WebmasterWorld members have spotted that the Google ad placement formula is now in effect. The Google AdWords blog confirms this.
To recap, the key change to the formula is how we consider price. Like the formula used for ranking ads alongside Google search results, the top ad placement formula now considers an ad's maximum CPC.
Members are also seeing the following trends:
I am noticing that those of my keywords that have very high max CPC, very little impressions and even fewer clicks and had a very low average CPC over time have had their average CPC skyrocket towards the max CPC. Those keywords that fit the same profile but have lots of impressions and clicks have had their average CPC go up alot as well but not as much. It is always good advice to adjust ones max CPC down to the absolute highest one is willing to pay but it appears to be even more important now with these increases.
DigitalPoint Forums members notice other findings related to the display of ads.
First, there are far fewer of the top ads in search results for the keywords I use in my campaign. In some cases, there are no top ads in the results, which is very unusual. The second thing I notice is that the first page of results is totally different than what I am used to seeing. Usually, the first page contains the usual suspects, but not so much today.
It probably is a bit too early to tell how much of an impact this new top promotion formula will make for most advertisers. We will continue to watch the forums and report back any major and even minor changes noticed by this new algorithm.
Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.
