October 23, 2000 – AdWords launches with a total of 350 advertisers, including Larry Kim
February 2002 – major AdWords overhaul, introduction of CPC pricing
October 2002 – AdWords opens its second APAC office after Tokyo in Sydney, Australia. AdWords’ first client in the region is eBay Australia.
March 2003 – Google launches Google AdSense
April 2003 – Google acquires Applied Semantics, the company whose technology enhances the AdSense service
March 2004 – Google and its approx. 800 employees move into “The Googleplex,” the company’s iconic campus headquarters at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California
August 2004 – Google files its IPO of 19,605,052 shares of Class A common stock, at a value of $85 per share
November 2005 – Google Analytics is launched, based on the technology behind Urchin, a company Google acquired in March 2005
June 2006 – Google announces Google Checkout
August 2007 – Google introduces the first video ads to YouTube
September 2007 – AdSense for Mobile launched
March 2008 – Google finalizes its acquisition of DoubleClick
September 2008 – WordStream raises $4 million in Series A venture financing
November 5, 2008 – Google abandons a proposed ad agreement with Yahoo! in light of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department concerning competition in search
September 2009 – The DoubleClick Ad Exchange is launched
October 2009 – “Mesothelioma” becomes the most expensive keyword in paid search, with a cost-per-click of $99.44. The keyword would later reach CPCs of more than $900.
May 2010 – Google acquires AdMob
May 2010 – Remarketing comes to the Google Display Network
March 2011 – Google for Nonprofits is launched
July 2011 – AdWords Express launches
August 2011 – WordStream launches the AdWords Performance Grader
June 2012 – Google Product Search becomes Google Shopping, and transitions from an organic to a paid business model
February 2013 – Enhanced Campaigns are launched
May 2013 – Keyword Planner officially launches, replacing the retired Keyword Tool in AdWords
June 2013 – RLSA made available to all advertisers after almost a year in closed beta
June 2013 – Larry Kim named Most Influential PPC Expert by PPC Hero
October 2013 – Estimated Total Conversions announced
April 2014 – Query referral data goes ‘Not Provided,’ though some data still available through Search Terms report
August 2014 – Website Call Conversions announced
September 2014 – Ad customizers are introduced
February 2015 – Call-only campaigns announced
May 2015 – Google confirms mobile search volume surpasses desktop search volume for the first time in 10 countries, including the United States and Japan.
May 2015 – Universal App Campaign type announced
September 2015 – Native Gmail Ads launched
September 2015 – Customer Match announced during Advertising Week’s Times Center Stage in New York City
October 2015 – Shopping Remarketing Lists introduced
December 2015 – Google introduces Smart Goals
January 2016 – Google AdWords app launched for iOS
February 2016 – Google eliminates PPC ads from the right-hand side of the SERP, a bold move toward a ‘mobile-first’ approach to AdWords
July 2016 – Expanded Text Ads officially launched
September 2016 – Facebook surpasses 4 million advertisers – a figure we believe to be higher than the total number of advertisers on Google AdWords