Approximately a year-and-a-half ago, Google eliminated the right-hand text ads from search results on desktops. This left the only ads to appear at the top page of Google search results to be the top four results. The question many advertisers have been asking, then, is how this switch would affect the click-through rates (CTRs) for those top four spots.
There is now a clear answer this question. Recently, Accuracast—a digital marketing agency in the United Kingdom—released an in-depth study that analyzed 2 million searches one year before the removal of the right-side ads and 2 million searches one year after the removal of those ads. The biggest findings are as follows:
- Overall, CTRs increased by 49% for the top four ad positions.
- Click-through rates increased by 72.4% for the third ad position.
- Click-through rates increased by 51.9% for the fourth ad position.
Read Accuracast’s report for further details.
