Ultimate Guide to Google Ad Words: How To Access 100 Million People in 10 Minutes [Paperback]

I don't know how to rate this book. Somewhere between three and five stars, but giving it a four feels too strong. I want to give this book a higher rating because there's good stuff in it. The author is clearly knowledgeable and passionate about what he does, and wants to help readers use adwords better.

Some of it is poorly explained and organized, though (i.e. patchy, non-complete instructions/explanations). Book is great at unveiling the concepts to use to improve your adwords success, but hit-and-miss at explaining how to set things up in detail.

Also, the frequency of recommendations to use 3rd-party tools, many created by the author, irked me, but maybe it shouldn't so much. I guess I feel that if I have to use third-party tools, that's more complex than I care to get with adwords. YMMV.

Some of the early screenshots are out of date (e.g. pics of the keywords screens)--not much books can do about that--it just contributed to my getting a bit lost during the first several chapters. Maybe if the setting up of things and what the terms meant were explained a little better, I'd have been less lost when the screenshot didn't match.

This book could have a great 3rd edition one day, if it gets written a bit more thoroughly/carefully and tells you how to optimize better using primarily Google's tools.

If you already know AdWords, this book is great. It will help you improve the effectiveness of your ad campaigns. However, if you never used AdWords, this book will not show you how to use the tool. I was expecting a book on how to use various advanced features of AdWords and was very disappointed on that account. On the other hand, I am quite glad I read it because it will improve the quality of my AdWords practice.

Although this book's subtitle specifies a worthy objective (i.e. "How to Access 100 Million People in 10 Minutes") and will no doubt help to sell copies, the fact remains that the journey to achieve that objective will require the necessary investment of resources (especially time, hopes, and effort) and the focus must be on the primary process - one that Perry Marshall and Bryan Todd cover thoroughly in the book -but also on supplementary processes suggested by chapter titles. For example, those of Chapters 1-10 in which Marshall and Todd explain how to

o Attract prospects and close on purchases
o Build "your own autopilot marketing machine"
o Build a Google campaign from scratch - the RIGHT way
o Spend less and get more clicks: lay a foundation of properly organized campaigns
o Develop high-quality keyword lusts to craft "killer headlines"
o Write copy for Google ads that attract eyeballs, get clicks, and earn you money
o Triple your CTR (i.e. clickthrough rate) and cut your bid prices by two thirds - no genius required
o Triple your traffic with placement targeting and Google image ads
o Create Google ads: banner ads are here to stay, and finally
o Develop and use local advertising on Google ("Mostly Virgin Territory: Retailers, Restaurants, and Service Businesses Can Beat the Yellow Pages")

I strongly recommend checking out the titles of Chapters 11-29 to complete your briefing on what Marshall and Todd cover, step-by-step-by-step-by-step. Then, and this is VERY important, visit the website identified on Page xi, register, obtain a password, and then gain access to a membership area with updates to the book. Be sure to Google Adwords $25 coupon code for new advertisers. The supplementary resources are too numerous to mention here. Suffice to say that, together, they offer substantial value-added benefits and thereby increase exponentially the total value of the book.

Marshall and Todd know that many of those who purchase this book will need tutorial assistance. For that reason, they immediately establish a direct, personal rapport with their reader and continue it when providing additional resources at the aforementioned website. The only advice I presume to offer is in three suggestions: (1) highlight key passages (I prefer an optic yellow Sharpe ACCENT); (2) re-read chapter or at least the highlighted passages before proceeding to the next chapter; and (3) be persistent but patient.