Google AdWords™ for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 7. Deciding Where and When to Show Your Ads

In This Chapter

• Getting the most from your campaigns

• Showing ads around the corner and around the world

• Selecting content Web sites to show your ads

• Choosing the best ad positions

When I install a piece of software on my computer, I often get a screen that asks me whether I want to go ahead with the Typical Installation (always recommended) or the Custom Installation (for advanced users only). To my recollection, I've never chosen Custom. I always worried that I would install a version of Microsoft Word that wouldn't let me type the letter M, didn't have a built-in English-to-Esperanto translator, or would omit some other crucial feature.

Google gives you an overwhelming number of choices for configuring AdWords campaigns — but it doesn't really bring them to your attention. Google isn't trying to bamboozle you; instead, the default settings are designed to protect clueless advertisers from themselves. But you, my friend, are no longer a clueless advertiser. By virtue of buying this book (or at least spilling coffee on it at Barnes & Noble), you are hereby officially dubbed clueful advertiser.

In this chapter, you see how to tweak the AdWords default settings that aren't appropriate for power users. You discover how to bid intelligently on your own and when to let Google set your bids for you. (I know Google's motto is "Don't Be Evil," but I still wouldn't give it complete control over my advertising spending.) And you figure out how ...