Google AdWords

History

Google launched its AdWords scheme in 2002 in response to the growing popularity of the Overture PPC service. Google's PPC service has grown rapidly in popularity and is now the scheme which provides the widest coverage online.

Strengths

Google AdWords has by far the widest coverage of any of the providers, allowing advertisers to reach a wide market using just one system. This coverage also makes it the most suitable for specialised businesses, who would not receive much search traffic from the smaller PPC providers. The minimum cost per click for a keyword can be a little as 1p, which can make AdWords suitable for editorial or low order value websites, where the 10p minimum cost per click required by the other providers would not be so cost-effective.

Weaknesses

Google AdWords has now become so popular in some market sectors so that bidding is very competitive, meaning in some cases better value can be found elsewhere. The system provided by Google is very sophisticated - for example, ranking position can be determined by the bid price and the clickthrough rate of the advert - so that the service can be difficult for beginners to understand initially.

If you are looking to start running pay-per-click advertising with any of these providers or need to improve the effectiveness of your current campaign, find out more about our PPC management service or contact us now for more information.