Blue Spot Question

[bigdealioo]

I got an ad in the blue spot. I'm an affiliate linking to merchant direct. Porbably there's other affiliates bidding as well, but currently only I am displayed.

For some periods of time I'm displayed in the Blue spot and for some periods of time I'm in the top right spot - all the while no other ads are being displayed. What's the reason for this behavior?

[inbound]

Do you change the anything in the advert on a regular basis?

If so there's a theory that you wait for a manual review of the ad changes for some terms.

The other theory is that Google is just playing with our minds ;)

[bigdealioo]

Nope havent changed. And it's been approved for awhile already.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

What's the reason for this behavior?

The essentials: In order to go to the top spots ads must first have been reviewed/approved. Then, they must meet an additional performance bar which more heavily weights relevance.

Think of it as a 'go' or 'no-go' situation. Either there are ads that meet the performance bar, or there are not. If there are no ads that meet the bar, then no ads go up top, even if there is only one ad.

Also, whether an ad meets the bar or not is not a fixed thing - it is constantly being re-evaluated.

To sum it up, AdWords wants to show ads up there only if they are especially relevant.

AWA

[barrymossel]

Ok, sounds fair, AWA. But... Why is one of my ads shown in the 'blue spot' at one moment for one kw, and the other minute not at that spot for the same kw?
So same kw, same ad, just a minute difference in time (clicked on search again)...

[limoshawn]

Think of it as a 'go' or 'no-go' situation.

barrymossel, It might be that when you did the search for your keyword you added an "impression" to your keyword's stats which put that keyword under the performance bar for your next search.

[sailorjwd]

I think G also has some randomization in there so that ads that meet the criteria get rotated in once in a while otherwise the order of ads would be more static.

Also, if two ads have identical or nearly identical scores then wouldn't it make sense to rotate them.

Then again, I know nothing.