Google Partners received a communication this week from Google and let’s just say many are reeling about the news. The email read like this:
“In the next few months, many of the features in the Google Partners portal will be moving to the new AdWords experience. With these changes, we’ll be able to deliver better value to our Partners.
As of April 2018 we will be turning off three features in Google Partners:
- 1. Leads
- 2. Google Partner Search
- 3. Insights
However, you’ll still see the contact information for any previous leads. Your company profile page will stay live, and you can continue to link to it from your company’s Partner or Premier Partner badge. Please visit Academy for Ads for Google’s e-learning courses, exams and certifications, and check Think with Google for market insights and trends.
Stay tuned for more updates from Google Partners.”
Needless to say, staying tuned for more updates has many rattled. What’s next? Could it be the Partners incentive program or Game On? From the beginning, the Partner Search algorithm appeared to be flawed, rendering it the red-headed step child amongst agencies – after all, anyone would expect an agency marketing portal from Google to at least deliver a good search function.
This is part of an on-going makeover of the entire AdWords bionetwork, which started in early 2017. Several of the features in the Google Partners portal will move to the new AdWords experience. The Partners qualification portal has already moved to Academy for Ads.
For Leads, Google is removing the feature completely… Partners will not be able to contact advertisers from the Leads page via the Partners portal or change the status of the lead. However, Google did communicate that you will still see contact information for any previous leads. Gee, thanks!
For Google Partner Search, listing your company’s information on the entry page, search results, search filters and navigation elements will no longer be available. Yikes.
All is not lost, though. Search views, Profile views and Lead inquiries will show in the Analytics tab of your My company page. Company profile pages will stay live allowing you to still link to your company’s public profile page from your company’s Partner or Premier Partner badge image.
For Insights, Once Insights is removed, you will no longer be able to find documents that were previously in the Insights section. To find e-learning courses, exams and certifications you’ll have to visit Academy for Ads. For market insights and trends go to Think with Google.
You mad, bro? Many Partners are not happy about the updates… and with good reason. We are only left with the option to embrace change and to see where it goes from here.