ROI and various positions in ppc

si if #1 is better than #2, how much better?

[Cam_Morton]

I am looking for data on how consumers use ppc engines. More narrowly:
-- how important is it to be "above the fold"; i.e. on the first visible page of served search results? I'm sure that companies like Overture try to keep values in line, so that if the number one position draws a hundred clicks and number four gets ten, then #1 position costs ten times more ... but is there a useful numbers game to be played here?
-- for less popular search terms on which an engine like Overture can attract, say, 5-8 paying customers, what factors determine who gets the highest non-paying position in their ranking?
Thanks... Cam

[brotherhood of LAN]

Hi Cam,

Funnilly enough, I done a search for "clickability of search engine rank" on Google and got led back to webmasterworld as the #1 SERP :)

The thread that turned up was [webmasterworld.com...] I dont know if it helps

[Mike_Mackin]

I am looking for data on how consumers use ppc engines. More narrowly:
>how important is it to be "above the fold"; i.e. on the first visible page of served search results?

The fold on Overture doesn't matter.
It is where you are positioned on the various partner sites where 90% of the traffic comes from.

>I'm sure that companies like Overture try to keep values in line, so that if the number one position draws a hundred clicks and number four gets ten, then #1 position costs ten times more ... but is there a useful numbers game to be played here?

YOU WOULD THINK THAT WOULD BE TRUE
In practice [which you must TEST for yourself] anything can happen. We are currently #3 @ 27 cents with #1 & #2 at above a dollar. I'm willing to bet we capture more trageted traffic.

< what factors determine who gets the highest non-paying position in their ranking?

Those result come from Inktomi

[Cam_Morton]

Thanks Brotherhood..etc and Mike.
I wnet back and read that earlier discussion.
Very good stuff. But I fel as though there should be some insights available from the useability mob. Anybody lurking from Jakob's crowd? :-)