Google Online Marketing Challenge 2017

Google Online Marketing Challenge is conducted by Google and provides an opportunity for students to create online campaigns using Google’s tools such as Ad words+. Students have to develop and run an online advertising campaign for a business or non-profit organisation over a three week period (12 October 2016- 2 April 2017), with a $250 AdWords advertising budget provided by Google. 

• The Challenge is open to students in a team of three to six members from undergraduate or graduate programs. They can submit entries in one or more of the following categories:
  • AdWords Business category
  • AdWords Social Impact category
  • Google+ Social Media Marketing category (optional)
• All students must register with a verified faculty member/professor, lecturer or instructor currently employed by an institution to participate in the Google Online Marketing Challenge 2016-17.
• The results of the competition will be declared in July/ August 2017.

Google Online Marketing Challenge 2017 Important Dates

AdWords Business Awards

There will be winners from each of the four regions: Europe, Americas, Asia-Pacific and Middle-East & Africa.

Global Winners

• A trip to San Francisco: Winners and their professor will get a week's trip to San Francisco, USA.
• One day trip to the US Google offices and meet the Google Online Marketing Challenge team at Mountain View, California.
• Computing Devices: They will also win computing devices and other prizes.
• Personalized certificate of appreciation.

Regional Winners

• Winners and the professor will be awarded a two-night trip to a regional Google office.
• Computing Devices: They will also win computing devices and other prizes.
• Personalized certificate of appreciation.

Google+ Social Marketing Awards

Google+ Hangout Participation: Both the Global an Regional winners will get a chance to participate in a Google+ Hangout with Google+ Team members.

AdWords Social Impact Awards

 The winning teams will also get the following donations for their non-profit partners:

• First Prize: Donation of $15,000
• Second Prize: Donation of $10,000
• Third Prize: Donation of $5,000

Professors and Student teams have to register for the competition

Click Here for Professors & Students Online Registration

Access Dashboard. After the verification from the professor, the team can access their dashboard with email account used by their captain during the registration process. Next, student teams have to add required information to the dashboard, go onto selecting competition partner and prepare AdWords Pre-campaign Report.

Select a Business. All teams along with the support of their professors should identify a client business or non-profit organization.

Click here to check the Guidelines to Select a Business for Google Online Marketing Challenge 

How to Run the Google AdWord Campaign

• Learn about AdWords and the Client. In order to prepare reports, participants should meet their clients to discuss strategy.
• Upload Pre-Campaign Report and request access to the Competition Account. Once the competition account has been accessed, pre-campaign report will not be re uploaded. Once google verifies the request, competition account's login/password/CID details will be shared in the team’s dashboard within 5-7 business days.
• Run Campaign. Once student teams receive credit in their AdWords accounts, they can start running their campaigns. The Adwords Crediting Window is between 12 October 2016- 2 April 2017.

Click here to check the steps for running the campaign in Google Online Marketing Challenge 

Submission AdWords Post-Campaign Report/Impact Statement

• Student Teams must submit their reports within four weeks of their AdWords campaign ending, but no later than 31 May 2017.
• If they chose a non-profit organisation and wish to be eligible for the Social Impact Award, they must append an Impact Statement to their report.

Google and a panel of independent academics from all over the world select the winning teams on the basis of the reports submitted by the participants. 

AdWords Business Category - Global & Regional

• Fifteen Semi-finalists in each region: Top 15 candidates are selected from each region, i.e. Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa after considering more than 30 factors within an Adword account.
• Top five finalists from each region: Top five candidates are selected from the group of semi-finalists on the basis of several factors like group structure, campaign, keyword quality scores, product features usage and ad text best practices like call-to-action phrase and matching ad text with the keywords in the ad group.
• Regional and global winners: These are selected by an Independent Global Academic Panel on the basis of Pre-Campaign and Post-Campaign Reports.

AdWords Social Impact Category

• Top 10 teams: Top 10 teams working in partnership with a non-profit organisation will be selected on the basis of Campaign Statistics.
• Top 3 winners: These winners will be selected by an independent Global Academic Panel on the basis of Adword Pre-Campaign and Post-Campaign Reports and Social Impact Statement.

Google+ Social Media Marketing Category - Global & Regional

The participants of either or both of the above-mentioned categories will be eligible to be considered for this category. The winners will be selected by an independent Global Academic Panel on the basis of the following factors:

• Google+ Performance Indicators which are assessed by Google
• Google+ Page, Google+ Social Media Marketing Pre-Campaign and Post-Campaign Report.

Results: Google Online Marketing Challenge 2016-17 results will be declared in July/ August 2017.

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