Stafford Masie's response on the controversy surrounding agency certification:

“Google South Africa's direct sales organisation is currently engaging with approx 40 clients in South Africa. This number should increase as we build the necessary capacity and prove successful within this initial base. We are working in unison with agencies within most of these 40 clients, right now there are five of them.

“These agencies, as are many others, have struggled to truly integrate digital media into their traditional campaigns and delivery models. We're currently helping them to compile these strategies and build the teams within their orgs, and interlock with the rest of the organisation. The intent: create the strategy, competency, capability, capacity and deliverables that give our joint clients true end-to-end marketing campaigns – digital integrated with traditional.

“Again, we have five agencies currently covering these 40 clients. Over the past year these agencies and clients have requested that Google provide greater clarity and communicate what it believes are optimal business structures within agencies and customer environments to maximise the potential of Google's services. We have worked and are working with these five agencies currently covering our area of responsibility to personify this.

“Note that we do not have the model completely done just yet – there are some teething problems creating this capacity, competency and capability. Hopefully we'll have a model that everyone can replicate because we have proven it to be successful within the clients we are focused upon.

“Once successful we want to announce these five agencies as flagships that we have proven and consequently platforms and services that will enable ALL and EVERYONE to replicate this success within their businesses – agencies and clients throughout the industry.”