buckworks - 4:07 am on Oct 2, 2003 (gmt 0)

The fact that Google DIDN'T mess around with uninvited matching was one of their big advantages compared to Overture. I hate to see them go down that path. This will definitely favour big players with big budgets, at the expense of folks whose strength was keyword research. I don't welcome the thought of being pushed down in the results by someone who didn't do the same homework.

For some things the automatic matching could be downright dangerous, because differences in vocabulary (even singular vs plural) can reflect significant differences in the searcher's mindset and demographics, which in turn can seriously affect ROI. It's going to take a lot of work to sort out the effects of this ... sigh ...