- Google certifications on Skillshop and Google Skills
- Google certifications side by side
- Assessment rules: the 75-minute timer and one-day wait
- Professional Google Ads exams won't stay free
- Which Google certification to start with
- Passing your Skillshop assessment first time
- Where a Google certificate helps your career
- Frequently asked questions
The short version: Google's foundational certifications on Skillshop, including Google Ads, Google Analytics and Google Marketing Platform, are free in 2026: Skillshop's own help centre says foundational certifications continue to be available free. Each one lasts a year, the assessment gives you 75 minutes on a timer you can't pause, and the newer professional Google Ads certifications won't stay free.
Free Google certifications are one of the best value things a marketer or small business owner can add to a CV. They're also easy to fail for silly reasons, like closing a browser tab. Here's what's free, what each certificate lasts, and the rules that catch people out, all taken from Google's own help pages.
Google certifications on Skillshop and Google Skills
In no particular order:
- Google Ads certifications: best for anyone running or managing ads, with separate certificates for Search, Display, Video, Shopping and Apps.
- Google Analytics certification: best for anyone who reports on website traffic.
- Google Marketing Platform certifications: best for planners and analysts working with Google's wider ad tools.
- Google Skills certificates and skill badges: best for cloud and AI skills, built on hands-on labs.
Google certifications side by side
| Certification | Where | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads (Search, Display, Video, Shopping, Apps) | Skillshop | One year |
| Google Analytics | Skillshop | Check the certification page |
| Google Marketing Platform | Skillshop | Check the certification page |
| Google Skills certificates and badges | Google Skills | Shareable digital credential |
Google updates these programmes often, so check Skillshop before you start studying.
Assessment rules: the 75-minute timer and one-day wait
Google's help page on Ads certifications lays them out. You need a Skillshop account to access the assessments. You get 75 minutes to take one, and a timer starts counting down the moment you begin. You can't pause it, and if you leave, for example by closing your browser or if your computer shuts down, the timer expires immediately and you have to wait one day to try again. The same one-day wait applies if you don't pass.
Once you pass, your Google Ads certification stays valid for one year. To stay certified, you retake and pass the assessment again. Google is strict about the wording too: you can only call yourself certified while your certification is in effect, and it has to be you personally who passed. A colleague or an agency badge doesn't count.
The assessments are available in 22 languages, including English (UK) and English (US), and Google recommends on-the-job experience with Google Ads before you sit them. Skillshop also has the courses to prepare.
Why bother if you run your own small business rather than an agency? Because the courses behind the certificates are the clearest explanation of how Google's ad and analytics tools work, written by the people who built them. Even if you never show the certificate to anyone, working through one will change how you set up your next campaign.
Professional Google Ads exams won't stay free
Not every Google certification will stay free. Skillshop's help centre explains that its professional Google Ads certifications in Display, Search and Video are virtually proctored for higher exam integrity, and that these exams won't be free in future. Foundational certifications, it says, continue to be available free. If you're choosing between them today, the foundational ones are the free route.
There's another detail agencies care about. Google says five Ads certifications count towards Google Partner status: Search, Display, Video, Shopping ads and Apps. The professional certifications don't currently count towards Partner requirements.
Which Google certification to start with
- You run your own Google Ads: start with Google Ads Search if search ads are your main channel.
- You report on a website: the Google Analytics certification.
- You run video campaigns: Google Ads Video.
- You run an online shop: Shopping ads.
- You work in cloud or AI: a certificate learning path on Google Skills.
Google Skills, the newer learning platform that now opens at the old Cloud Skills Boost address, is separate from Skillshop. Google says you can complete a certificate learning path there to get a shareable digital credential, with no prerequisites, and that skill badges prove practical, technical skills through hands-on work. If your job is closer to engineering than marketing, it's the better fit.
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Passing your Skillshop assessment first time
- Create or sign in to your Skillshop account.
- Pick one certification that matches work you already do.
- Work through the Skillshop course for it before you open the assessment.
- Block out 75 quiet minutes on a reliable connection with your laptop plugged in.
- Don't close the tab or switch devices once the timer starts.
- Add the certification to LinkedIn and set a reminder to renew before the year is up.
Where a Google certificate helps your career
They're a strong signal for marketers, freelancers and anyone who manages ads or analytics for clients. For wider options, see the free AI certifications worth adding, and here's how to add certifications to LinkedIn once you pass.
My advice: pass the one that matches your daily work, put it on your profile, and diary the renewal. A lapsed certificate on LinkedIn looks worse than none.
Frequently asked questions
Are Google certifications free?
Google's foundational certifications on Skillshop, such as Google Ads, continue to be available free. Skillshop says its professional Google Ads certifications won't be free in future.
How long does a Google Ads certification last?
Google says a Google Ads certification remains valid for one year. You then retake and pass the assessment to stay certified.
How long is the Google Ads certification exam?
You get 75 minutes. The timer can't be paused, and if you close your browser it expires and you have to wait one day to try again.
What happens if I fail a Google certification?
Google says you can retake the assessment one day later.
Do I need a Skillshop account for Google certifications?
Yes. Google says that if you don't have a Skillshop account, you need to create one to access the Google Ads assessments.
What languages are Google Ads certifications available in?
Google says they're available in 22 languages, including English (UK), English (US), French, German, Spanish and Japanese.
Which Google certifications count for Google Partner status?
Google Ads Search, Display, Video, Shopping ads and Apps certifications count. Professional certifications don't currently count towards Partner requirements.
