If you won't pay that minimum for a particular keyword, Google will simply put your keyword on inactive status and won't show your ad when folks search on that term. Agree to bid the required amount or higher, and your ads will show.

Many watched as their precious five-cent minimum bids got jacked up to ten and twenty cents and more. Some who based their entire selling strategy on this minimum price thought it would kill their business.

Not So. Should Google demand a higher bid and deactivate your terms then you have more than one option: (1) You could give Google the bid they are asking for, or (2) You can play with your ad copy and try to get the Google computers to believe that your ads are relevant and by that means lower the minimum bid required.

Before going with option number one, figure if it is necessary and if you can afford it. When selecting option number two -we advise you to use this one -then this method works best:

Place the term and put into your ad in the headline.

Here is what you need to do if putting that keyword in the headline throws off the match for all your other keywords. Use "Peel and Stick". With this method you move the keyword from it's original list and make it an ad group of it's own with an ad whose headline has the keyword in it.

This method will help persuade the computers at Google that you have relevant ads and you will be granted a lower bid price. The best thing is that you will most probably get higher click-through-rates.

The sad truth is that Google's computers can't judge you on true relevance only on perceived relevance. Their system can't lower your minimum bid price because you have a high Click-Through-Rate. They can only do that if it perceives that you are using your keyword in your ad.

So when all is said and done, the test is not in whether you're actually relevant to consumers; the test is only in what Google's computers think looks relevant.

Still, by setting up its system this way Google is now forcing you to do with your keywords and ad groups what successful advertisers already do: break everything down into small, tight groups.

If you have keywords in your list that don't show up in the ad, Google may well penalize you by putting your keywords into inactive status.