A Google Partner badge means the agency has met Google’s thresholds for account performance, ad spend across the accounts it manages, and staff certifications. It shows the agency is active and certified. It does not prove the agency is good for a business like yours, or that it will put your interests ahead of spend.
Spend thresholds favour larger agencies that manage bigger budgets, so a small specialist can be very good without a badge. Judge any agency on account ownership, tracking, reporting and results for similar businesses.
To check a badge is real, look the agency up in Google’s own Partners directory rather than trusting an image on its website.
This is one part of a bigger picture. How to choose a Google Ads agency in Australia covers fees, ad spend, account ownership, proposals and timelines in one place.