Product Review

Google Shadow - Facts, Publisher Profile and User Feedback

Product: Google Shadow
Publisher: Chris x
Type Of Product: Information Product and Software
Released: Feb 10, 2009

Chris is the author of Affiliate Project X, Day Job Killer, Google Nemesis, and Google Assassin which were all blockbusters selling thousands of copies - and breaking some Clickbank sales records.  From the raving reviews, it seems they have also made a lot of people a lot of money.  I bought all his previous products and liked each one of them, so naturally I wanted to see what else I could add to my power tools.

What it does:
Google shadow is a software product that automates your Google Adwords campaigns. It also comes with a “how-to” pdf and monthly updated tips that they use to profit from Google Adwords.

The idea came from a guy called “The Shadow”  (Tim Houston) who claims to have been been making $100,000 regularly over the last 5 years using Google Adwords.

According to him, he launches every campaign with just 3 keywords… and he shuns 99.9% of affiliate promotions.
 
But that’s not all: he actually makes this cash…WITHOUT ever having a website or review page, i.e. he never creates even a single web page.  Even more incredible… he hasn’t been “Google slapped” once, so that’s $100k a month with NO website, NO technical jargon and NO Google slaps.

And oh, he says the 100k a month is net profits… not gross sales

As you probably know, I value the good informational products and software as long as they deliver a sustainable, implementable way to increase profits. Having bought previous products from Chris, I decided to jump in on this.

Google Shadow: What You Get

The system is the one that “The Shadow” is using to pump Google for a clean six figures every month, and it contains two components:
1) Advanced affiliate training material containing “The Google Shadow System Training PDF” and “The Google Shadow System Case Study PDF Report”
2) Automated software

The Google Shadow System Training PDF - Disappointed

I’ve been advertising with Google adwords since the beginning - and I pretty much know my way around most of the corners. I therefore don’t have too much patience with newbie stuff. Don’t get me wrong - it’s necessary to get it there, but I just skimmed through it. I was just looking for new real substance or ‘new’ strategies.

The pdf is 48 pages long and almost all filled with beginner’s affiliate marketing and PPC techniques. Towards the last 10 pages or so is where he drops a few golden gems of how the Google Shadow system works - But even then, I found it lacking in the step by step “how-to” measure absolutely necessary to make PPC marketing make you money.

Overall, it’s a good read and a good place to start, but largely lacking the vital necessities for overwhelming success with the system.

The Google Shadow System Case Study PDF Report

Pretty interesting little report - rather mechanical, showing you how Google Shadow system works. It goes through an actual Google Shadow campaign, with screen shots, his Google Adwords campaigns and more.

There’s no step by step how to direction in this report as well. Overall, I thought it was better than The Google Shadow System Training PDF, but I still did not find it too exciting.

However for the newbie, these two reports are excellent to get your feet wet and running with PPC.

The Google Shadow Software - Impressive 

Whoa…

This little monster just makes up for the two reports! This is a completely web based app which means it runs on any computer connected to the internet

This automated software will develop your ad campaigns and get you up and running and making you money as quickly as possible. It allows data export for 3 PPC engines online: Google Adwords, Yahoo!, and MSN Adcenter. In other words, you’ll be set with PPC with the major search engines.

Here’s a brief overview of what it will do:

• Automatic keyword generation
  This takes the headline of your ad and extracts it to the keyword section creating a laser-targeted ad group - the best way to make a lot of money in Adwords. I find this a rather long and tedious process normally, it’s a big time saver and cut down the learning curve!
• Displays merchant’s site in the same browser saving time from tabbing between merchant sites
• Pre-populates display URL (again a HUGE time-saver)
• Automatically generates keyword variations based on your input - again a big time saver!
• Adds tracking to each keyword
• Outputs bulk upload files into Google, Yahoo! Search and Microsoft AdCenter (HUGE!) - saving you tons of work, agony and time!

Simply put, the software is quite impressive - this is where all the fun really happens!

What I’m Not Impressed About…

Like his last 2 software Google Adwords systems, Google Shadow is also directly geared towards newcomers in the game.
Know very little to nothing about pay per click? This is the software for you
Don’t have a website? Not a problem, the software has you covered
Don’t know how to set up an Adwords campaign? That’s OK!

And the guides are really made for the newbie - making the whole system second to none in it’s potential to create real online income.

Bottom line:
If you’re struggling to make it with PPC, and need to get to the profit zone quickly without the hassle of the years of learning curve you normally have to go through, then you need to get Google Shadow system - TODAY.

But like I mentioned, I’m not a newbie in this game, and you can easily tell why I was losing my patience…

Is it Misrepresented?

No - actually in the salesletter, Chris does say it’s good for the “struggling affiliates and adwords users”. I think to this end it’s accurately represented.

My Biggest Concern - Google Shadow Has A Major Flaw!

Actually more than one:

1) The lack of real step-by-step how-to “do this - do that” instructions really bothered me. I’d have wanted some more of this

2) Google Shadow uses “direct linking” with Google Adwords. Lately Google is really cracking down on PPC and lowering scores for affiliate marketer’s ads. I’m a little uncomfortable that in future, Google might completely slap you for direct you CAN and WILL make a lot of money doing this, I just think there’s risk of future Google slap.

I also came across this in a popular forum:

“Can somebody also comment on Googleshadow for weather or not it is potentially suitable for newbies who usually haven’t got TONNES of money to burn in PPC campaigns?”

Yeah, I’d say it was very newbie friendly.

Example: For my normal PPC campaigns I’d spend between 400 and 500 dollars to see if it was profitable. Google Shadow’s a bit different largely due to having no landing page and only a handfull of keywords.

I think with the Shadow strategy you should expect to spend about $50 per product to see if it’s profitable or not.

Please offer your review below!