[EFruit]

I don't trust a company like Google to act in its students' and certificate holders' best interests. It's not hard to imagine that the certifications will all be tied back to a Google account that they can terminate at any time, at their discretion. On a more Google-y note, I wouldn't want to get an email in five years telling me that they're sunsetting their online certificate verification portal, meaning no one can actually trust my claims as a certificate holder.

[viraptor]

This is only a problem for a specific implementation. You can skip the online verifier for example by handing out a certificate-signed PDF. Until we see the actual implementation or plan, there's no need to criticise the potential ones.

Thought exercise: how do employers verify certificates currently, and how would they do it if your college shut down? In my experience, it's "they don't" and "they couldn't". It's both a bit more and less tricky with jobs that require recognised certification - there will be likely a nationally issued certification which matches your education one.

[EFruit]

I agree, my speculation is just that: speculation. I sincerely hope they can come up with a generic, decentralized way to verify professional credentials, as that could bolster certification's viability as a career path.

Elsewhere in tech, Cisco's certifications come with a sort of verification code which you can punch in to their site to check (in addition to the paper trail from Pearson and the physical certificate they mail you). If it weren't such a long-running part of their business, I'd be equally skeptical about them maintaining the certification infrastructure, as it's wildly tangential to the business of building networking equipment. As to the question of what a potential employer would do if Cisco (or Google, or a college, or a bootcamp) did shut it down their verification systems? I couldn't say, I've never hired anyone, nor have I had HR breathing down my neck to check off position requirements.

[blackflame7000]

> "there's no need to criticise the potential ones."

Why not? There might be people on these forums who could take note.

[judge2020]

The certificate is via Coursera, which is entirely separate and only has a 'sign in with Google' option. You don't need a Google account to do it, get your certificate, or link it to your LinkedIn.

[wmf]

I think the point of these certs is to get a job at Google which lessens some of these concerns.