If I were to properly acknowledge on one page all the help I received while writing this book, I'd be using Times New Roman 0.01-point font and you'd be reading this with an electron microscope.
My wonderful editors at Wiley Publishing: Amy Fandrei, Chris Morris, Brian Walls, and Jennifer Riggs. They have been patient with my whining, accepting of nothing but my best, and always ready with advice and reassurance. And Jim Kelly, tech editor extraordinaire, keeps me honest and entertained at the same time.
My technical advisors at Google, Devin Sandoz, Gopi Kallayil, Jason Rose, Fred Vallaeys, and Emily Harris, answered my frequent volleys of questions with celerity and grace. We haven't met, but I like to think of them riding their Segways from the office to the gourmet lunchrooms at the Googleplex.
Big hugs to the many AdWords experts who shared their wisdom, stories, and sometimes, even keywords. Perry Marshall is such a fine AdWords teacher, business associate, and friend that I wonder what good deeds I performed in my previous life to deserve him. Kristie McDonald and David Rothwell are my "ears to the ground" AdWords practitioners who always seem to know what Google is up to before anybody else. David Bullock and Glenn Livingston shared their best stuff with me freely and often — I apologize to their clients and spouses for all the time I monopolized while asking them questions. David even agreed, in a moment of weakness, to become the technical editor for the first edition of this book. Luckily, I asked and he agreed just before he was featured in Black Enterprise Magazine and became the most sought-after Taguchi expert in the country.
Sean D'Souza has rocked my world with the quality of his thinking, teaching, and heart. He and my coach, Christian Mickelsen, have shown me the way to a sustainable, joyous online business.
Timothy Seward, my neighbor in North Carolina, has taught me more about Analytics than I thought there was to know. If I'd been paying for his time, he'd be retired by now. The fabulous Joy Milkowski shared her methodologies with me and helped me rewrite the chapter about creating compelling ads. The friendship we developed during this project has been an added bonus. Don Crowther, one of the cleverest and under-the-radar marketers on this or any other planet, shared more cool ideas with me than I could ever have hoped. And Dan Hollings, the man behind the online success of "The Secret," reached out to me in an Amazon.com review of the first edition of AdWords For Dummies and has been blowing my mind with his crazy-brilliant online strategies ever since.
Bryan Todd and I have argued and philosophized about metrics more than either of us cares to admit. Kelly Muldoon shared her experience with geographic targeting and always has the right amount of sympathy and chocolate for any situation. Michael Katz, the world's expert on e-newsletters, was so helpful during this project that I almost forgive him for being funnier than I am. Joe Chapuis generously shared his knowledge about the cutting edge of online video, while Ari Galper enlightened me about the marketing potential of live chat and allowed me to reveal his strategies and show his screen shots. Thanks also to my many clients who shared case studies with me — sorry about all the ones I couldn't use.
Rob Goyette, Steve Goyette, and Erik Wickstrom were never more than a cell phone call away whenever I had a question about PHP, HTML, or the MLB MVP. Working with these talented programmers and marketers is like having three genie-filled lamps.
Elizabeth Edmiston, the other half of my business brain (and that's an understatement), keeps me on track, keeps clients and customers delighted, and creates the most amazing software. Head on over to www.magicadwordsbutton.com if you don't believe me.
Ken McCarthy is, quite simply, the source. He understood the potential of the Internet long before the dot.com craze, and he has been quietly creating business leaders and success stories for over 15 years. The combination of masterful teacher and brilliant business strategist is a rare one; throw in loyal friend and passionate righter of wrongs and you have Ken.
Brad Hill believed in me enough to get this whole adventure in motion, and he has encouraged me to become the writer my elementary school teachers always said I'd become. Danny Warshay has been a business and life mentor since we met as roommates in Jerusalem in 1986. And Peter Bregman gave me my introduction to the business world when I was a naïve, befuddled PhD freshly minted from grad school. He always encouraged me to ask questions, no matter how stupid, and except for that time when I asked the HR Director from American Express what exactly she meant by "P&L," it all worked out. Without Peter's guidance and wicked humor, my life would be unimaginably less rich.