Real-Time Tracking lets you see the results of your ad clicks immediately, as they happen. No more waiting for a day to see which ads are working.
Google AdWords and Overture PPC Ads are direct marketing. The key to success is to discover what works. Do more of what works and less of what doesn't. That's how you sell more. That's how you profit.
In direct marketing, metrics and measurements are king. Your ad campaign must have a goal -- be it more sales, more newsletter subscriptions, or more qualified leads. However, it's unlikely your first attempts will meet that goal. You need to constantly improve and tweak your keywords, ads and landing pages. But only change things in response to feedback.
The feedback you need for running a successful online ad campaign is called Conversion Tracking. Conversion tracking means know exactly which keyword, ad and landing page converted into a sale. If you aren't tracking conversions, you are wasting money. Luckily, tracking conversions is pretty easy.
Feedbackomatic makes conversion tracking easy, and provides actionable data to help improve your PPC ad campaign.
You can use Google's and Overture's tools to track conversions. They are well integrated with their reporting. It's way better than not tracking conversion, because you can use the feedback to improve your ad spend by getting rid of ads that don't convert, and spending the right amount on ads that do convert.
The major problem with Google's and Overture's tools is that the reports can take several hours to a whole day to reflect your results. That especially hurts when you are starting a new campaign and trying new keywords. You could wait several days before you know what's working. You pay while you wait. The efficiency of your ad buy goes down. This is especially true when the keywords are expensive, or generate a good number of clicks.
Another drawback of these tools is that you can't easily compare results across Google and Overture. You can't see everything in one place. Many marketers are also concerned about letting Google and Overture have their conversion data, believing they may use that data to charge more for keywords that convert well or use it for competitive purposes.