This book was well written for its time but Google no longer uses the formulas found in this book. Any book written before August 2005 should be considered out of date at this point. At that time Google introduced the concept of 'Quality Score' and that changed things quite a bit. Google also recently (December, 2007) changed the way it analyzes the associaton of keywords, ads, CPR, and site content. So the basic concepts of this book are fine but the specifics have moved on. I wish I had read the review from October, 2005 entitled "Nice but...it's obsolete".

When I got Anthony Borelli's book, Affiliate Millions, I knew right away that I wanted to try my hand at placing ads on Google to generate traffic for websites and earn big commissions through their affiliate programs.

You can get started using Affiliate Millions alone. Since the topic was so new to me, I decided on further study before jumping in. After Affiliate Millions, I read "Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords."

Winning Results with Google AdWords covers a lot of the same ground as "Ultimate Guide." The difference is that "Winning Results" has the weight and authority of a textbook. It covers such esoteric topics as keyword arbitrage, bidding wars, and dayparting. The book is comprehensive. It's an admirable achievement. Mr. Goodman is an eloquent writer.

Mr. Goodman has his own consulting firm. The audience for the book appears to be e-commerce professionals. It is not a get-rich-quick program. I really think Mr. Goodman has forgotten more than other "experts" will ever know about paid placement, search marketing, or whatever you want to call it.

Mr. Goodman is a real grouch when it comes to affiliate marketing (the subject of Mr. Borelli's book "Affiliate Millions"). Goodman writes:

"At the small end of the small-business spectrum is the affiliate marketer. This is someone who joins a parent company's affiliate program, receives custom linking codes that are used to credit them with sales, and then goes out and finds customers for the parent company. I've no doubt that for a clever minority, the math can work--attract targeted clicks by placing AdWords ads and hope enough of them convert to a sale to make you a profit. Just don't ask me for tips. If I could tell you how to turn a passive profit in your home in your spare time, then why wouldn't I set up all those affiliate codes and keywords myself, shut down my computer, and take a nap?"

Well, he did mention a clever minority. I guess that's enough to keep hope alive for the thousands who are following Anthony Borelli, Perry Marshall, "Google Cash," Wealthy Affiliate, and myriad other advisors.

I don't think Mr. Goodman's words should be a wet blanking for aspiring affiliate millionaires, but it doesn't hurt to have a sober assessment of what they are up against. For those who elect to press on, this book is indispensable.

Is it nap time yet?

Maybe the reason people are still giving this book 5-star reviews is that it's crammed full of incredibly useful information. The 0.5% CTR limit is NOT the most important thing about Adwords, no matter what one of the other reviewers (Andreas Ramos) says. And although the limit is gone, keeping your CTR high is still critical to effective results.

It's the nature of computer books to become outdated more rapidly than most other non-fiction categories. Writing about Google is particularly tough, as they are such a rapidly moving target. However, I'd say that 95% of the advice in this book still holds. Two years after publication, that's pretty good.

Uniquely among the books in this area, Goodman writes in depth from many points of view: both the micro nuts-and-bolts stuff and the macro big-picture stuff. If you want to learn as much as you can about Adwords, get Goodman (and then Perry Marshall's book). I'm looking forward to the 2nd edition.

I had been running an adword campaign for 3 months with limited success. I immediately used every tactic I could from this book and increase the quantity of terms I used, the quality of terms I used, my ad text, my landing pages, my offer.... and my Results. I almost instantly increased my Profits 10x over what I was making before this book. At the same time I dropped my cost per click from .59 to .14.

I am not a web guru. I'm not a marketing guru. I'm not a sales guru. I just read the book and did what he said to do. The real key for me was in finding seldom considered keywords that cost tons less than the obvious keywords, and still bring in the traffic. I learned it from this book

On my way to becoming a Google Ad Specialist I have done Google's courses online and off but found that Winning Results with Google AdWords by Andrew Goodman has added a tremendous amount of context to my education. I am actually on my third time through the book in order to let the subtleties Andrew describes with respect to keyword development and optimization techniques in particular sink in.

On my way to becoming a Google Ad Specialist I have done Google's courses online and off but found that Winning Results with Google AdWords by Andrew Goodman has added a tremendous amount of context to my education. I am actually on my third time through the book in order to let the subtleties Andrew describes with respect to keyword development and optimization techniques in particular sink in.

I guess, that for a newbie, the entire book would be interesting, but for me, i found the meaty parts to be in part III , from chapter 6 onwards.

Readers that are running current adwords campaign can benefit greatly from the chapter on "Writing Winning Ads' and on 'Increasing Conversion Rates'

These two chapters alone is worth the price of the book

This Adwords book by Andrew Goodman is probably one of the best Adwords books around and even got positive feedback from the Google Engineer Matt Cutts (at Matt Cutt's personal Blog).

The AdWords Service changes all the time which makes books about it very tough and outdated quickly. A lot of the things you can learn in this book are not specific to AdWords though. They can be applied to any PPC Service out there.

In addition to this print version would it make sense to get the new eBook from Andrew Goodman as well. The eBook is frequently updated which explains the much higher price tag than the one of this print version.

Google is the most popular Internet search engine, so having your ad pop up on its search results can be a boon for your business. The challenge is to get your ad to appear on the first page of search results by using just the right keywords. Author Andrew E. Goodman shows readers the best ways to play the AdWords game. The primary warning is that Google AdWords rules change faster than a book can be published, and they have changed since this book was issued. However, the book still provides valuable concepts and ideas for online ad campaigns. Learn how to select the right keywords, write copy, test your ads, modify campaigns based on collected data, set a budget and reduce the chances of attracting the wrong prospects. We believe this book gives readers a better understanding of how to work with search engine ads.

This is probably the best AdWords book that I've laid my hand on. It's is certainly much better than the similar book called "Google Advertising Guerrilla Tactics: Google Advertising A-z Plus 150 Killer Adwords Tips & Tricks". If you are deciding between these books, grab Winning Results With Google Adwords. Although that the 'Guerilla Tactics' book is newer, this book is much more useful.

All books about AdWords are somehow outdated, but it's not really important. All the fundamental things are included in this comprehensive book.

It has helped me to improve my AdWords campaign which is now more profitable, 'Guerilla Tactis' book failed to do that.

Google Adwords are the amazing way for SME Business promotions in Global Markets.

If you are the volume suppliers of clothes, electronics, toys ....etc.

Reckon you can try it now.

I really enjoyed studying this book about Google Adwords. The author does a very good job covering the topic and gives a lot of background information. He clearly proves to be an authority in this field and the information in the book is provided with a strong foundation.
He does not limit himself to just the advertising on Google, but also describes the other online advertising providers. It is interesting to read how the media have developed to the products offered today. The book is not only beneficial for new online merchants, but also experienced web sellers can learn many new tricks and expand their understanding of the business they are in.
A truly comprehensive guide to online advertising.

AdWords changes so fast that a lot of the information is already outdated. It does give you a great base knowledge of AdWords and even compares it with Yahoo's system. I would have liked it if he also compared it to MSN and other Pay per click sites. Overall, a good resource.

I found the book full of self evident information overly explained. Their latest book on Yahoo Search Marketing suffers from the same self evident information that does not require a book at all just the help section of Adwords or Yahoo Search.

This is a truly excellent book. While, no doubt, there will be parts of this book that become stale in this fast changing environment it's more important to focus on the general principles he explains here and the comprehensive overview he presents on Pay Per Click advertising. Through this book you will learn the vocabulary and concepts that are applicable irrespective of the particular technological changes. Well worth the price of admission. Marcos Dinnerstein at http://www.parlo.com

I followed the advice given in the book and was immediately rewarded with a 36% website traffic gain. My clickthroughs increased from their existing rates (0.7 to 2.3%) to their current rates of (1.7 to 26.3%).

My only fear in recommending this as a "must read" book is that my competition will buy it!

Dan Penford

If you use Adwords to sell anything, you need to check out Beating Adwords its a great instructional guide for beginners, but with advanced techniques and secrets for more experienced marketers.. Highly recommended..

You can get a copy from Beating Adwords - Click here

Not only is this book an excellent read, it covers a very challenging and dynamic topic effectively. Andrew Goodman addresses the best practices of search marketing. These 'best practices' are sustainable in an ever-changing environment.

Whether you are just getting started in search marketing or whether you are a seasoned veteran I would recommend this book. It will challenge many of your traditional thinking in the marketing and search marketing discipline.

For being "boring" I give this book one out of five, for "getting results" three out of five, and minus one overall for being "out-dated". Therefore, two stars.

Start with "Boring".
This books reads like a terrible University book, I hated some most it because:
- How lengthy and irrelevant the paragraphs are
- 300 pages!!! Come on, this book could have been 100 to 150 pages tops.
- Subjective POV
- Not proving and establishing creditability with actually case studies and stats. Instead stating `I had this client, and we did this...'
- Quoting Seth Godin about 17 times! (Maybe I should have bought Seth's book instead?!)

Being "Out-dated".
Unlike most University books this book needs a "New Edition" - already. Go figure, the book is only a year old; then again Google Adwords is only going to be three years old in February 2006. Sadly, there weren't even chapter summaries and a glossary of terms.

"Getting results".
If you're an advanced Google advertiser you are wasting your time reading this book, if you're a Google advertiser beginner or a immediate (as was I) read this book it could save you $1000s - it would have for me. I'll save you the time and give you what I think are the best parts:
- Use the "keyword tool" from Overture (yahoo's adword program) to establish choice keywords
- CTR (click through ratio) is very important because the higher your CTR the less you pay for your ad position, and the lower your CTR the more you have to pay for ad positioning
- Your Ad Position = CTR x Max Bid. Therefore, if I bid $1 and you bid $1, but my CTR is 3.2% and yours is 3.1% my ad will appear above yours.
- Don't bid to be #1 because you'll waste your money. Instead bid to be positioned between position two to five (this tip alone could have saved me $1000s in the beginning)
- Favorite ad position is two and three because you're either right above the "real" searches or first one on the top right
- Conversion rates are king. Try changing your landing page, and optimizing your landing page with a clear "call to action" and navigation.
- Use the "keywords" in ad copy to increase CTRs
- Buy a book on "Copy Writing", you will not good "copy writing" insights in this book. My favorite is "How to Write Good Advertisement" don't get fooled by how old it is
- Use "negative keywords", which are words with a "-" in front of them. Example, if you have the word "-free", and someone searches for "free team building" your ads for the keyword "team building" won't show up; saving you a click and saving money irrelevant searches lowering your CTR. A win/win

Andrew Goodman is a fellow Canadian doing his best. I know his next book or "Updated Edition" will be as you say Seth Godin says "Remarkable". And next time Andrew, please shorten the book by 100 to 150 pages.

PS. Great book marketing of your book, that's why I bought it.

This book is well written, clear and easy to understand. It has been very helpful in my marketing efforts on the internet. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about using Google AdWords in their marketing plan.

It's nearly impossible to write, publish and release a book about online marketing and still remain up to date. Mr Goodman has done just that. Rather than focus entirely on the intricate details of search marketing, the Adwords interface and Google's forever changing marketplace, Goodman discusses basic concepts, best practices and common mistakes made by search marketers and PPC advertisers alike. I work in the affiliate marketing industry and can tell you first hand many of my own affiliates would benefit greatly from the concepts covered in this book. Goodman will help you build a foundation for success in the PPC market space that can easily be applied to any auction based PPC marketing system.

I found Andrew Goodman's book extremely helpful. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about pay per click online advertising.

Not only does it have the critical "how to" information, but it helps the reader understand the changing nature of AdWords and how it has evolved over time. Goodman notes that as Google changes its AdWords product, some of the technical "how tos" will change, but the fundamentals of AdWords campaign management including setting objectives, understanding how the consumer searches, testing and measuring results will not change.

I've recommended it to several clients and friends, and would certainly highly recommend it to anyone considering spending time and money on an AdWords campaign. It will certainly shorten your learning curve.

Want positive ROI on your Google Adwords campaigns? Buy this book. This book is required reading for all my clients thinking about buying Google Adwords.

This book is worth your time if you get one single idea how to organize, focus, tweak, or improve your various Google Adwords advertising campaigns. Newbie retailers looking to dip their toe into the dangerous, murky waters of paid search will learn much from this. Even grizzled veterans of search engine advertising will pick some stuff up, too.

For what it's worth, I'm an online retailer and a search marketer (SEO + PPC) focusing on developing and marketing Yahoo! Stores. I spend ~$10,000 a month on Adwords (across several different projects) and have had a pretty healthy ROI for the past 2 years or so. I also spend less than 5% of my time creating and managing GAW campaigns because I have so much other stuff to do!

Okay. I tried Google Adwords several times in 2003 with no real success. I almost gave up before I found his site and bought the first edition of his e-Book "21 Ways to Maximize ROI on Google AdWords Select" way back in 2003. Ever since then I've been reading his stuff including his Web site (page-zero.com), his e-mail newsletters (long!), and his posts in online forums. If you've read his earlier stuff, you'll recognize a lot of the strategies in this book, but I think longtime readers can benefit from reading this, too. Andrew refines a lot of his original ideas while introducing some new concepts.

Want some real world examples? I used a couple of ideas from Andrew's books to tweak my Adwords campaigns to save over $13,000 .00 last year on a single project. And these were keywords where I was paying anywhere from a nickel to 18-cents a click. Talk about death by a thousand cuts!

I was able to tighten up underperforming keywords in a single Adwords campaign to save ~$5,679. I'll also saved ~$8,234 on non-performing keywords. It took about an hour the first time, and now I get these regular monthly reports to help me trim the fat. Long story short, buy this book if you want your advertising to make money.

Rob Snell

I bought this book because I thought is would be 100% about achieving Winning Results With Google Adwords as the name implies. Although I did learn some useful pointers the book could have been 1/3 the length weighing in at 100 pages rather then 300 pages. 1/3 of the book is about actually executing an adwords campaign. The other 2/3 of the book is about the rather dull history of search marketing, rambling about the history of advertsiing and case studies which seem only to serve the point of boosting the authors ego about his accomplishments.

The 1/3 of the book that actually was about creating and exectuting a winning adwords campaign lacked the actual detail of how to do things. For example in the section about tracking users after they click he spends 4-5 pages trying to sell you on using third party web analiycs software and 1 paragraph telling you googles ROI & tracking tool sucks. Not only that but he never even goes into any detail whatsoever as to how to set up googles tool if you wanted to. Last I checked that tool was part of adwords and it would have been nice if he explained how the heck to use it.

Overall I was rather disatisfied with this book and found that it dragged on forever. I have read other books on the topic by Peter Kent and others and never felt the overwhelming urge to keep putting the book away and stop reading as I did with this one. There are better books out there so go find one.

OK I've been "doing search" in one form or another since before Google was around....

I bought this book knowing I'd find something of use and was not disappointed. I found plenty of things not on the bulletin boards.

To all the nay sayers - of course it's "sort of" out of date - everything on the Internet is and, always, will be. I learned some new things and this was worth every penny - nice to read Seth Godin's views again - pay up you cheap skates ;)

David
http://www.rankdream.com
SEMPO Member ( it's worth it Doug :p )

Goodman describes how to understand and use AdWords to advertise with Google. If you have been curious and want a readable text that is both detailed and does not need a programming background, then this book may be suitable.

The contextual text ads are contrasted with banner ads and popups. While those have seen their clickthrough rates plummett after users grew familiar and weary, this has not yet happened with AdWords. The vital difference may be in the contextual nature, which allows more relevant ads. Also too might be the less intrusive nature of the ads being text.

Goodman also gives advice into bidding for key words. Keep in mind that the key word space is still relatively open. You might well be able to get ads for certain words very cheaply.

The book is weak in its coverage of click fraud. This has become a serious problem to some advertisers. Granted, Google keeps its antifraud measures secret. But still, a more detailed inferential analysis of what Google might be doing and could do would have helped. In the entire text, there is scarcely more than 2 pages on this subject. Plus, it does not clearly state a conflict of interest on the part of Google. They don't want to talk about click fraud too loudly, for that might scare off advertisers. Plus, an aggressive antifraud methodology would reduce their revenue. So what immediate incentive might Google have to strongly tackle the subject?

I've been using Adwords for a year, but after just an hour with this book, I had tripled my click volume. After reading the whole book twice, I have a 3-page to-do list of ideas that should make things even better. I could have done with a little less of the history of PPC advertising, and as always there are the things you wish the author had covered, but on balance the book covers the right ground with an appropriate level of detail. Well written, well organized, and highly recommended for anyone involved with Adwords.

Any marketer, new or seasoned will walk away with some new methods and tips on how to get the most out of Adwords. It's to be expected that some information will not be current because of the nature of SE marketing. I personally found it quite useful with plenty of valuable insights that shed some light on some gray areas. Good job Andrew!

This book is a great effort by Andrew Goodman.

Unfortuneatly it missed out on some of the recent critical updates that occured with the AdWords program. I have also purchased his ebook in the past which I feel is a better way to keep up to date with this subject as it changes all the time.

(...)

I am afraid this book has just missed the mark with me.

It is extremely difficult for an ebook to remain current in the PPC/SEM industry - even more difficult for a physical book! I enjoyed this read immensely and was happy to see that it incorporated some of the most recent changes that happened at Google AdWords in recent months. I love Andrews antecdotes throughout the book and the real life client examples.

Okay, why are people giving this book positive reviews when the most important thing in Adwords changed in early August and the book is now obsolete? Hello? The bid management tool CHANGED. No more 0.5% threshold. No more On-Hold system. That's gone. Didn't those "reviewers" notice this? If you want to work with Adwords and you're looking for a book on Adwords, you'll need to make sure the book covers the current state of Adwords.

Andrew's book on Google Adwords is a good resource for both new and experienced users. I enjoyed the beginning chapters about the history of paid search, which covers Yahoo, Google and MSN. It helps you appreciate and understand the opportunities of this growing industry.

The strategies regarding keyword research and writing winning ad copy are valuable, especially if you are managing your own campaigns. The PPC market is very competitive and every advantage separates you from the rest. His AdWords Campaign Strategy Checklist is a great tool to use if you manage campaigns for other companies or act as a PPC consultant.

I have purchased plenty of books, courses and ebooks on the subject of Search Engine Marketing and Paid Search Listings. Andrew's passion for Search Marketing is clearly defined in this book and his research.

If you're an entrepreneur who needs some answers fast, you've come to the wrong place. The book is well written, but by chapter three, no "HOW TO" in sight. Lots of info on how google used to do this, or how Alta Vista tried copying them, or other info about google that you never wanted to know, but no help. Want to know about market share? No sweat. Want to know how to make proper use of Adwords? Three chapters and counting. No help in sight.

Fourth chapter and we are finally talking about Adware... but only how the process works. Google offers this info freely, but it isn't offered as well as the info in the book and it isn't in one place. So, nice, but that's not why I bought the book.

Fifth chapter. Set-up. Google has a wizard to get you started, so again, filler here. In my opinion, even if there is information in this book that I eventually deem lifesaving, the book still could have been at least five chapters shorter.

I just got my copy, and finally, a real pro has done what was really needed. After years of books that were obsolete before they came out, poorly written, or just plain bad, now we have the first clear, complete useful Pay-per-Click handbook. Goodman is a good writer, and knows his stuff. As a business owner who uses Google Adwords, I have entrepreneurs asking me all the time what to do and how to do it. It's really not hard to get started, and I try to help them. And now, I finally have the perfect book to recommend. This book is all you need. EXCELLENT! It even includes a clear, fascinating "history" of the various search engines--how they've grown, changed, imploded, disappeared, reappeared, etc. and it tells us exactly where we are now as advertisers interested in building our web businesses. A great new tool.

In the online world, Andrew Goodman is known as the sage of pay-per-click search marketing. What he says makes unequivocal sense. What he recommends leads to undeniable success.

"Winning Results with Google AdWords" is Goodman's brain dump on the hugely successful AdWords program owned and managed by search technology and new media giant Google, Inc.

Given that Google provides instructions and tutorials for their AdWords advertisers, I can certainly understand the question, "Why do I need a book?"

My reply?

Because it ain't as easy as it looks.

It is, however, easy to burn through a lot of cash in a short amount of time by using the wrong keyword phrases and poorly written copy aimed at the wrong prospects.

Instead, if you want to create the type of AdWords campaigns that maximize the ROI for your marketing dollars, win you new business and increased customer loyalty, you need help from an industry expert.

This book contains that specialized knowledge.

"Winning Results with Google AdWords" is a well-written manual by a true thought leader. A must-buy for marketing professionals and Internet entrepreneurs alike.