Keyword Avg Pos : is this really accurate?

Should one use it to adjust bids?

[eyeinthesky]

I have some keywords with Avg Pos 7.5, 8.2 or 9.2 but when I do a search on G, these ads appear much higher (like 1 to 4), sometimes even in the premium slots.

I tried searching many times and they are always about the same.

On the other hand, some keywords with high Avg Pos appear nowhere or sometimes on the 2nd page and worse.

It seems What You See Is NOT What You Get? Or is it?

So, should we base our bidding strategy on the Avg Pos? This is a dilemma.

Ideas anyone?

[samseo]

Is your ad geo-targeted?

It is possible that in some other "geography" (where you are showing your ads) some of your competitors (maybe local to that area) are bidding higher - hence pushing your position much below the 2-3 positions you see when you checked your ad.

Just a thought!

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Keyword Avg Pos : is this really accurate?

Yes, it is very accurate indeed.

Really, it's just simple math at work. Average Position is not an estimate - but is instead a factual accounting of the average of all of your actual positions for each of your impressions, for what ever date range you are looking at.

For example if your ad appeared 10 times yesterday in the positions shown here: 4;6;4;9;2;11;3;4;9;5, then your Average Position for yesterday would be 5.7.

This is because 4+6+4+9+2+11+3+4+9+5 = 57. And 57 divided by 10 = 5.7

Position can vary quite a bit from moment to moment depending on the competitive landscape, which is always changing. And samseo is quite correct that targeting to different countries (for example) can make a big difference.

Let's say you target the keyword 'baseball uniforms' in the US, where baseball is pretty popular (and thus a competitive keyword) - then a given Max bid might put you quite low on the page - say position 15. On the other hand, the keyword 'baseball uniforms' targeted in the same campaign to Russia would probably not have a lot of competition - and you might end up in position 1 for the same Max CPC. Your average position would be 8, but if you looked at your actual position in either the US or Russia and compared it to the average, you might think something was amiss.

AWA

[eyeinthesky]

Thanks samseo & AWA.

So even when I see my ad in the premium slot, it does not mean everyone sees the same thing... umm.

Then let's not waste time checking ad positions everyday.

[poster_boy]

Then let's not waste time checking ad positions everyday.

Local ads also make this a fruitless venture...