Did Universal Search increase AdWords clicks

[ppc_newbie]

I was having a discussion the other day with an account rep about CTRs on different PPC ad platforms.

So the question becomes whether the inclusion of all the universal search junk that pushes the natural SERPS way down, result in an increase in CTR for AdWords?

[scout]

I've been waiting for a long time for someone to chime in on this. In my analysis of year over year keywords, Google search only, exact match only, same position YOY, shows CTR way, way down and nearly flat impression growth. I chalk this up to universal search, GAN ads, auto suggest, and large swings in the SEO results which are now favoring "big box" brand type retailers.

Google has supplemented this flatness in demand by continually increasing the size and scope of their syndication partner programs. Syndicated traffic is up over 30% in our account.