Chris C.

Adwords works for me. I've been a customer for years and continue to use the service as my primary marketing method.
But, and it's a big 'but'. The Adwords team are just totally untrustworthy. They will do anything to get every last dime from you, often by stealthy methods.
Three times over the last five years the Adwords team have changed the rules to randomly (and without warning) empty my bank account. They change the way budget limits work, bid strategy rules, and other stealthy ways to spend your budget. An example is the daily spending limit: Once, this was exactly what it says it is, a limit for the daily spend. However, this was suddenly changed to an 'average daily spend limit' (meaning that Adwords will simply increase the bid price until your daily spend is used). These things can come as an expensive surprise if you're not watching your Adwords account closely... and those Adwords advisers will only ever advise you to spend more money, often with worst results.
So, if you're going to use the service then check your spend regularly and make sure you can absorb a random big bill every year or so. Think 'used car salespeople', useful, but be careful when dealing with them.