Search engines have always been a part of the web landscape as increasing complexities of retrieving information from the web make it more difficult for regular users. In the past, the toss up for search supremacy has been pretty neck-and-neck. Now Google is the acknowledged king of the hill.

Most of the revenue of Google comes from the use of Google Adwords. Tied with its Search Engine function, Google Adwords piggybacks on the search results to give the user an opportunity to go to a relevant company website.

Google Adwords can be described as a pay-per-click service that can draw traffic to client websites via what Google calls “sponsored links”. Depending on the client’s budget, Google can scale the exposure of the ad, leveraging its frequently used search engine to draw interest from consumers.

Advantages of Google Adwords include:

1. Reach. Adwords claims that about 80% of internet users alone and uncountable browsers abroad can be reached through its advertising on the Google Search Engine. This is a powerful advantage when on a budget but need to reach as many people as possible to get the fastest returns.

2. Cost. The cost of using Adwords is, in a word, manageable. Cost is a primary concern for companies, and here Google’s strategy makes it easy for the user to control their costs. Google only charges clients of Adwords for every click on the client website. There is no minimum cost for usage and the client can specify how much their budget is per day between 1 US cent to $100 dollars per click.

3. Timing. Google Adwords places the advertiser in the right place at the right time. The customer is on Google looking for something to answer a question or to find out something about an item. This places the browser in a mood that is open to selling offers. Adverts are where selling decisions are constantly being made.

4. Flexibility. Adwords can get up on the web in as little as 15 minutes. When trends in consumer behavior change, advertisers on Adwords are agile enough to change with them at the turn of a dime. Changing Adwords is free. Furthermore, Google is present in other geographical locations and languages. Adwords can also specifically target these users depending on the campaign.

5. Tutorials. Adwords has a large array of helps and tutorials available to the starting advertiser. The user can even control the cost of advertising for initial experimentation and eventually kick up the cost once confidence in the engine increases due to actual results.

Disadvantages of using Adwords may include:

1. Every click to the company website is a charge to the company – even if the visitor makes a purchase or not from the site. Depending on the product, sometimes your visitors can be varied ranging from your competition to researchers, to kids having a ball.

2. Failure to make payments for Adwords can immediately remove your presence from Google.

3. No competitor data comparison is shared by Google Adwords. As a company policy, Google does not disclose the performance of other companies that may have the same service or product as yours.

4. Advertising strategies on Google Adwords still have to be well planned to garner and effective response from the consumer.

5. Adwords must be considered one of a number of tools to be used in promoting the company or getting people to go to their site. Alternative methods can include email, instant messenger, the best being by word of mouth, passed on from one user to another.

6. At the minimum, the copy space for Adwords is 70 characters only so choose your words carefully to maximum effect.