CTR and position?

CTR according to add position

[activeco]

Is there any rule of thumb for determining average CTR according to ad position?
OK, according to many, premium position makes about 20% CTR.
How about different positions on the side table?

[mike_ppc]

It is very, very important how targeted the word and the ad are (IMO)
Ex: if one searched for "red nice metal widgets" - and your ad is "widgets" , your CTR would be smaller than CTR for the "Red nice metal widgets" title.
It's very difficult to give precise figures, because the range is very small.
Some figures could be 15 - 10 - 6 - 4 - 2 -1, but I doubt anyone could give exact numbers.
It depends of many other specific factors.

[dave741]

I agree absolutely:

It is very, very important how targeted the word and the ad are (IMO)
Ex: if one searched for "red nice metal widgets" - and your ad is "widgets" , your CTR would be smaller than CTR for the "Red nice metal widgets" title.

Some figures could be 15 - 10 - 6 - 4 - 2 -1

If this would be for one of your words+ad, it says nothing for another combination of words+ad.

I doubt anyone could give exact numbers

I did it here (msg #5):
[webmasterworld.com...]

But I also think, that It depends on many other specific factors, so you cannot do any general conclusion from those numbers.

[mike_ppc]

dave, nice work!
I was referring to exact numbers for ANY combination Ad+Word.
But there are also other specific factors.
Ex: in Google, pos 4-5 is still ok. But in search network, 4th position could be down on the page.
Also, depends if your word is broadmatch, negatives, etc
For example, if you sell widgets, you could have:
red widgets .....10 impressions - 10th position
free widgets .....90 impressions - 2nd position.
Your avg position would be : 2,8 - but is not representative at all!
And if you have content, the error could be even bigger!

[dave741]

1. I do not use search network

2.

Your avg position would be: 2,8 - but is not representative at all!

I do not think. It is as representative as any AVERAGE number could be. If you see any AVERAGE number you always have to realize what might be behind it.

[mike_ppc]

This gives me an idea. Google should display the average position, but also the variation between all the values and the average - to measure HOW representative is the average.
Var = SUM [Squre(Imp(i) - Average)] / N
for i=1 to N N=total number of impressions for a KW.

[activeco]

Guys, I appreciate your input.
I guess I should have only be more specific.

Let's say that hypothetically, all the ads were exactly the same; what probable CTR is to be expected for each one?

But, you already gave some clue.
Thanks.

[Jmez]

Here is a great article on CTR that is very useful. Enjoy.. [atlasdmt.com...]