JoeSinkwitz - 1:56 pm on May 10, 2010 (gmt 0)

Estimated CTR not measurably down post 3-column layout push; we're still pouring through lots of data since we run lots of internal tests for conversion purposes, but the initial results point to the change not mattering much just yet for fat head terms...more data needed to see how it affects longer tail traffic.

Perhaps the lack of effect has more to do with the amount of garbage injected when looking for recently updated material vs "all time" OR that the commercial intent calculated by Google being less accurate than Bing -- the new layout feels like a Bing knockoff without a much substance to it...a bit noisy.

Last bit of info I'm going to look at closer: the organic section looks to be pushing results down .5-1 position below the fold (haven't "measured" what the actual screen squeeze is yet). I'm expecting longterm that the CTR will shift a bit more to position 1-3 since #4 is really getting buried (and not just on maps/universal integrated serps).