With the old system, it just depended on our bid. Apparently, if we bid high enough, we wound up in the blue box. With the new system, I am not sure.
Please allow me to correct this, ember, as it isn't really correct. Being promoted to the top spots has always been weighted more toward higher relevance than towards a higher bid.
In fact, it is not one's Max CPC bid that matters for promotion to top spots, but the actual CPC. Just bidding higher has never been a way to guarantee going 'Up North'.
fishermx, as an aside, there have been tons of WebmasterWorld threads on this topic in the past if you want more 'depthy' discussion. In the meantime, though, here's a bit of info from the AdWords Help Center:
How do I get my ad in the top position...?
[adwords.google.com...]
AWA
You said this:
...Being promoted to the top spots has always been weighted more toward higher relevance than towards a higher bid.I understand that.
In fact, it is not one's Max CPC bid that matters for promotion to top spots, but the actual CPC. Just bidding higher has never been a way to guarantee going 'Up North'.And I understand that too but, it seems to negate what you said about relevance. That is, if it's based on actual CPC, then how is it based on relevance. Or do you mean, that since a high relevance ad would have a low actual cpc then that means it is the LOW ACTUAL CPC that gets it into the top spot just because it can't get that low unless it's really really relevant. Did that make sense? I did read the provided link, and it does say almost exactly what you just said.
-Dr.X
...it seems to negate what you said about relevance. That is, if it's based on actual CPC, then how is it based on relevance. Or do you mean, that since a high relevance ad would have a low actual cpc then that means it is the LOW ACTUAL CPC that gets it into the top spot just because it can't get that low unless it's really really relevant. Did that make sense? I did read the provided link, and it does say almost exactly what you just said.
I can see where this all might seem confusing Dr_X, but I think you're making it more complicated than it really is. Let me see if I can make it more clear.
Essentially Ad Rank = CPC x Quality Score. In other words, it's an equation.
* For ads that appear on the right the equation considers the Maximum CPC (in other words, the highest CPC the advertiser will allow), and one's quality score.
* For ads that go to the top, it is one's actual CPC that is considered (keeping in mind that the actual CPC is quite likely to be less than the Maximum CPC). And, in addition, one's Quality Score is weighted more heavily than it is for ads on the right.
The bottom line is that relevance (Quality Score) always matters, and it matters more in terms of getting 'promoted' to the top spots.
I hope that goes some way towards clearing this up for you.
AWA
Be careful, as the ads that are displayed over the SERPS tend to get enhanced clicks, thus creating a great possibility of high spending with lower conversion rates.Thats what my experience is.
LRBS
I am sorry, but i have to disagree with you on this one. It works out well for some, and not for other sites that we look after
Different strokes for differnt folks I spose
briggidere
