Foreword

Advertisers pay millions to put their messages on the traditional broadcast systems of television, radio, and print. These systems let advertisers reach a wide audience. The drawback, aside from the expense, is inevitably the message reaches a large number of consumers who simply aren’t interested.

Search engines are also a form of broadcast, but a unique system where the normal rules are flipped around. Instead of advertisers broadcasting their messages to consumers, the “reverse broadcast network” of search engines lets millions of consumers each day tell advertisers exactly what they want. These consumers needn’t be convinced to buy a particular product, such as a new car, DVD player, or washing machine. They’re already looking. When they search, they’re looking for someone who stands ready to fulfill their needs. As an advertiser, you simply need to know how to tune into this consumer desire. This great book from Kevin Lee and Catherine Seda shows you how.

Both Kevin and Catherine are long-time veterans of the paid search space. They were speaking and writing about the topic before Google became a household word and before many of today’s ad programs had matured. They can tell stories about actively working in systems that required buying ads on a keyword-by-keyword basis, or having to actively watch for costly “bid gaps” (similar to the “I walked through the snow eight miles to school each day” stories parents tell their children). Features we now take for granted in ad programs didn’t exist when they started; in part, the reason we have them today is because of the pioneering work they did to win support and changes through industry education.

Their educational work continues in this book. You’ll learn how to get started with search engine advertising at a very basic level, yet you’ll find a full education about advanced issues available to those who want them.

Though search engines are a broadcast network, they don’t require millions of dollars to get started. Any business can start with a budget of only tens of dollars. You’ll learn quickly just how powerful search engines can be, if your experience is like that of the many other advertisers who are spending enough to make search engine advertising into a multibillion dollar industry.

So enjoy the book, then dive in and get started with search engine advertising! No other advertising medium provides such immediate, measurable results. Once you try search engine advertising, you’ll wonder why it took you so long to discover it—and you’ll hope your competitors never find out.

—Danny Sullivan

Editor, SearchEngineLand.com