34. The End of Google Best Practice Funding: How will this affect your business?

At the start of 2009, Google ended their Best Practice Funding scheme. BPF was established in 2006 to aid the growing focus on search marketing amongst agencies, and also to promote skills training and the usage of new technology in the sector. So now that BPF is coming to an end, how will this affect the digital marketing campaigns of businesses in the new year? Best Practice Funding succeeded in terms of the growth of Google in Europe, the advancement of agencies, and search marketing as a whole. But BPF was exploited by some clients changing between marketing agencies to benefit from the scheme, as well as agencies themselves using the funding to win contracts by offering lower management fees and covering up poor and lacklustre performance. Subsequently, companies and agencies whose business models have previously relied on Best Practice Funding will no longer be able to acquire clients unless they choose to focus on the advancement, innovation and overall progression of their search marketing offering. Each will be working harder to negotiate new deals with clients whose contracts are ending with the BPF dependants. In turn, this will re-establish a sense of equality amongst those who have used the scheme as intended. From January, business will be obtained by the quality and reputation of each agency, and a healthy increase in competition will be witnessed as services become more uniquely geared towards each specific business and campaign. Agencies will now have to consider search marketing in a more lateral, all-encompassing, and diverse sense. Stewart Roode, PPC Account Manager at Guava commented: “Choosing an agency in a level playing field and basing that decision upon performance and reputation can only be a good thing. Those agencies who really have concentrated on ROI and client returns will be well placed in 2009”.