"Ads will appear along side or above the results on Google search results pages"
Do I have any control over this?
Thanks
You can determine this to some extent by increasing or decreasing your cost per click. Because the ranking formula also takes into account click through rate, you may find that no amount of bidding gets you into the two top spots - this means that you need to improve your click through rate by optimising your creative etc.
The top two ads are the two ads with the highest CPC/CTR combination - the ones on the side continue in that order.
Hope that helps. :)
Although I am getting ranked in the top 2 NO ads at all are being shown at the top. Is this because the click throughs are not valuable enough to Google?
I'm sure AWA or somebody else will be happy to jump in and clarify this.
Budget "throttling" might also be keeping some ads that have been approved from showing up all the time.
I've heard that the ads on the top have also passed through a human review. If ads in that space are changing often, they might never get a chance to be reviewed.
Budget "throttling" might also be keeping some ads that have been approved from showing up all the time.
tak051, you are quite correct that approval status and daily budget are factors that can cause ads to not appear in the top two spots from one moment to the next.
...I've asked a few Googlers in the past - the best answer I got was that none of the ads have a high enough CTR. But this flies in the face of the fact that I've refreshed a search 10 seconds after seeing this and the two top slots have been occupied once again.
I know this may seem slightly counter-intuitive, but CTR can easily change from second to second (and in fact, by definition it changes every single time the ads appears or is clicked on). In this context, it can literally happen that the CTR is sufficient to send the ad 'North' in one moment, and not in the next.
AWA
If you set your budget considerably higher than you expect to spend you will find that it doesn't cost you a lot more in the long run as your ad will show more often. This should enable you to acheive a better CTR in any case.
The other factor that definitely is a must is to have had your ad approved. If your ad has not been approved you will not get a strip ad across the top.
I know this may seem slightly counter-intuitive, but CTR can easily change from second to second (and in fact, by definition it changes every single time the ads appears or is clicked on). In this context, it can literally happen that the CTR is sufficient to send the ad 'North' in one moment, and not in the next.
Seems like the settings need a bit of dampening them. Personally I find it really frustrating that it changes so much (especially when I have a client who wants to be top right, not top top)
Not sure how this would pan out, but it smells like there could be something there.
CTR is only a factor when your budget borderlines on being insufficient.
Actually, in terms of having an ad promoted to the two top spots, CTR is especially important. It is weighted more heavily that Max CPC - unlike for the ads appearing at the right, for which Max CPC and CTR are weighted equally.
Hey AWA, there's a suggestion. Assuming you're not planning on reinstituting premium ads, it'd be great (i.e. people would pay) if we could determine that we want to be as high as our bid/CTR allow, but never in the premium spots. Specifically, if my ad is #1 or 2 and you're going to show the ad in a premium spot, actually put the ad in spot #3.
I'll pass this idea on, wheel.
Just out of curiosity, how many of all y'all would like to be able to check a box that said "Never show my ads in the two spots above the search results"? (Or some other shorter version of the same thing.) ;)
And should that box be at the account level, the campaign level, or at the Ad Group level?
I'm making no promises here, you understand, just collecting valuable feedback!
AWA
Just out of curiosity, how many of all y'all would like to be able to check a box that said "Never show my ads in the two spots above the search results"
Me!
And should that box be at the account level, the campaign level, or at the Ad Group level?
Campaign I think
