Becoming a Google AdWords Professional = Headache

Google AdWords isn’t on my good side right now.

Three months ago, I joined the Google AdWords Professional program. The goal was to get certified, become a more successful ad manager, and improve clients’ PPC ad performance

The experience has been a headache.

To enroll, you must create a “My Client Center,” which lets you manage multiple ad accounts. I created a MCC log-in using my work email address.

Unfortunately, I learned later that Google’s certification would not carry over if I ever deleted that account. In other words, if I ever leave Ritz Marketing (and my Ritz email account), my Google AdWords credentials cease to exist.

Just to be safe, I tried to register (again) for Google’s AdWords Professionals program, this time using my MediaEmerging.com email address.

That’s when Google really started to suck.

Google AdWords, Brought to You By IRS Form 2779, Schedule 10-J and Revised Addendum BS301, Subparagraph…Oh, WTF?!

To create a Google AdWords Professional account, you must first create a basic Google AdWords account. I did so, using my primary email address — the one I use for all of my Google products.

But when I tried to register for the Professional program, I learned I could not use my primary email address because it was linked to the basic AdWords account I just created as a prerequisite of joining the Professional program.

I can’t delete the AdWords account tied to my primary email address, so I can’t register for Professional with my preferred address. I don’t want to switch between Google accounts 20 times a day.

In other words, I’m screwed.

I’d take this up with Google if they had customer service, but you know how that story ends. Maybe I’ll just shift my ad dollars to Yahoo/Microsoft.

http://www.mouseandman.com/ Fred Sexton

May I recommend roboform to manage your hundreds of Google accounts. It keeps all these logins/passwords nice and neat for me
http://twitter.com/franhylinski fran hylinski

You got to ask yourself was the title worth it being a google GURU? I it was worth the hard work, in a monetary and knowledge sense. would have been better to learn this The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords™ and become someone under the radar that can really help the people you promote, just a thought!
MyCreativeTeam

Scott, we're going through much the same thing in trying to take over a client's account from their old agency. We want to set up an account for the client and not run it through a My Creative Team agency account because we don't think it is right to lock a client down like that. It's like forcing them into a proprietary content management system so it will be impossible for them to leave you. Old school. Anyway, you have my empathy. Google, are you listening?
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Thanks for the tip, Fred. I'm still learning about successful PPC campaigns — you're the clubhouse pro ;)

So far, I don't have too many logins to manage, but roboform looks useful for when I get to that point.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Affiliate marketing isn't really in my repetoire yet, but thanks. I'm not really shooting for GURU, either…I'll leave that to those who worry about such things. I just want to manage campaigns better.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Are you managing clients' accounts through MCC (or a similar tool)? One thing I like about the MCC is the ease of moving from one account to another, and it does allow you to release the client's AdWords account back to them.

And, no, I doube Google is listening. Responsivness is SOOOOOOOO Web 2.0 ;)
http://www.mouseandman.com/ Fred Sexton

May I recommend roboform to manage your hundreds of Google accounts. It keeps all these logins/passwords nice and neat for me
http://twitter.com/franhylinski fran hylinski

You got to ask yourself was the title worth it being a google GURU? I it was worth the hard work, in a monetary and knowledge sense. would have been better to learn this The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords™ and become someone under the radar that can really help the people you promote, just a thought!
http://my-creativeteam.com/blog Harry Hoover

Scott, we're going through much the same thing in trying to take over a client's account from their old agency. We want to set up an account for the client and not run it through a My Creative Team agency account because we don't think it is right to lock a client down like that. It's like forcing them into a proprietary content management system so it will be impossible for them to leave you. Old school. Anyway, you have my empathy. Google, are you listening?
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Thanks for the tip, Fred. I'm still learning about successful PPC campaigns — you're the clubhouse pro ;)

So far, I don't have too many logins to manage, but roboform looks useful for when I get to that point.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Affiliate marketing isn't really in my repetoire yet, but thanks. I'm not really shooting for GURU, either…I'll leave that to those who worry about such things. I just want to manage campaigns better.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Are you managing clients' accounts through MCC (or a similar tool)? One thing I like about the MCC is the ease of moving from one account to another, and it does allow you to release the client's AdWords account back to them.

And, no, I doube Google is listening. Responsivness is SOOOOOOOO Web 2.0 ;)
http://www.adwordsanswers.com/ David Rothwell

Have you got a gmail account?

My MCC is linked to my gmail account, and then I have other sub-MCC's within my main MCC created using other email addresses.

As you say, you have a problem if you have created your main MCC account around your work email address as this may change. You need an email address you can effectively keep forever.

As for the qualification, you can train for that with your abilities anyway by using the learning centre as i did, then sitting a “mock” exam by testing yourself against all their quiz questions. Record your answers and see how many you got right, look for an 80% pass rate. You'll actually sit more questions that way than there are in the exam.

Be prepared to sit the exam again in 2 years.

The qualification itself has been judged a bit light in technical challenge, and I agree, although it is (1) a good sanity check you know your stuff (2) carries the Google logo with a link to an entry about you on their website (3) good for credibility.

If you're good at adwords, you'd pass it anyway, so some people say it's not worth the bother.

However, having an MCC with good client statistics *really helps* your career! I am now a Google Agency Partner in Europe on the strength of mine (admittedly it is now 4 years old) and that means I get invited to their Agency Days and conferences, and can pick the phone up and speak to their specialists whenever I need.

So if I need to get size restrictions lifted on an account (think thousands of ad groups) I can (why? performance and 100% CTR)

Feel free to contact me if you need any more help.
http://www.adwordsanswers.com/ David Rothwell

I had a similar problem.

One of my clients did not own their own adwords account, it had been opened by the agency and so they were locked out of it. I consider this unethical in most circumstances, although there's the consideration of intellectual property – if I've researched, built and managed this asset, why should I be in a position where my client can walk away with it?

However, you can protect against that by simply taking backup copies with adwords editor, as you would anyway for data protection.

So I had to open them their own new account, which I could then populate with a keyword and ad report generated from their old adwords account and recreate from scratch – tidying up along the way. Their old agency had a basic problem – they couldn't spend their client's budget! (and it wasn't large either).

Contact me direct for more on that!
http://www.adwordsanswers.com/ David Rothwell

Have you got a gmail account?

My MCC is linked to my gmail account, and then I have other sub-MCC's within my main MCC created using other email addresses.

As you say, you have a problem if you have created your main MCC account around your work email address as this may change. You need an email address you can effectively keep forever.

As for the qualification, you can train for that with your abilities anyway by using the learning centre as i did, then sitting a “mock” exam by testing yourself against all their quiz questions. Record your answers and see how many you got right, look for an 80% pass rate. You'll actually sit more questions that way than there are in the exam.

Be prepared to sit the exam again in 2 years.

The qualification itself has been judged a bit light in technical challenge, and I agree, although it is (1) a good sanity check you know your stuff (2) carries the Google logo with a link to an entry about you on their website (3) good for credibility.

If you're good at adwords, you'd pass it anyway, so some people say it's not worth the bother.

However, having an MCC with good client statistics *really helps* your career! I am now a Google Agency Partner in Europe on the strength of mine (admittedly it is now 4 years old) and that means I get invited to their Agency Days and conferences, and can pick the phone up and speak to their specialists whenever I need.

So if I need to get size restrictions lifted on an account (think thousands of ad groups) I can (why? performance and 100% CTR)

Feel free to contact me if you need any more help.
http://www.adwordsanswers.com/ David Rothwell

I had a similar problem.

One of my clients did not own their own adwords account, it had been opened by the agency and so they were locked out of it. I consider this unethical in most circumstances, although there's the consideration of intellectual property – if I've researched, built and managed this asset, why should I be in a position where my client can walk away with it?

However, you can protect against that by simply taking backup copies with adwords editor, as you would anyway for data protection.

So I had to open them their own new account, which I could then populate with a keyword and ad report generated from their old adwords account and recreate from scratch – tidying up along the way. Their old agency had a basic problem – they couldn't spend their client's budget! (and it wasn't large either).

Contact me direct for more on that!
jaylane

I'm with you on the frustration about not being able to transfer your Google Adwords certification. I lost my certification when I switched jobs awhile back. I've never taken the test again though.

FYI – For clients that want to protect themselves from losing all their Adwords data (if they were to switch agencies – I've been on both sides of this), you can backup the entire account using Google's standalone Adwords Editor. You could then create a new account and upload the information from the old account. It's pretty easy to do.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

I'm not sure about the rules on intellectual property, David…my gut says work performed on behalf of a client belongs to the client. Still, your point is well taken.

I know what you mean about AdWords managers who don't know how to manage a budget. It's shark-infested water out there ;)
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

I made the mistake of setting up my sub-account with my Gmail account, instead of my MCC. That's the source of the trouble.

Any chance one of those specialsts on your speed dial can dissociate my primary Gmail account from the subaccount so I have it available for the MCC?
jaylane

I'm with you on the frustration about not being able to transfer your Google Adwords certification. I lost my certification when I switched jobs awhile back. I've never taken the test again though.

FYI – For clients that want to protect themselves from losing all their Adwords data (if they were to switch agencies – I've been on both sides of this), you can backup the entire account using Google's standalone Adwords Editor. You could then create a new account and upload the information from the old account. It's pretty easy to do.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

I'm not sure about the rules on intellectual property, David…my gut says work performed on behalf of a client belongs to the client. Still, your point is well taken.

I know what you mean about AdWords managers who don't know how to manage a budget. It's shark-infested water out there ;)
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

I made the mistake of setting up my sub-account with my Gmail account, instead of my MCC. That's the source of the trouble.

Any chance one of those specialsts on your speed dial can dissociate my primary Gmail account from the subaccount so I have it available for the MCC?
coryhuff

Dude, Scott, look at the size of your following! I haven't checked back in a while, but you've got it goin' on.

Oh, and that whole Adwords thing…tough break man. Google's a pain sometimes, but we gotta deal with 'em. I'm guessing there's a good chance they'll help you rearrange your Adwords accounts. I know a company who just went through this. It was a huge pain, but worth it in the long run. Hit me up if I can help in any way.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Thanks for such kind words, Cory. Coming from you — one of the first bloggers I followed way back when — that means a lot.

If I could find a contact at Google who could help me, life would be golden. I finally found a contact at Facebook who is helping me get so much out of that platform. With any luck, Google will come forward and deliver the same level of customer support.
coryhuff

Dude, Scott, look at the size of your following! I haven't checked back in a while, but you've got it goin' on.

Oh, and that whole Adwords thing…tough break man. Google's a pain sometimes, but we gotta deal with 'em. I'm guessing there's a good chance they'll help you rearrange your Adwords accounts. I know a company who just went through this. It was a huge pain, but worth it in the long run. Hit me up if I can help in any way.
coryhuff

Dude, Scott, look at the size of your following! I haven't checked back in a while, but you've got it goin' on.

Oh, and that whole Adwords thing…tough break man. Google's a pain sometimes, but we gotta deal with 'em. I'm guessing there's a good chance they'll help you rearrange your Adwords accounts. I know a company who just went through this. It was a huge pain, but worth it in the long run. Hit me up if I can help in any way.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Thanks for such kind words, Cory. Coming from you — one of the first bloggers I followed way back when — that means a lot.

If I could find a contact at Google who could help me, life would be golden. I finally found a contact at Facebook who is helping me get so much out of that platform. With any luck, Google will come forward and deliver the same level of customer support.
http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

Thanks for such kind words, Cory. Coming from you — one of the first bloggers I followed way back when — that means a lot.

If I could find a contact at Google who could help me, life would be golden. I finally found a contact at Facebook who is helping me get so much out of that platform. With any luck, Google will come forward and deliver the same level of customer support.