A year ago, Google did away with agency commission and introduced best practice funding, a new scheme that brought in a system of quarterly rebates for agencies.
As well as a new payment structure, Google introduced measures it believed would benefit both media agencies and itself. The Google Advertising Professionals scheme was designed to enforce a minimum standard from agency staff in managing search campaigns.
Media Week recently revealed that Yahoo! Search Marketing was to introduce its own training scheme, which already exists in the US, to the UK (Media Week, 12 December). Like the Google Advertising Professionals scheme, the Ambassador programme will involve exams for search professionals.
Agencies with enough qualified staff get a Yahoo! stamp of approval either as a Certified Ambassador or the higher level of Strategic Ambassador.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is also developing an accreditation scheme as it tries to gather market share through its Windows Live service.
However, to become a Yahoo! Ambassador will require a level of spend on behalf of clients by media agencies. So are these schemes simply a money-making exercise, a process of improving competency within agencies who buy search - or a bit of both?
Richard Firminger, Yahoo! Search Marketing sales director for Northern Europe, says the Ambassador programme, designed as a "kitemark" for agencies, will not be introduced until the new Panama ad system search platform upgrade is introduced this year.
Smooth process
The scheme is designed to "win customers, keep them and grow them", he says. And the spend requirements are there to guarantee a smooth operating process. A small agency with two experts can manage small accounts, but high volume accounts require a high level of automation that smaller operators might not have or might have to outsource.
Yahoo! has a certification scheme called the SEM Accreditation programme, but this new system will be more sophisticated. Daniel Mohacek, now product strategy director for The Technology Works, established the original Yahoo! programme. He says these certification schemes are needed "so customers can buy from them with confidence".
Agencies are supportive of the schemes in general. Anything that helps advertisers reach consumers, and helps consumers see relevant search advertising, is hard to fight against. Mike Teasdale, partner at Harvest Digital, says of Google's Advertising Professionals scheme: "I am a big fan of it. It's by far the best thing I've seen from anyone else."
Of the new Yahoo! scheme, he says: "Some people will see it as just a way of getting a Yahoo! logo on your site. Some will see it as just another hoop to go through."
But Diffiniti's managing director Robert Horler understands why the search engines are prepared to make people jump through these hoops. "Search is quite complicated and requires a certain level of competency, which they (search engines) need so it does not become an administrative nightmare."
One of the reasons Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft are insisting on these standards is to avoid strain on their own infrastructure, and free up account managers' time, he adds.
Big spenders
From Horler's point of view at a large agency such as Diffiniti, it is a good thing. They are big spenders and "can do everything we are required to do to become a strategic partner". To become such a partner to Yahoo!, agencies must show they have a certain number of qualified people, a certain amount of spend and the full breadth of service offering.
Mel Carson, Microsoft adCenter community manager for Europe, says agencies are pushing his company to introduce its accreditation scheme. Microsoft is trying to "help agencies help themselves", he adds.
Microsoft will tailor its accreditation scheme to match businesses, Carson insists: "If you are a small business, you would be interacting with adCenter in a different way".
Yahoo! is "in consultation" with agencies about how they can become certified. The interesting stage will come when agencies find out if they have qualified for the accreditation tier they feel they deserve.
MAINTAINING STANDARDS
Google Advertising Professional - the requirements
- Search executives must manage at least one AdWords account for 90 days
- The executive must build and maintain at least £500 total spend for clients for the 90-day period
- Pass the Google Advertising Professional Exam
- To pass, the professional will need to achieve 75%
- To become a Google Qualified Company each business must have at least two qualified professionals in the programme
- Each business must build and maintain at least £50,000 total spend per quarter to become a Qualified Company.
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