How do you get to be a Google Adwords Certified Company?  Practise.  Oh wait, no, that’s how you get to Carnegie Hall.

Frankly, if you happen to be Canadian, it’s a whole lot easier to get to Carnegie Hall.  Google, whose stated mandate, mantra, guiding principle, hollow mission statement or whatever you wish to call it is “Do No Evil” prevents or more to the point, prohibits Canadian companies from achieving the vaunted status of Google Adwords Certified Company.

Was it something we searched?

To date, there seems no real reason given and the issue is not one of proficiency as individuals within a Canadian organization can become Qualified Google Adwords Professionals.

Companies in Liechtenstein can become Google Adwords Qualified.  Liechtenstein. Population: 33,987.  Companies in San Marino can become Google Adwords Qualified.  San Marino.  Population: 29,251.  Companies in the Vatican can become Google Adwords Qualified for God’s sake.  In fact there are well over 160 countries listed by name where companies can become Google Adwords Qualified but there is no amount of practise that will grant a search engine marketing agency in Canada that privilege.

An oversight?  Maybe.  But with over $8B (Cdn) spent in online commerce in 2005 in Canada, and over 49 million electronic transactions originating out of this country, Google may want to rethink it’s current strategy.  It’s one thing not to service a company.  But to forego a whole country?

Perhaps on Google’s earth there are no borders between Canada and the U.S. and that’d be great except then we’d have to get into a whole other dialog about Google Checkout not being available to Canadians either.  (It’s coming.)

Evil? Perhaps not.  And perhaps not intentionally so. 

Stupid? Thoughtless? Territorial? Revenue compromising?

I’ll let you be the judge.

                                                                           ~ The (SEP) Guy

PS - I did my due diligence.  Canada does in fact show up on Google Earth.

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