So what services are in the top tier of PPC (pay per click)? The industry leaders are Google and Yahoo, with Google AdWords claiming the lion's share of the PPC market. Both Yahoo and Google offer a similar compliment of features, and either can be used to manage a very successful PPC campaign. So what differentiates the two? Well, if you are looking to run a very large-scale pay per click campaign, then Google is the most logical choice. The number of potential customers in the Google enterprise is staggering when compared directly against the leading other search engine services.

That's not to say Yahoo's service is not a smart option for an online advertising campaign. Yahoo can be a great choice, especially for a campaign that is a little bit smaller in scope and is not as dependent upon mass quantity. Or, some campaigns utilize a combination of both services. This can be a good way to create a campaign that has even further reach into your target demographic.

Just because Google and Yahoo are the biggest names in the game doesn't mean there aren't other relevant players. Several others exist, such as Ask.com and MSN. And, on a smaller scale, there are several other niche PPC providers. Sometimes, these services can actually be a better bet for a small campaign, because certain keywords can be less saturated than with the big services. This makes is possible to have a lower cost per click average, and thus makes it possible to increase the profitability of the campaign. Of course, the biggest drawback of these services is their scope. On a large scale, they can't compete with the numbers of the top PPC services.

To be honest, most of the PPC services out there offer similar features and benefits. Google and Yahoo, being the media giants that they are, have developed very smooth and refined backend systems, making it easier and more efficient to manage just about every aspect of your campaign you can think of. The biggest advantage, though, is simply volume. If you want to conduct a large-scale marketing or advertising campaign on the web, and you want to utilize PPC to do it, then your best bet is one of these top PPC services. If you are looking to conduct a small, targeted campaign, then perhaps the smaller services are worth taking a look at.