I don't think that being up north is the reason, but rather my ad copy. Being up top gives the ad the visibility which gets it read.
On highly competitive, more general keywords, my CTR goes up, but never higher than 4-5%.
If your keyword competitors are not offering the same type of product/service that you are, then I'd consider that a "general" keyword.
For instance, Hawaii vacation is general, Hawaii vacation rental is more specific.
For premium listings I've had CTR from 1% up to 18%.
CTR depends on
1. which keyword you target
9. competition (other ads)
10. your ad copy
For normal ads (right side) I've hade CTR from 0% up to 14%.
When you say: 1% to 18% what's the average? If you are looking at 3 months average.
My keywords are highly competitive I think, finance.
I work on the copy with the Maximize group and that's the best so far.
Also I think we are doing a bit better because you don't do any over delivery.
Shak, is your campaign include over delivery?
We have aggressive delivery activated. I don't this this affects your CTR. It just means your ad is displayed more often.