For several weeks I was aware of a number of respected internet writers talking about "pay per click" search engines - and GoTo.com in particular. Looking back, I can see all the signposts were there, but I ignored them, committing the cardinal sin of *assuming* I understood what was going on. Somehow I persuaded myself that sites like GoTo were very small players in the search engine stakes, that paying for ranking on search engines devalued the link, and that the writers all had some relationship with GoTo that was hyping them up.

• GoTo.com is one of the most highly used and respected search engines with over 150 Million searches performed each month. Consider each of those searches displaying a minimum of 10 results (or "ads" as we will now think of them).
• They successfully in position themselves as a true search engine - not as a paid service. They achieve this through two routes.
• Firstly they seriously promote their brand, and secondly they operate an affiliate scheme that puts GoTo search boxes on affiliate sites with a payment per search performed.
• To neutralise the suspicion that could be created by a paid service, GoTo have created an extremely open market system, and so are seen (rightly) as entirely honourable.

So - let's not understate this:
You can take control over the position of your site in the rankings of a major search engine - and have control (subject to relevance checks) over the title and description shown to searchers.
... and that's why you can consider Pay Per Click searches as advertising - you control the message, and can target it (through your choice of search terms) as closely as you want. If that doesn't represent a serious opportunity for everyone involved in selling on the internet, then I think I'll give up now.
This is a very different proposition form spider and submission based search engines from the point of view of both webmasters and browsers.

Your choice of description (as opposed to target) gives you 140 characters where you can choose to qualify prospects in some detail and deter "tyre-kickers" - or attract wide audiences through enticing copy.

Our main suggestion is to think very carefully about going head to head with the big boys on the expensive search terms and top positions unless you can make a clear cost:benefit calculation or you are undertaking a branding exercise. Instead, think creatively about terms that might be searched for by the people you want to reach and see where you can get high ranking position - ideally #1 for $0.01.

GoTo will keep a close eye on relevance to your site, so you may want to extend your web site with content that will allow you to reach out to customers through specific (lower cost) GoTo search terms.

Even then, I was about to skim over Ken's Pay Per Click advice when a little voice inside me asked if I could really afford to ignore something he had written. Maybe it was an angel on my shoulder (just trying to maintain that religious theme) - but I bless that day (ok - enough already) because practical use of GoTo is now a central part of my promotion strategy.

How can I be sure that Ken's advice really works?

And finally:

And please remember - our reputation is our greatest asset. We don't recommend anything lightly.