martinibuster - 6:00 pm on Aug 2, 2005 (gmt 0)

What's going on with respect to CTR and its influence on Ask's analysis.

There is no mention in the press release of an analysis. The only criteria it mentioned was that the PPC ads had to be higher than those on AdWords.

People, we really need to look at the fine print with a critical eye whenever any company releases a press release.

For instance, in April of this year, Berkowitz stated (and all the bloggers uncritically applauded):

Berkowitz said that, in a bid to improve the user experience with the search engine, the company began to implement a program in early April to reduce by 31% the number of ads it shows at the top of its results pages. The company's tests show that a smaller number of ads boosts the frequency with which people use the site and aids user retention. As such, Jeeves expects the change to help lift query volumes and ad revenue later in the year.

But that appears to be either a publicity stunt, or a way to miscategorize removing the top three Google ads to make space for AJ ads.

Or does it mean they're going to eliminate a total of six AdWords ads whenever they show three AJ ads?