Today marked the official launch and informative livestream for Google Partners. In a nutshell, the main focus of this new program is to give agencies that help businesses succeed online. Google Partners will provide numerous resources, support, and training to agencies to ensure these businesses benefit from an online presence. All in all I am somewhat excited about the new platform and can’t wait to really see it in action.

Now you can’t just automatically become a Google Partner, Google is not just going to hand these things out like candy; and when I say, “hand out”, this time its literal. Google will be giving a “status” badge to any agencies that complete their list of tasks. These tasks include: tests, service grades, best practices, and monetary values per quarter. Once completed you will be given the illustrious Google Partners badge, be wise not to abuse this badge or drop rank in any of the above tasks, the badge can be removed.

The 2 hour presentation was extremely informative and as I watched I thought to myself “hmm, this is an overall nice thing for them to do for agencies and smb’s”. Google wants to focus on three main things.

Credibility – That Google Partner badge and its requirements

Connection – Deeper relationships with Google, hangouts with industry leaders, workshops for further education and skill building, and best of all they wish to connect agencies with potential clients.

Growth – Ultimate growth of your agency, its client base, and the Google partner name.

Here is Google Partners’ statement; “Every business should have the help it needs to succeed on the web. Every day, agencies and web professionals work with businesses big and small to bring us closer to that reality.”

Also during this 2-hour presentation and reveal Google had some guest speakers. Now I didn’t quite understand the purpose for them being there but I still learned some. It actually brought me back to my long lost college days of 3 years ago. Mitch Joel brought up some interesting points about his view on the subject of connectivity and the industry who supports it. He spoke of the eminent and necessary changes in trends and the “one screen experience”. One screen meaning we are attached at that moment with specific behaviors to which ever screen is in front of us, tv, mobile, pad, table, pc, mac, etc. He urged agencies to think differently about how they attack strategies for new clients. One of his quotes that stuck to me was “Technology has replaced technology with technology”, and what he was explaining was how only a few short years ago one had an ipod, a cell phone, a laptop, and a tv. They were all running at the same time and the average person would jump from screen to screen. Now, one might pull out just an iPad and be able to access all the information that at one time was accessed by 4 or 5 devices. The once screen world… Heavy stuff. Dan Pink also spoke, and dove into the ever-changing sales trend of today. He touched on our time becoming, if not already, an information parody (where consumers know just as much as sellers) and no longer an information asymmetry (where sellers know more than sellers). He changed the all too dated sellers motto and flipped it; ABC’s Always Be Closing. No no, not anymore, ABC Atonement, Buoyancy, Clarity. Atonement instead of empathy, buoyancy to keep your head up after rejection, and clarity to know it isn’t the end.

I don’t doubt that at some point Google will change something or alter it in someway, or may even have an alternate agenda but for now I embrace the new platform and look forward to using it… and maybe, just maybe, if I eat all my veggies ill grow up big and strong as a Google partner.