The final notice or warning for me to take one of the advanced advertising exam for the google certification program was sent awhile ago and the deadline was yesterday. So after 5 cups of coffee and 3 hours of studying along with a glass of wine and a movie to relax my mind, I was off to take the search advertising advanced exam.

My experience with the fundamental exam was really good, although I was more nervous and studied 3 days before the exam. With no question it was a breeze, leaving me extra time to double check on the answers I was unsure of. So naturally I wasn’t really feeling the pressure, although I was telling myself that I needed to study over and over. Going in with this mind set was my mistake this time.

With the first few questions making me think for nearly a minute per question, I thought this is going to be a challenge. Fortunately not all the questions were like that with a fair amount of obvious questions that takes a split second to answer. But the exam had my brain on full throttle. I was wondering when did I read about this? or did they even talk about this in the adwords learning center?? Trying to recall every bits of information I was making quite a bit of educated guesses. And when I finished the first run, I was left with about 20 minutes and about 25 % of marked or unsure answers.

That is when I began to really feel the pressure. With the fundamental exam, it was about 15% of marked answers with nearly 30 min of time left. So with the time ticking my mind was thinking what can it be?? and Oh no!! at the same time. Naturally with 20 minutes remaining I was forced to choose the questions that I can confirm the answers.

After the 2 hours, I was welcomed with the result “Pass”

This exam had made me realize that no matter how easy it maybe, be prepared. And that the standard of google adwords is gradually being set to a higher level. I wouldn’t want to discuss about what questions were on the test for that purpose. But would like to discuss some general topics that I felt questioned by it’s purpose.

First, there is the use of the application adwords editor. I personally don’t use the adwords editor often. Just for some clients that require mass editing or for review purposes with clients. In the learning center it is clear that this is one tool to be used for marketers. But in the exam there were questions that were pertained to some in depth usage of the software. Although I expected a more general question on the purpose, I wasn’t quite ready to answer some of the questions being asked. Again it felt as if google wants us to use the adwords editor and master it as well. But with the new adwords interface becoming more efficient over the months I do wonder what do they really want us to know here?

Next is the MCC account. Yes, we do use the MCC account but not so much the sub MCC’s. Although, this has lit a light that we should be incorporating it’s structure and be aware of it.

But what gave me the big question mark is the usage of the adwords API. We’re not a big company here and frankly we don’t require it yet. Again it was my understanding that it’s merely an advanced tool for larger marketers to ease their work load by directly accessing and using the your data. So, I really didn’t expect some of the questions being asked regarding the adwords API. I won’t mention any questions in detail, but for any test takers who needs some advice, these are some of the areas you should be careful and be aware before you take the exam.

So although I passed this exam, it still left me with a disturbing feeling. There are few more exams that I will be challenging soon and well, let’s see what happens.