Is paid search ineffective? This a provocative question on a pretty big issue.

This article could go viral if I started off with a “HECK, YES!” and launched into a diatribe against pay-per-click (PPC) and its attendant evils. But I’d rather give value than go viral.

Instead, I’m exploring the issue from both sides -- from the side of those who say that it’s ineffective and those who say it’s indispensable.

I do believe that the field of PPC is fraught with confusion, amateurish fumbles, and a lot of wasted cash. AdWords is easy to use, but hard to strategically implement. Few marketers do any testing. A/B or multivariate testing is key to digital marketing success. Click-through-rates (CTRs) are important, but the real value is i

n conversions.

These mistakes and others like them are why PPC has gotten a bad rap. Let’s take a look at both sides of the issue -- arguments in favor of, and arguments against paid search.