Google is retiring the Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) program, and replacing it with the new Google AdWords Certification program.

“We’ve had a lot of great feedback from agencies and today we’re announcing changes designed to offer them better training and more rigorous certification in AdWords proficiency, and to lower costs for those who help advertisers get the most out of AdWords,” says Penry Price, Vice President, Global Agency Development at Google. “We’re also making it easier for advertisers to find certified agency partners to work with them on digital advertising.”

Features of the new training program include:

- New training materials to help agencies better understand recent changes in search marketing and AdWords functionality, available via webinar series, learning center, or on-site training at Google

- More challenging certification exams to test practical application of knowledge and best practices (rather than simple recall of knowledge)

- Advanced-level exams to highlight competency in search, display, reporting and analysis

- A redesigned Certified Partner badge, which includes a “Click to Verify” element so advertisers can view the partner’s profile page for additional information.

Google has also launched Google Partner Search, which a directory that pairs advertisers with Certified Partners, as well as new AdWords API pricing.