Yeah, if your brother doesn't have the authority to link a google adwords account, he won't be able to use AdGrok. Know that we can link to MCCs and that any given account can have 2 links, though. People who already use an agency also use AdGrok just so they can keep tabs on what's going on easily.

I posted http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1854584 to the original Ask HN post -- he should read through those bullet points after he reads the first couple sections of that getting-started link I sent. PPC is all about targeting customer eyeballs, NOT targeting the "bouncers" or "trolls" that you won't ever be able to convert into a customer, and giving a message that is specific enough to someone's needs that it speaks to them.

Google has a certification process that has a horribly dry but thorough -- he should slog through that and get certified (it'd be good for his CV if he wants to do PPC at other companies, because many require it):

http://www.google.com/intl/en/adwords/professionals/individu...

Here's their "learning center":

http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/static.py?hl=en&...

He should also try "AdWords for Dummies" (really!) and/or Brad Geddes' book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470500239

Good luck to your brother!