Chapter 1. Getting Started
Introduction to Google AdWords
AdWords is the name of Google’s auction-based advertising platform. Launched in 2000, it evolved into a hotly contested marketplace for ad position on Google’s search results pages. This chapter introduces basic AdWords concepts and how to create an account.
AdWords works because it doesn’t seem like advertising. To Google’s credit, the displayed advertising results are extremely relevant to the searcher’s query. Ads are displayed at the moment someone is looking for something and presented as potential solutions to their search. This relevancy is the key to the effectiveness of the system for both searchers and advertisers.
Ads appear on Google.com (plus Google search with other country extensions: Google.ca, Google.co.uk, Google.fr, etc.), other websites owned by Google, and websites that are members of Google’s advertising network.
AdWords also displays ads on web pages and other places. In the case of websites that display AdWords ads, the ads are not triggered by a search on a keyword; they are contextually targeted to the content of the web page. A person reading movie reviews on Pajiba.com might see ads for upcoming movies, while a person reading the Business section of NYTimes.com might see ads for insurance plans for employees. The most familiar ad format is the text ad, but image, Flash, video, and other interactive ad formats are available, too.
AdWords is not a “set it and forget it” platform. Campaigns should be regularly ...