Google to Scrap BPF

Google has decided to end its practice to provide search advertising companies with best practice funding payments worth as much as £50m a year. 

Google’s programme, dubbed Best Practice Funding (BPF), will sieze to exist by the end of 2008 giving advertisers over a year to adjust to the blow of loss of lucrative income.

The BPF programme was launched by Google in Europe in 2006 and gives search agencies a percentage of money back based on the level of spend on behalf of clients.

The aim of the BPF was primarily to increase the level of search engine advertising and incentivising ad agencies to invest in search technology, training and research to be able to create better search campaigns.

Through the BPF programme, agencies can get back anything from 3% to 8% of their ad spend each quarter depending on how much money they place with Google as well as other criteria.

For agencies to qualify for the BPF programme, they have to have had at least two employees trained as Google Advertising Professionals (GAP).

Damian Burns, head of agency relations at Google (EMEA) was quoted as saying: ”Agencies are now at a level where they don’t need a subsidy, everyone should be equal in an auction system, there shouldn’t be buying clout, the value for clients is in how well agency campaigns perform.”

Burns also added that there had been a “mixed” reaction from some agencies at the news.

BPF was introduced when Google decided to scrap its existing agency discount system in 2006.  Google’s agency discount was a system similar to how media agencies get discounts for buying TV ad slots.  

Last year saw Yahoo! modify its agency discount, offering a maximum of 10 percent rebate, down from 15 percent.  MSN has always maintained its agency discount at 10 percent.

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