Google Adwords position 1 & 2

Where they appear on the page

[Bazzaman]

Can anyone tell me how Google decides to display the Adword 1 & 2 postions. Sometimes they appear in the right hand column and sometimes they appear at the top of the page above the normal search results. I canīt seem to find any reason for this. If I search 10 times on the same keywords the top 1 & 2 placed ads seem to switch from top to side at random, with sometimes no ads at all appearing above the search results.

Can anyone explain how this works and whether it can be controlled?

Regards,

Bazza

[karamkshetra]

The ads which are positioned on the top have a CTR of 5+

For coming on top two position the quality score of your ad-copy which also includes the CTR should be good + your budget and your CPC are also important factors to be on 1st and 2nd of Google AdWords.

If any questions please do reply me.

Regards,
Karamkshetra

[Green_Grass]

There is no clear answer. I have not been able to find any reason. I think they check various positions trying for maximum CTR. Higher the CTR , more the utilization of the budget and more money for G.
With the same budget and same CPC, I have my ads showing at position 1 to 4 at random. It could be the dynamic auction thing.....some times position 1 is the blue band, sometimes it is the first on the right.

Ofcourse, a lot of people feel that if they bid really high, they will get the first position. They may be right.

[eWhisper]

The ads which are positioned on the top have a CTR of 5+

That's not always accurate. On some keywords you can appear in the premium position with a lower CTR.

Essentially, the premium ads must meet additional quality standards.

The easiest way to think about it is if you consider all of the major factors that go into quality score, and then each factor has a minimum, if you can meet all of those minimums, and you are in a top position - then you can appear in the premium positions.