jeffgroovy - 8:16 pm on Aug 10, 2007 (gmt 0)

I cannot understand what's going on here. This isn't clear at all. boiling this entire equation down, all I gather is that your placement in the top will have more to do with your CPC then it did prior. It looks like the same system as now, but it will give more weight in the top ranking equation to CPC and lower the weight CTR currently has in the top ranking equation.

Every so often I'm looking at one of my sites, and I say to myself "Hmmmm...if I put another ad over here, I could probably make a little bit more money," however I always ask myself one more question. "How is this going to affect user experience on my site?" Since Google is saying that the same "stringent" quality standards apply to the new ranking algorithm I don't see this as having much of an impact at all on user experience, instead I see it as having a real impact on high paying advertisers that will now have a bit more control over their top position by raising their bids. Kudos Google.

I'm also in the camp that has proven over years that top position is not always the best position for profit margins, especially if you can visually tell that the 2 competitors bidding above you have written their ads far less effective than you. In that scenario I get an equal or greater CTR then my competitor in #1 position, all for the price of position #3