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Maps and the SPYW follow box say no. If they continue to grow into more industries and search queries, position four will soon equal positiion 7 or 8.
Hey Michael, Thanks for the comment! I'd actually argue the exact opposite. The fact that Google is using this ad space for Maps as well as SPYW indicates that they have found some inherent value in this position. Otherwise, why would they put these engagement-focused add-ins in this part of the SERP real estate? Thanks! -SEMimpact
The proof is in the numbers from within your AdWords account, which probably varies from keyword to keyword. In all honesty, I have not seen any sort of data that confirms this claim from within the AdWords accounts I manage or from others. I would still put my (well my clients money) into making sure their ads are shown within the top 3 positions.
@Michael, same here - we have seen that the top 3 positions tend to drive the best CTRs and CPCs (especially when you factor in the Quality Score boost from having high CTRs). I guess the question is, in some cases, could position 4 yield overall lower conversions (depending on how you define a conversion that is). Also, I wonder if Google actually actually enters the "search auction" for their keywords...
Hey Michael, Thanks for the comment! To be fair, the only time you'd see any compelling data is if you ran a test to experiment what ad position works best for your CPA or ROI. To simply say that the proof is in your AdWords account does not really provide enough of an argument to either confirm or deny the value of position 4. Such an assessment could only be determined through testing, which we definitely recommend! -SEMimpact
@Carl, you bring up a good question. I can agree with you that there is the possibility of some better conversion rates and possibly a little better ROI to boot. There are just too many specific factors that would have to come in to play to set up that scenario. @SEMimpact, of course extensive testing would be needed to completely validate the theory. Even without testing, there is enough sufficient data available to ascertain whether or not spending the time to test this theory would be worth the reward. Simply segmenting your keyword data into "Top vs Other" easily shows you enough data to make an informed decision. I apologize for not elaborating on my point in my earlier comment to avoid any confusion from my statement. I will stick to my guns though. I still have yet to see anything compelling enough to make such a test. - M
@Michael, same here - we have seen that the top 3 positions tend to drive the best CTRs and CPCs (especially when you factor in the Quality Score boost from having high CTRs). I guess the question is, in some cases, could position 4 yield overall lower conversions (depending on how you define a conversion that is). Also, I wonder if Google actually actually enters the "search auction" for their keywords...