Inverse photoemission (or ultraviolet bremsstrahlung spectroscopy) is an emerging new technique for the study of the electronic structure of solid surfaces. It has the important characteristic of being able to probe states between the Fermi level and vacuum level. Here we survey current experimental practice and future prospects, including discussion of band‐pass and low‐pass photon filters, grating spectrographs, and electron sources. Examples of recent work are presented, drawing on studies of band mapping, energy‐loss satellites, surface states, adsorbates, and spin polarization effects. Emphasis is on k‐resolved inverse photoemission spectroscopy (KRIPES).