When an individual is “qualified” it means that person has met the qualification requirements of the Google Advertising Professional certification. If two people within the company have met the qualification requirements that company can receive a “Qualified Company” logo.

A qualified professional should be running your campaign(s) because it means that they have been trained in pay-per-click advertising and the rules and systems involved.  But there are a surprising number of companies that claim to be qualified and are faking it. A number of companies are putting the logo on their website without having that logo link to their professional status page (which is how Google certifies that the logo is real and not just a picture). For an example of a professional status page, click on the logo on the right and you’ll be directed to my professional status page.

Make sure that the company you hire to run your PPC campaign(s) has a Google qualified professional that will be working on your campaign. The following excerpt is from Google AdWords explaining how to identify whether your company/specialist is in fact “qualified”…..

How can I tell if a professional is really Qualified and not just yanking my chain?

“We take many measures to protect our users from conducting business with unethical individuals and companies. The best way to verify their qualification is by looking for the AdWords Qualified Individual or Company logo on their Professional Status page. This page includes Google’s validation that the individual or company has received Qualified status within the Google Advertising Professionals program.

You can find the Professional Status page by clicking on the AdWords Qualified Individual or Company logo that is visible from the individual’s or company’s website. If you don’t find it there, simply ask your professional for the link to the page. Once you find the page, it’s important to check for the following things so you can ensure that the page and professional are authentic:

• The professional’s business name.
• Professional Status page hosting by Google. The prefix of the URL string should be ‘http://adwords.google.com/select/ProfessionalStatus.’
• Google’s validation of the individual or company’s Qualified status.

If you find a page that does not include all of these characteristics, please let Google know by completing this form.” – Provided by Google Advertising Professional Help