My google adwords text ad was at the top in the left just above search results. I changed my text ad by adding a period. Since then, I am at the top right, and nobody is at the top left area for google adwords. How did a text change of adding only a period affect my ability to appear at left. It's probably also pissing off my competitors, because they all went under me on the right also. Nobody can get to the top left, which makes about a 10% CTR difference.
Thanks for any help!
From some quick tests it seems as though the less specific keywords are still getting the banner (for example, "widgets") but specific terms (like, "big blue widgets") aren't despite being, seemingly, as popular as the root keyword.
Anyone have any idea why this has happened?
Is your ad running above that of those that were previously in the blue box?
If you have, through adding a period, or otherwise, managed to increase your CTR beyond that of your competition that's in the blue box, you've created a situation where there temporarily will be NO blue box.
That's because your changed ad has not yet been reviewed. Because it hasn't been reviewed yet, it can't run in the blue box.
If Google put up a blue box now, they can't put you in the blue box. This would put competition with inferior CTR ahead of you. Google plays fair, and won't do that.
So, Catch-22 - no blue box. Not until your ad has been reviewed.
It might not be your ad - it might be somebody else's ad, of course. Is there some ad (yours, or somebody else's) on top of the ad that was previously at the top of the blue box?
No ad was above of my ad when I was in the blue box before. Any ads that were below me in the blue box, when I was in the blue box, are now under me on the right side.
Sorry, I misunderstood your original post. I didn't realize that you were originally in the blue box.
This has an easy explanation, then. You will have to wait until your new ad is reviewed. Ads can't run in the blue box until they have been reviewed. ANY change to an ad requires review. Even adding a period.
In the mean time, NOBODY is going to run in the blue box, because that would put them ahead of your ad, which was already on top. Since you can't run in the blue box, then nobody else can either.
If it's important for my ad to be up North, upping my maximum bid usually does the trick. How much I pay per click doesn't change substantially. You might want to change your maximum bid to three or four bucks to see what happens.
Another good reason to never change an ad. As the previous poster suggested, create a new ad, and let both run until the new one is getting equal play and (if applicable) is in the blue box.
