Google Adwords

I read recently (June 2007) that Google accounted for 65% of all internet searches (Yahoo accounted for 25%) and that statistic only drove home the feeling that presently, Pay-per-click advertising means Google Adwords.

You know the ads I mean, the little ads that come up on the right hand side of the page under the title "Sponsored Links" when you do an ordinary search.

Adwords: The most powerful force in online advertising

Well, those "Sponsored Links" are paid for by advertisers...and their success has resulted in a multi-billion dollar windfall for Google over the last few years, helped by strategic corporate alliances for Adwords to appear on:

• AOL
• Shopping.com
• Earthlink &
• Ask Jeeves

Rob Williams of England's Dolphin Music

interviewed at Google on why his company uses Adwords

Even more so, Adwords' extraordinary growth has been primarily because Google continues to make technological breakthroughs in finding reliable, relevant content, serving both the advertisers and the consumers.

One extremely important recent development has been geo-targeting, which enables their advertisers to specifically target specific local areas. I'm not the only one who believes that the future will result in Adwords replacing the Yellow Pages and many present trade listings: 

Bob Nicholson's superb intro to Google's geo-targeting

The other side of the coin, of course, is the functionality, which enables you to advertise whatever product you want, whenever you want, in whatever part of the world you want. Incidentally, you can preview those ads from around the world using a FREE Google Ad Preview tool. 

Recommended Google Adwords Resources

1   Perry Marshall has long been considered the King of Adwords and he's certainly the best introduction that I know of. I would recommend him for all beginners, many intermediates and a few experienced. If you want to slash your Adwords costs, Perry's the man

2  Simon Leung is the former #2 of Google Adwords. He helped build the program up from its inception in 2002 until 2006, when he left Google to market his in-depth knowledge to the world. If you advertise using Adwords, you must visit this page, it could save you a bundle.    

3  For low-hype and very functional software to organise your pay-per-click campaigns, I recommend Adword Accelerator, a membership site. It's perfect for the small business owner or the person who doesn't want all the bells and whistles but wants to create good leyword lists and run multiple campaigns with a minimum of fuss