Is Google's Keyword Suggestion Tool Useful?

In a recent post by Jeremy Mayes over at PPC Discussions he took a critical look at the Google Suggest tool. We talked just yesterday about the importance of getting specific with your keywords so that you are not wasting money on an overly expensive and overly sought-after keyword or phrase. Mayes criticism of the Google AdWords keyword suggestion tool comes from the general nature of the suggestions it provides.

Of course, Google can only offer suggestions from the words you provide, if you only type in the most basic term you will only see basic keyword suggestions, which also happen to be competitive and expensive.

Taking this all into consideration, the keyword suggestion tool can be a good starting point and a good way to analyze your current campaign - but Google will not do all the work for you. You are the one who is involved with your industry and who interacts with your customers on a day-to-day basis. You are the expert in your field and you are the one who can best hone your target keywords. So use this tool, and any of the other various keyword suggestion tools out there, to help you in your research as you determine the best keywords and key phrases for your search marketing campaign.