Advertising on Google with Google AdWords

Where do all those AdSense ads come from? The ads that Google places on your web pages come from another Google program called Google AdWords.

AdWords is where Google sells all the ads it places, both on users' sites and on its own search results pages.

If you want to place an ad (excuse me, a "sponsored link") on selected Google search results pages, you need to sign up for the AdWords program. You purchase your space by selected keyword; when you buy a keyword, your advertisement will appear on results pages for searches involving that keyword. (Figure 37.17 shows a typical AdWords ad.)

Figure 37.17. A typical Google AdWords ad.

That's right, Google AdSense makes use of Google's "contextual advertising" technology to place your ad alongside the most relevant content. That means your ad not only appears on matching Google search results pages, but also on third-party websites that feature similar content. This ensures that your advertising reaches qualified consumers who are interested in what you're offering; you're not blanketing the market blind, you're targeting specific consumers.

Where Google AdWords Advertises

Google claims that its AdWords program reaches more than 80% of all Internet users. That's due to the huge reach of the Google site itself, as well as the company's partners in the Google Network.

The Google Network includes all of Google's sites (Froogle, Gmail, and the rest), the hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized sites that participate in the Google AdSense program, and a number of major websites. These third-party sites include the following:

• About.com

• AOL

• Ask.com

• AT&T WorldNet

• Business.com

• CompuServe

• EarthLink

• Food.com

• HGTV.com

• How Stuff Works

• InfoSpace

• Lycos

• Netscape Netcenter

• The New York Times

• Reed Business

• Shopping.com

Determining Your CostsAnd Choosing a Payment Option

Advertising with Google AdWords isn't like a traditional advertising buy; there are no contracts and deadlines and such. You pay a one-time $5.00 activation fee, and then are charged either on a cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) basis. (You can choose either payment method.) You control your costs by specifying how much you're willing to pay (per click or per impression) and by setting a daily spending budget. Google will never exceed the costs you specify.

How much does AdWords cost? It's your choice. If you go with the cost-per-click method, you can choose a maximum CPC click price from $0.01 to $100. If you go with the CPM method, there is a minimum cost of $0.25 per 1,000 impressions. Your daily budget can be as low as a penny, up to whatever you're willing to pay.

If you go the CPC route, Google uses AdWords Discounter technology to match the price you pay with the price offered by competing advertisers for a given keyword. The AdWords Discounter automatically monitors your competition and lowers your CPC to one cent above what they're willing to pay.

You can opt to prepay your advertising costs, or to pay after your ads start running. With this last option, Google charges you after 30 days of when you reach your initial credit limit of $50, whichever comes first. Even small advertisers can participate, as Google accepts payment via credit card, debit card, direct debit, or bank transfer.

Creating an AdWords Ad

It's surprisingly easy to create and activate an AdWords ad. You need to determine which keywords you want to buy upfront, of course, but from there it's a simple matter of filling in the appropriate web forms.

Here's how it works:

1.	From the Google AdWords home page (adwords.google.com), shown in Figure 37.18, click the Click to Begin button. Figure 37.18. The home page for Google AdWords.
2.	When the next page appears, as shown in Figure 37.19, choose either the Starter Edition or Standard Edition option. (If this is your first time listing, I recommend going the Starter Edition routewhich is what I'll discuss throughout the rest of these numbered steps.) Figure 37.19. Choosing either the Starter Edition or Standard Edition solutions.
3.	When the next page appears, as shown in Figure 37.20, enter your location and language. Figure 37.20. Entering information about your ad.
4.	Scroll to the Write Your Ad section and enter the following information: the URL of the website you want the add to link to, your ad's title (25 characters max), and two lines of text (35 characters max each).
5.	Scroll to the Choose Keywords section and enter up to 20 keywords that you want your ad linked to. (Enter one keyword or phrase per line; a "keyword" can actually be a multiple-word phrase.)
6.	Scroll to the Choose Your Currency section and enter the currency you'll be paying in.
7.	Scroll to the Set Your Budget section and select your monthly AdWords budget$30, $100, $500, or a custom amount.
8.	When you're done entering information on this page, click the Continue button.
9.	Google now prompts you to sign in to your Google account, or to create a new AdWords-specific account. Follow the onscreen instructions to proceed.
10.	Google will now email you with instructions on how to set up billing information for your account. Follow tthe instructions in this email to activate your account and launch your ads.

If you chose a Standard Edition campaign, you have a few more options to consider. In contrast to the Starter Edition, the Standard Edition lets you

• Create multiple ads (instead of the Starter Edition's single ad)

• Choose from a variety of pricing options, including keyword-specific bidding, content bidding, ad position preference, and so on

• Control how much you're willing to pay per day, as well as the maximum you're willing to pay when someone clicks your ad (the cost-per-click)

• Target specific websites for ad placement

• Utilize a variety of advanced planning and reporting tools, including conversion tracking, the AdWords traffic estimator, and a variety of sophisticated statistics and reports

  As I said earlier, the Starter Edition is probably the best way to get started. Once you get a few ad campaigns undert your belt, then you can graduate to the advanced options available with the Standard Edition.

Monitoring Your Ads' Performance

Once your ad campaign is started, you can monitor performance from the main AdWords page. Once you sign intot this page, select the My Ad Campaign tab, as shown in Figure 37.21. You can view the performance of each keyword you selected, in terms of impressions, clicks, and total cost to-date.

Figure 37.21. Viewing the performance of your ad campaign.

This page also lets you change the parameters of your campaign. You can add more keywords (by clicking the Add More Keywords link) or delete existing keywords (by clicking the Delete link next to an individual keyword). You can also upgrade to the Standard Edition option at any time by clicking the Graduate to Standard Edition link.