Google AdWords™ for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 9. Getting It Done with AdWords Tools

In This Chapter

• Improving campaigns with the Account Optimizer tools

• Saving time with Google Campaign Management tools

• Checking your account's vital statistics with Diagnostic tools

When my father was 12 years old in 1930, his Uncle Freddie offered to take him to a Newark Bears minor league baseball game. With the Depression raging, he couldn't afford the ticket on his own, so he accepted the offer from his notoriously stingy (and occasionally just notorious) uncle. Upon arriving at the ballpark, Uncle Freddie hustled them away from the turnstiles, around the stadium to the fence abutting the farthest outfield bleachers. Once there, Freddie knelt down and instructed my father to climb on his back and grab the top of the fence.

With a last-gasp boost by Freddie, my father vaulted the fence and toppled into the ballpark, right on top of a pair of cops hired to keep order at the raucous venue. One of the policemen roughly lifted my father up by the collar and inquired of the quivering youth, "Don't you know these games are free for kids?"

A whole industry of third-party tools has grown up around Google AdWords. Some of them, in my opinion, are indispensable (see my recommendations in Bonus Chapter 1, available as a PDF file at www.askhowie.com/bonuschapters). Others are convenient and may be worth it because of the time they save. But many are simply duplicates of free tools included (but buried) within your AdWords account. You may never need ...