Only one add showing although more available

[vivalasvegas]

On my main website I have a 120x600 skyscraper. I noticed that often, when visiting one of my pages the scraper only shows one ad at the top, although it has those arrows at the bottom, and by clicking the down arrow you get 4 more scrapers showing 4 ads each. Is this a glitch or do Adwords advertisers have the option of being the only one ad on page? Coincidence or not my CTR has been lower lately.

[realmaverick]

I've noticed this on my wide and medium blocks too. I imagine Google is playing around, figuring out which pays better etc.

We're just guinea pigs :)

[netmeg]

No, advertisers don't have the option to set that. Generally when I see ads like that, it means it's site (or placement) targeting - and for those ads, I'm being paid on a CPM basis instead of CPC. If you get a lot of traffic, it can work.

[ken_b]

My understanding is that since the introduction of the little scrolling "more" arrows, Google has only been showing what they consider to be the most profitable ads on the first screen.

So you might see only one ad in an adblock that could hold 3 or 4 ads, but be able to scroll through many more ads using the arrows.

Does that pay better? Couldn't prove it by my stats.

[vivalasvegas]

Thanks for your replies. You are right - after researching my account I noticed that starting a few days ago I began receiving placement targeted ads and they pay much better than regular ads. Of course the CTR is lower, but still so far it looks like Google is doing a good job choosing the higher paying option.