Google Advertising Tools, 2nd Edition

Chapter 7. Understanding the Google Behemoth

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. From its roots as a search engine company, Google has emerged as a leader in many spheres, from applications that are used to watch videos on the Web to on-demand office productivity software.

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. An AdSense ad is placed on your website depending on the context of your site (in other words, Google’s analysis of how your site is likely to be found in response to a variety of searches). And the very same AdWords ad is 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 AdWords campaigns. It’s not that I propose to teach you how to use Google to search ...