Earlier this month, Google amended its definitions of “top ads” and associated statistics. The goal is to clarify the meaning and dynamic nature of paid and organic listings on search results pages. The changes likely won’t impact ad performance.
Top vs Adjacent
Before the change, a top ad appeared above organic listings in search results, like in the example below.
![Screenshot of the first four ads in search results Screenshot of the first four ads in search results](https://www.practicalecommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Top-Ads.jpg)
A top ad appears above organic listings in search results.
Other ads appear below organic listings — with continuous scrolling, there are no footers. For example, this Comcast ad appears under organic results.
![Screenshot of the Comcast ad below the search results. Screenshot of the Comcast ad below the search results.](https://www.practicalecommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Below-Top-Organic-570x372.png)
Ads can also appear below search results, like this Comcast example.
Nonetheless, Google now ranks the Comcast listing as a top listing because it is adjacent to top organic listings. Therefore, a top listing might be in the 15th position overall, below the top four listings and 10 organic listings.
Additionally, Google now calls ads in the first position above or below organic listings “the absolute best ads.” The term does not mean that the ads will always appear there because Google inserts them dynamically.
Another new term in Google ad prominence is “prominence,” an estimate of an ad’s visibility on a search results page. The position and format of an ad determine its prominence. The higher the position, the greater the prominence and, likely, the clicks. Likewise, ads with formats (formerly “extensions”) are likely to receive comparatively more clicks.
Example formats:
- Sitelinks,
- legends,
- Structured extracts,
- Pictures.
The Google Ads interface does not include any visibility measurements. It’s unclear whether Google will create one or apply a similar metric, such as “Absolute search top impression share.”
Account management
I don’t see any material difference with daily management. The meaning of “top ads” and “absolute top ads” is evolving, as are impression share metrics. For example, Google defines “highest search impression share” as “the impressions you received from top ads divided by the estimated number of impressions you were likely to receive from top ads “.
An 80% search top impression share once meant that 80% of ads were served above organic listings. This now means that 80% of ads are served above or below the high organic listings.
The changes require re-evaluating the bidding strategy to optimize the target impression share. Advertisers can set an impression share percentage to target:
- Anywhere on the results page,
- Top results,
- Absolute top results,
For example, advertisers can target 75% of the impression share of top ads, those above or below the top organic listings.
Fundamentals unchanged
Google will likely continue to remove location-based metrics or change how they are calculated. For example, “average position” used to be a key metric. Ads above the fold generally received higher click-through rates. But average position became less critical as right-wing ads disappeared and search results contained more images, Shopping ads, and Google’s knowledge graph. The average position metric was removed because it was no longer useful to advertisers.
Notoriety is now more important than position. Although the first ad in search results is still desirable, all ads can use the same elements. In terms of format, there is no advantage to being first or even below the top organic lists.
Of course, the higher the position of the ad, the faster users will see it. The top and highest performing ads are important, but the specific position is not. The fundamentals of paid search still apply: ads should contain targeted keywords and answer queries. Meeting the needs of researchers is and always will be key.