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Adwords Above Natural Results...What's the Effect?

by The Expert
4 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I've got a site competing for a keyword that has THREE Adwords "Sponsored" results promoted to the top of the left side of the page.

Below that spots 1,2, and 3 are normal competing sites.

Spot 4 is "Image Results" and Spot 5 is "Video Results" >:0<

I'm currently in spot 7 and it feels frustrating because it seems like because of all the extra "google stuff" on this results page my #7 position might as well be on the second page.

I'll probably have the top spot in a week or two, but my question is, with Adwords ads being in the to 3 spots, what kind of percentage hit will my #1 spot take as a result of these Adwords left-side competition?

Anyone have any insight from experience?
#adwords #effect #natural #resultswhat
  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    First, ads will show above the SERPs only on certain conditions. There can be up to three. You need to be above a CTR threshold, probably 10% but more likely a certain percentage (ie: twice) above the average CTR for the keyword. You also need to be above a certain CPC threshold which will depend on bids of the other advertisers.

    So if you see no ads above the SERPs, no advertiser is reaching the minimum requirements.

    If you are in #1 spot above the SERPs, by the above definition, you will get the highest CTRs possible among advertisers for that keyword. Typically, it will be 10-20% and can go even higher. I've seen up to 60%.

    But first, you have to get your CTR up to even consider grabbing the first few spots.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Expert
      I must have miscommunicated. I'm not doing PPC at all. I've tried it out 3 times on various projects and ended up dumping money in a hole with it. The problem came in that you needed so many clicks before you earned a conversion and all those clicks ate up any profit that was in the product.

      Anyway...my question is, "If I am #1 in NATURAL search for my keyword term but there are three paid results above me, what percentage of traffic will I lose to these PPC advertisers?"

      i.e. - if I would get 1,000 uniques p/day with Adwords ads showing only on the right, would I lose 10%, 20%, or 30% of that 1,000 when three of the Adwords ads got promoted from the right to the top of the page on the left?
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    • Profile picture of the author FredericoVilaVerde
      Originally Posted by Lucid View Post

      You need to be above a CTR threshold, probably 10% but more likely a certain percentage (ie: twice) above the average CTR for the keyword.
      I was into a local seminar about Google Adwords this week and I was told by the guy who was making the presentation... that Google considers 3% as the minimum CTR threshold for the paid ads to go into the top 1-3 positions (or above the organic search results). He also said that number should be more conservative like 4% CTR.

      To be honest I was also led to think into the 10% you've mentioned. That was my initial view on the subject. And what ever the case is I am now paying more attention to this fact to see if I can confirm such 3% or 4% pattern or not. Hopefully people here in the forum can also comment on these numbers... also based on experience.

      Regards,

      Frederico Vila Verde
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    Sorry Expert, I misunderstood. The info provided however could answer other questions.

    Your question is an interesting one. I don't think there has ever been any research into this although a previous post (http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...10-google.html) about the average click rate in the SERPs has and mentions that sponsored searches were either not used in the test or ignored. My understanding is that searches that resulted in no sponsored results were considered but that is unclear.

    My gut feeling is that the one, two or three ads that appear above the natural results in effect become the top search results in the eyes of many searchers. Therefore, everybody else gets push down that many spots. If a SERP can expect a 10% click rate in fourth position and 5% in sixth, having two sponsored results at the top would mean you would effectively be in sixth position and expect only a 5% rate.
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