Do ads get moved down the page when not clicked on?

And can the process be slowed?

[limoshawn]

It's been discussed on here before that Google possibly moves un-clicked ads down the page for users that do multiple searches on the same keyword. I don't know if this is the case for sure but it appears to be. I can do a search for my keyword, which have searched for frequently but never clicked on, and find it in the 9th or 10th position. However when I use the preview tool the ad is in the top positions.

So, if it is in fact the case that Google moves the ads down for searchers that don't click on them can this process be slowed down by adding more ads for Google to rotate. If I have a keyword with two or three ads to be rotated will Google show a all of those ads before moving the ad down the page for searchers who do multiple searches on the same keyword?

[Cladson]

Google will put all ads from the same advertiser in lower positions, and it doesn't depend on the keyword or ad. For example, if you search your keywords and never click on your ads (and why would you), then Google will show all your ads to you in lower positions. So to answer your question, no, it won't help to create many ads. Google figures that if you didn't click until now, then that company doesn't interest you, so they try putting other people in higher positions.

[RhinoFish]

in addition to lowering under-performing ads in general (lower ctr and quality yields lower position), for each searcher G tracks whether specific domains are never clicked (like your own ad) and if the searcher demonstrates a repeated disinterest in a certain domain, it will begin to drop as well... so clear your cookies (they hold the data for G to know about your past searches) and you'll see you ad pop back up...

better yet, use the adpreview tool - it avoids these mistakes and leaves you and your competitors ads alone.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

better yet, use the adpreview tool - it avoids these mistakes and leaves you and your competitors ads alone.

Agreed. Also, you'll not accrue an impression when looking for your ads in this way. To make it easier to find, here's the link:

[google.com...]

AWA

<edit> Removed the period at the end of the URL, so it would actually work. </edit>

[edited by: AdWordsAdvisor at 11:20 pm (utc) on Oct. 11, 2007]

[limoshawn]

better yet, use the adpreview tool - it avoids these mistakes

I really do appreciate the responses, unfortunately it appears that I was not very clear with my question.

I had originally asked if having "ad variations" will slow the slide to the bottom. Since my original post I have tested a few keywords with and without variations and it appears that having variations does in fact slow the fall. It looks like Google rotates through the ads before sending them down the hill.

I will try to word my questions better in the future. ;)

[fordo23]

limoshawn I'm not sure I still completely understand your question but I'll answer on my interpretation. I have the same issues with viewing SERP results for my keywords, I rarely see my site in position 1 (because I never click) therefore I do use the adpreview tool. But most importantly as my guide, I always review my ‘average position’ statistics, which show me my solid 1 positions.
The other thought I had whilst reading this, was your campaigns settings. Do you have them on ‘Rotate ads evenly’, or ‘show better performing ads’? If I’m putting in new creative I change to ‘Rotate evenly’, to give the new creative a chance, and then I revert to ‘show better performing’ once they’ve built some history/had a chance for performance. The golden rule is to always run ad variations (this is the part I was unsure of your question). My maximiser has said really no more than 3 ads per adgroup.

[NatronZero]

I'm a bit confused here. If you view the SERPs & refrain from clicking on any ad, does this not average into QS for every advertiser on the page? While it appears true that a certain CTR affects various positions in different ways (i.e. a 1% CTR is deemed best for say position 5, but the same CTR doesn't increase quality for position 4), wouldn't this non-click occurance be drawn across the board as a wash? In no way am I arguing against the ad preview tool (in fact that new geo positioning is quite convienient), I'm just trying to assertain more about QS as regards CTR.
Cheers,
n

[limoshawn]

I'm a bit confused here.

NatronZero,
I’m not really concerned with what I see. I’m trying to figure out what Joe Searcher is seeing and why. When Joe Searcher searches for "widgets" multiple times without clicking on the top ads Google starts to "personalize" the results for Joe and the top ads start to move down the page and get replaced by other ads when Joe searches for "widgets". It appears however that if I, as an advertiser, have a few ad variations and I have a good QS Google will show Joe Searcher all my ad variations before moving my ads down the page.

The golden rule is to always run ad variations

fordo23,
Agreed! We almost always run variations, but in the past it has always been for testing to find the best combo of ctr and roi. In the past, once we had found the most consistent balance we kept that ad and sometimes only that ad

[Cladson]

If you view the SERPs & refrain from clicking on any ad, does this not average into QS for every advertiser on the page? While it appears true that a certain CTR affects various positions in different ways (i.e. a 1% CTR is deemed best for say position 5, but the same CTR doesn't increase quality for position 4), wouldn't this non-click occurance be drawn across the board as a wash?

NatronZero,
True, it may be factored into the quality score of every advertiser. However, if you were searching your owns keywords, your ad would show every time while the ads of your competitors may or may not be shown for all of the same keywords, so your ads overall would be hit the worst.