What happened to good old off-line skills, like word of mouth, etc?

You tell me. How much have you been talking up my product? Have you told the hundreds of people I need to reach next month? :)

*grin*

Word of mouth isn't just about words... means people trying it, being really happy, solves a need, blah blah - then they highly recommend it to others :-)

My point is that google listings on their own aren't important... Not that I'm a marketing professional, but just some logic ;-)

Your right, advertising on google alone will not make a product successful. However, in this day and age, NOT having a concise marketing plan which includes the use of online adverts like those provided by Google considerably lessens the chance of success. Adwords is a primary business of Google, because it works so well. Many a time, without even knowing it you have been lured to it. Its just part of the way Google works.

Marketing strategies like those offered through Google are foreign to many small ISVs. My point was that Rich has done a great job to collect that information and present it in a way that makes sense. And that to me is an indispensable resource, and free to boot!

True.

And using Google is probably even more important when marketing a product to broad geographical areas (eg America) versus services to just a corner of the province.