WebProNews

Groups of business students from 466 universities in 61 countries will be given the chance to help local small businesses raise their online profile while testing their own marketing skills by competing in the Google Online Marketing Challenge.

On the Official Google Blog, Daniel Rubin, from the Google AdWords Communications team writes, "The competition offers student groups $200 vouchers to spend on Google AdWords advertising so that they can work with a local business they choose to devise effective online marketing campaigns."

"The teams will outline a strategy, run the campaign, assess their results, and recommend ideas to further develop the businesses' online marketing."

Participants will have three weeks to develop their strategy and will be required to submit two competition reports. The first report will be submitted before the challenge starts and the second one after the competition has ended. "An international panel of professors will judge the entries, and will choose winners based on the success of the campaigns and the quality of the reports."

The winners will be announced in July and will receive a trip to Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. They will be able to meet the AdWords team and be introduced to Google executives.