Google Advertising Tools

Chapter 7. Understanding Google, AdSense, and AdWords

Google is a colossus that sits astride access to information on the World Wide Web. Ubiquitous, useful, and often imitated—but seldom equaled—Google has lent its name to a verb: to google something (or someone) is to search for the thing or person on the Web. Google is also a forward-looking corporation filled with brilliant thinkers and one of the largest companies in the world in terms of market capitalization.

The primary focus of this book is making money with the Google advertising applications: the AdSense and AdWords programs. These programs are closely related to Google’s searching technology. AdSense ads are placed on your web site depending on the context of your site (in other words, Google’s analysis of how your site is likely to be found). And AdWords ads are targeted using keywords and phrases—the same keywords and phrases used when searching for something with Google.

The close relationship between Google web searching technology and the advertising programs means that it is important to understand a little about the syntax of Google searches when working with the AdSense program or crafting AdWord campaigns. It’s not that I propose to teach you how to use Google to search in this book. Rather, you need a sense of how others may be using Google to search when they come across your sites or ads.

To get the most out of working with Google, you also need to understand the parts of Google. It’s not easy to get a grasp ...