My average position is about 1.8. I have read that you have to meet certain levels of CTR and Max Bid to qualify for premium. Does anyone know what these are? My CTR is very high (over 15%) because I have a list of over 1000 negatives and well targeted copy that cannot be the problem. My ave CPC is only about one third of my maximum CPC so I think my max CPC must be high enough.
Anyone have any ideas?
Anyone have any ideas?
It's not based on Max. CPC but something to do with the actual cost. I think it's based on the actual cost per day (or any given duration).
One of my main keywords has the same problem.
position =1.7
no negative keyword
[exact] match while the premium position ad is a true broad match.
The premium position ad which is a true broad match as in my case or not limited due to many negatives as in your case, will get more searches per day than our position-1 ads. Since they have more searches, they will cost more per day.
Example (using your data with some assumptions):
premium (Rank 1): CTR=16%; Max. CPC=$1; Actual CPC=$0.94 Rank number=16 (or bid $16/100 searches); Actual cost=$15.04/100 searches
Position 1 (Rank 2): CTR=15%; Max. CPC=$1.0; Actual=$0.34; Rank number = 15 (or $ bid $15/100 searches); Actual cost=$5.1/100 searches
Position 2 (Rank 3): CTR=5%; Max. CPC=$1.0; Actual=$0.70; Rank number = 5 (or $ bid $5/100 searches); Actual cost=$3.5/100 searches
Assume that 1000 searches per day were made for the keyword including broad match. Since you have 1000 negatives, your ad shows for 500 searches only.
Actual pay per day will be:
$150.1 for the preminum ad
$25.05 for your ad
$35.00 for the position-2 ad.
So you pay the least (rank-2 ad).
To be in the premium positions, the keyword should meet both conditions:
1. The highest position on the right hand side, and
2. Over certain actual cost per day (or any given duration)
The rank-1 ad above meets both conditions. Your rank-2 ad may not meet the second condition. The rank-3 ad doesn't meet the first condition but it can be qualified for the second condition. This explains why this ad gets the second premium position once you pause your rank-2 ad.
If you raise your Max. CPC to $2 to get rank-1 ad. You will notice that the premium ad will fall to the the second position on the right hand side, below your ad. Reasons? Your ad may be qualified for the premium but it needs time (day or any given duration) to prove that it has met the second condition. Since your ad is still at the first position on the right, the ex-premium ad is no longer met the first condition.
The above is just my theory. Test it out. It's complicate, isn't it?
Incidentally in my case my main keyword has a double meaning - one being the niche market product I sell and the other being a completely unrelated piece of information on a very popular sport. There are many more searches for the sports information than for the product. This means that those who have not worked on the negatives will have much higher impressions, similar number of clicks and much lower CTR than me. So they are paying loads more than me for the same number of clicks. I know this because my CTR has improved from about 3% to about 15% since I started working on the negatives and I am still coming up with more ideas. At the same time my average CPC is now about one third of what it was and I am getting a higher average position.
So I have pretty much cracked the BidRank formula optimization but, in doing so, seem to have moved the wrong side of the Premium position criteria. Google sure is full of contradictions.
I suspect it may well be the case that I am better off showing first on the right hand side than in premium as I think many shoppers are now first drawn to the right hand side. I know I often fail to notice premium ads when I am shopping. Does anyone else have a view on this.
Nice try attempting to decipher the formula - I always like seeing some good mathmatical theories. I believe their formula is updated on a regular basis - and I've never seen any specifics on exactly how it's calculated.
What I think matters:
Actual CPC
Max CPC
CTR
Total number of ads shown (I've seen cases where a 1.5% CTR has hit premium when there are lots of competitors, and other cases where a 5% CTR doesn't get premium position with few competitors).
However, these two cases are premium ads with very low monthly totals:
I have an keyword with 246 searches/month, actual CPC of $0.36, max CPC of $1, CTR 4.0%, 8+ competitors - it's in the premium position. I don't ever spend more than $5/month for this keyword.
And yet another one with 300 searches a month, max CPC $2.50, actual CPC of $0.05, no competitors, 11% CTR - premium position. Don't spend more than $2 a month on this keyword.
Those are very low numbers, and if there were a monthly threshold for how much you needed to pay a month for a keyword to be premium - I'd think it was higher than $2.
This is the last decent info I've seen on the subject:
[webmasterworld.com...] post 24 (and it's from last year).
However, these two cases are premium ads with very low monthly totals:I have an keyword with 246 searches/month, actual CPC of $0.36, max CPC of $1, CTR 4.0%, 8+ competitors - it's in the premium position. I don't ever spend more than $5/month for this keyword.
And yet another one with 300 searches a month, max CPC $2.50, actual CPC of $0.05, no competitors, 11% CTR - premium position. Don't spend more than $2 a month on this keyword.
Those are very low numbers, and if there were a monthly threshold for how much you needed to pay a month for a keyword to be premium - I'd think it was higher than $2.
Hi EWhisper - My main keyword is certainly spending a lot more on Adwords than the examples you give and has a higher CTR. The algo for Premium must be pretty complex. It is also somewhat different to BidRank in that it basically gives a binary result - you either qualify or do not - rather than a rank. From the examples posted on here it is clear that the 'entrance level' is different for different keywords and the difference must be coming from the 'Actual Spend' part rather than the CTR. Logically the 'target actual spend' for a keyword must be derived from what other bidders on that keyword are spending. From experiments I have found that new bidders on my main keyword will have to pay about £1 a click to get position 7 whereas I am getting average position 1.7 for 35p a click. So I am paying way less than the average bidder on my keyword (due to my very high CTR) and because of that I cannot qualify for premium. So much for rewarding the relevant.
Any comment from Adwords on this one?
If your average position is 1.7, odds are there is one person who is above you for many keyword searches. That person probably doesn't qualify for premium position, and since your behind them, you won't qualify either.
If the person above you isn't promoted, then the 2nd ad isn't either - you can't leapfrog someone because you qualify and they don't.
If your average position is 1.7, odds are there is one person who is above you for many keyword searches. That person probably doesn't qualify for premium position, and since your behind them, you won't qualify either.
EWhisper - That is not the answer I am afraid. The ad above me (which has a lower CTR and much higher CPC than mine) does usually get shown in premium position 1 on its own with mine placed first on the right hand side blocking those behind it from getting position 2 on premium. If I suspend my ad one of those below me gets promoted to Premium Position 2.
