Premium Slot - Whats Up?

Something has changed

[cayenne]

I know that I seem obsessed with this (okay, I am), but the algo that drives premium placement has definitely changed - at least for those of us with KWs that have no competition.

We have had an ad in the premium slot for 6 months running and all of the sudden it is off to the right of the page. Our CTR and sales have been cut in half. This KW has a 5%+ CTR when off to the right and 10%+ while in the premium slot. Our CTR x Bid is in excess of 30.

I wonder if getting promoted upstairs is now a function of what is actually paid per click. (We have only been paying 7 cents). Maybe something north of 10 cents gets you there now. If this is indeed the case, how does one with no competition get there?

c

[Robsp]

C,

I just saw one of my keyword moving to the top line after I increased the bid from 7 to 10 cts but that is only the case for this specific keyword, not for others that also do 10 cts?

My 2cts :-)

Rob

[ogletree]

So you are saying that it is better to be on the right than on the top.

[Chndru]

discussed here: [webmasterworld.com...]

[Robsp]

BTW, that particular keyword which ends up on the premium spot does have a CTR of 17%

[cayenne]

Thanks guys.

I just contacted G and sorta got the impression that they might be doing some tweaking...sounds like a work in progress.

I gotta say that G adwords support is great from my perspective.

c