ads in top banner position performting badly

compared to right hand side

[fasteddie uk2001]

Hi

I've got some ads that have recently moved from 2nd or 3rd place on the right hand side of results, to the top banner position above the free serps.

Unfortunately the click through rate has absolutely plummeted. We're looking at about 1/3 of the click through rate we used to get on the right hand side. Surely this defeats the purpose of 'promoting' ads to the top positions, or am I just unlucky?

Has anyone else found this. I was hoping for an increase in click through rate.

f

[HughMungus]

Whenever this subject comes up, I always think, "Where is the scrollbar". The scrollbar is on the right side where the users' eyes are when they are scrolling down (with the mouse).

Also, I think people might be conditioned nowadays to ignore the top 1/5 to 1/4 of a web page because that's where ads have typically been.

[skibum]

If the CTR drops, the ads should fall back down.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Unfortunately the click through rate has absolutely plummeted. We're looking at about 1/3 of the click through rate we used to get on the right hand side. Surely this defeats the purpose of 'promoting' ads to the top positions, or am I just unlucky?

Has anyone else found this. I was hoping for an increase in click through rate.

fasteddie uk2001, In my experience most advertisers do see an increased CTR in the top spots. This is why, at one time, advertisers were paying a minimum of about $5k per month to appear there. However, there are always exceptions to this trend - and sorry that you appear to be one of these exceptions.

skibum is quite correct that your ads are likely to fall back to the right if the CTR is now way lower - since ads are 'promoted' to the top by virtue of having an excellent CTR.

AWA