As someone who teaches SEO and AdWords online, I really was hoping for a truly interactive book. Not just an e-book… but something more. Unfortunately, after registering my copy on Quebooks, all I can find is the same content, just now in digitial format. Where are the tutorials? I can’t find them. Alas. I go to safaribooksonline and I am just solicited to sign up, even though the Que book indicates that are free. I do sign up, but still can’t find the videos. The book indicates that they are on Safari, but after registering I am totally baffled as to how to find them. So as far as I can see this is just a book, nothing more.

Hopefully the author and Que marketing staff will read this review, and fix this! It’s a huge disappointment that they are bafflingly impossible to find on the safari website. Frown, frown, frown… Unhappy camper!

Where the book excels is in AdSense. If you are running a blog or website, and hope to make money from serving Google ads, this book has a nice overview to the in’s and out’s of AdSense. I, personally, have never seen big money in AdSense, not at least since about 2005. But if you can create a hiqh quality, high traffic site and you want someone to lead you through AdSense, this is a good book for you.

The book also discusses AdWords, but doesn’t make the most basic recommendations such as splitting your campaigns into a Google campaign and a Google Content Network campaign. This is surprising because you would expect a book like this to really excel at explaining Google’s content network, which is what AdSense ultimately is. Content network is what it is called for advertisers; AdSense is what it is called for publishers. In my own online classes on AdWords, I constantly emphasize to businesspeople and marketers that you must split the two – it can save you a lot of money and headaches!

Miller also discusses SEO. In that section, he mentions Meta Tags, and implies that the Meta Keyword tag is paid attention to by Google. That makes me worry… As Google has clearly indicated it ignores the Meta Keyword tag, paying attention only to the Title and Meta Description in that term. Why this worries me is that this is a very basic point about SEO, and if Miller doesn’t know that, then the rest of his advice is suspect.

As an online instructor in SEO, AdWords, and PPC, I am always on the look out for good books for my students. I teach a monthly free webinar (check my profile for information about me and my classes), and refer many students to resources all over the web. Books still have a place, and I wish I could recommend thiat book. I was so hopeful! But, all in all, this is a very disappointing book. It promises to much and delivers to little. Sigh.
Rating: 2 / 5

Quality calls about 2-4 calls on a daily basis.

SmS service is very fast and takes not more than few seconds to reach you.

Complete support through SmS and Yahoo Messenger.

Sometime, you will get momentum calls

Nifty Review, Resistance & Support

World Market, Singapore Nifty & Other Updates

Newsletter By Email

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.

(This update is a year after reading the book: I’m now a Google Professional and help others transform their Google Adwords programs. This book plus lots of real-world experience made that happen.)
Rating: 5 / 5

If you however already own a site, and you’re already a member of adsense, go check out Erics blog instead. This book will offer you nothing. I kid you not. Absolutely nothing.

I’ll pass it on to my girlfriend who’s curious and wants to start as well, she’ll probably make good use of it.

If you’re not a newbie, get Joel Comm’s “The Adsense Code” instead. A lot more meaty.
Rating: 3 / 5

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.
Rating: 5 / 5

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.
Rating: 5 / 5

*** 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.
Rating: 2 / 5