If all goes well, the list box, as shown in the image left, fills with keywords (or a message box telling you to try again appears). The number to the left of each keyword shows the number of searches carried out in the previous month, the more popular appearing first. NOTE: sometimes the Overture server becomes unavailable for a day or two (or more), which is why there are a number of other ways to obtain a list of keywords, as explained elsewhere.

Now click the Search all button at the bottom of the list box and Ad Hunter should begin to search out the number of ads displaying for each keyword. This is indicated by the '¬>' sumbol followed by a number, the number of ads. For example, take the entry below: '19790 - edinburgh shopping ¬> 3' This shows there were 19,790 searches for the keyword edinburgh shopping and there are 3 AdWords ads showing on the page of Google search results. Notice the Search from button? Highlight any entry and Ad Hunter will start from there.

If you only want to check out just a particular keyword, and no other, highlight the keyword, click the Search from button and then when the number of ads is displayed, click the Stop button.

Saving the results: you can save the results at any time by clicking the Stop button, then clicking the Clipboard button. Open up a text editor such as Notepad and paste the results into it. Then save it as something meaningful. The file can then be loaded into Ad Hunter at any time.

Picking up where you stopped: you can stop Ad Hunter at any time during a run and when you restart, by clicking the Search all button, Ad Hunter will begin the run again where you last stopped.

If you have to leave half way through the middle of a run, save the results so far by clicking the Clipboard button and saving via Notepad or other text editor, as explained above. When you come back, reload the file and click the Search all button. Ad Hunter will automatically resume where you last stopped.

That's because it skips any result with a '¬>' in it. If you load ANY previously saved file with a '¬>' in it, it will skip that entry!

So it is always a good idea to save two copies of the same file - one which contains just the list of raw keywords and the other with the list of keywords plus the number of ads next to it (perhaps save them in separate directories named run to do and run completed - which is what I do).

Check result button: this enables any keyword to be physically checked for the number of AdWords ads showing. Simply highlight the keyword and click the Check result button. Ad Hunter automatically loads your default browser for you, complete with keyword and search results.

Prior to the browser loading, the Google parameter input box loads, giving you the choice of looking at the page as if you were in any location in the world! You can also choose different languages. So, if you choose United States, and English, you're telling Google you want to see the page someone in America would see. Very useful for setting up AdWords campaigns for different countries.

NOTE: the Check result is very useful because often, for various unknown reasons (perhaps different Google servers, for example), the number of Adwords ads showing on the actual Google page and the number of ads indicated by Ad Hunter are slightly different. However, don't worry too much about the difference. The Ad Hunter results displayed are approximately the same (give or take one or two results) as in the actual page. The discrepancy is usually NOT enough to make a difference as far as the cost of any AdWords clicks are concerned.

Google US and UK option: checking either option gives you the choice of whether Ad Hunter queryies either Google UK or Google.com. Depending on what you're interested in, keywords will vary because of cultural and other differences between the different countries. For example, in the UK we might enter 'cheap holiday' as a search query. In the States they would use 'cheap vacation'.

Don't check ads beyond: if you are looking for cheap AdWords clicks then if there are dozens of advertisers for a particular keyword, chances are any clicks will be costly. Cheap clicks are usually found where there are fewer advertisers - i.e. less than 10 or 20 advertisers. So set a ceiling and Ad Hunter will tell you ONLY that the number of advertisers is greater than (i.e. '20+' or '30+' or whatever) that. Saves time and, potentially, money!

Finally, notice the delay between Google queries? The delay is random, and between about 5 to 15 seconds. That's been done to mimic, in essence, a human user. Too many tools don't makes such allowances, the software developers being inconsiderate as far as Google's own bandwidth is concerned, which could potentially mean the user at some point being banned. On top, Ad Hunter also uses a real browser, which you can't see, to make the queries, too, adding a further safeguard.

By using a random delay, and a real web browser, the danger is avoided - although I take no responsibility if you DO get banned (use Ad Hunter at your own risk). All I can say is I have used Ad Hunter for quite a while with tens of thousands of successful queries. However, the decision is yours and if you are worried then DON'T use Ad Hunter. Simple.