Not long ago, Google Chief Economist, Hal Varian, mentioned a new Google Adwords feature “Top vs. Side” Ad Performance Segmentation. This feature allows you to understand the difference in performance when your Adwords ads appears in #1 above the search results and when your ads appears on #1 on the side.
Results shows that ads which appear above the search results tend to be getting more clicks than ads that appear on the side of the Google search results. You can check your ads performance by using “Top vs. Side” report segment in the Adwords system. It will show the relationship between your ads’ locations, clicks and conversions.
Quality Score and bidding price are 2 factors that will determine whether your ads appear above the search results or on the side. Your ads stand a higher chance to appear above the search results if they have a very high Quality Score.
So remember to optimize your campaign and split test your ads to achieve a higher CTR and Quality Score.
To view your Top vs. Side data, follow the steps below:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at http://adwords.google.com
- Click the Campaign, Ad groups, Ads or Keywords tab of your AdWords account.
- Click the Segment button in the toolbar above your data table.
- Select Top vs. Side from the drop-down. Results will appear in rows beneath each of your ads.
Have a good day.