications
The difference between AdWords certifications and the Partner badge
- Individuals get certified. Any member of Partners can earn an AdWords certification. As a certified professional, you can demonstrate your achievement with a personalized certificate issued by Google.
- Agencies get badged and earn specializations. An agency that meets the requirements for Partner status will earn the Google Partner or Premier Google Partner badge and be allowed to promote itself as a "Google Partner." Note that an agency doesn't become a "Google Partner" simply by joining the program.
- Company specializations recognize agencies that accomplish the following:
- Earn the Google Partner badge or the Premier Google Partner badge
- Have at least one certified affiliated person in an AdWords product area
- Demonstrate increased product performance and expertise in that product area, including:
- Search advertising
- Mobile advertising
- Video advertising
- Display advertising
- Shopping advertising
- Have a minimum of $10,000 90-day AdWords spend in their certified product area
- Company specializations recognize agencies that accomplish the following:
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