So what is a "bid gap" and why should you care? Let's say you have a bid of $.25 for the phrase "natural dog food," and this bid has gotten you the #3 position on a certain PPC search engine. A bid of $.30 has the #2 position and a bid of $.34 holds the top spot. So one day the guys in the #1 and #2 spots drop out for some reason or another (this happens all the time), and you now move to the #1 position with your bid of $.25... but the #2 spot now has a bid of only $.15. And that means you could hold the #1 spot for only $.16 per click. You're now overpaying for your position, and unless you check your positions daily you'll end up paying more than you have to for each and every click. Not a good thing.

To solve this problem, a whole new breed of software and services have sprung up online called "PPC Bid Management Tools." This help comes in three formats:

1) Software you purchase and download
2) Web based services you must log into and use
3) Third party companies you can hire to take care of it for you

The tool that is right for you depends on a number of factors, one of them being your monthly budget. Hiring a service to do the "dirty work" for you can be nice, but the monthly fees can add up quickly. If you decide to purchase software and do it yourself, you pay once then forget about it. The web based services where you sign up and use their interface to do your own monitoring can cost a lot less. If you go this route, make sure that the automated service you choose is one that has been approved by Overture. They have recently changed their policy in order to keep out "unauthorized automated scripts" which were bogging down their systems, and have approved only a handful of bid management companies. In English, this means you must make sure the service or software you choose to use will work with this PPC Search engine leader.

Let's take a look at some of the more popular options to choose from:

1) GoToast.com: A web based management service which claims to support more PPC search engines then any of the others. At the time of this writing, they supported 19 engines, including Overture, 7Search, Ah-Ha, Google Ad Words Select and Findwhat.

Their keyword manager interface gives you total control of all your bids at any time. No need to constantly recheck your positions and raise and lower your bids; GoToast will do it automatically. You can monitor your bids once per day or every 30 minutes. After signing up, you select the rank and max per click you want to pay per keyword. GoToast monitors your ranking for those keywords on each PPC search engine you use and optimizes the PPC based on what you want to spend and your desired position.

Email notifications are sent to you every time a change is made to one of your keywords. Cost varies depending on the service level you choose, ranging from $49.95 and up. Payment method is credit card. They do offer a free 7-day trial.

GoToast recently acquired rival ClickPatrol.com, so these two services are now one.

2) BidRank.com: PPC management software that automatically adjusts your bids as frequently as every 60 seconds. You set up your max bids and ranking, set the time intervals for checking your PPC rankings and that's it. Works with multiple accounts, finds bid gaps, and changes bids all automatically.

A working demo of the software is available. The only difference between this and the actual program is that the demo only lets you add 5 keyword listings and expires in 15 days. There are 7 different software versions available depending on how many keywords you need to manage. Prices range from the lowest of $49.00 and run up to $1,999.00.

BidRank is an Overture-approved service provider.

3) PPCManagement.com:This software-based solution is offered up by "Pay Per Click Management." You enter your ranking positions and set the program to run automatically or manually. You also can set the time intervals for when you want your bids checked. Supports Overture, Findwhat, Kanoodle, Ah-Ha, and more. This program can also be set up to send you email notifications when you've been outbid.

A free trial download will allow you to track 10 keywords for 10 days. Pricing varies depending on two factors: the number of keywords you need to monitor ,and whether you purchase a lifetime subscription or choose to pay monthly. Prices vary from $12.00 a month up to $999.00 per month. Purchasing the software gives you free lifetime upgrades and updates to the program.

4) PPCBidTracker.com: Web based tool to monitor your bids, offering two separate tool packages. "The Overtool" is for managing Overture bids only while "The PPC Tool" works with all of the other PPC's like Find What and Kanoodle.

Both services perform the same functions, like closing bid gaps and maintaining your bid positions. Pricing for both tools for up to 50 keywords is $39.95 per keyword account, and the pricing goes up from there. All billing is done through PayPal.

Some other management tools you may wish to take a look at:

Keyword Bid Maximizer - Software Solution

Did-It.com - Web Based Service

ManageBid.com - Web Based Service

As you can see, you have many options for managing your PPC's. Only you can decide which one will work best for you. If you already use a search engine optimization company you may wish to inquire if they can manage your PPC bids as well.

Remember, PPC search engines are a great way to generate low cost targeted traffic to your website, but managing those bids can be time consuming. By utilizing a PPC management tool, you'll save time and money by not paying more for each click then you have to.