I had a client just ask us to make a Google Ad buy for his company. He asked that he be in the #2 position. We approximated the cost and made the buy.

During our conversation he asked why he was in #3 and #1 the day before.

This is from his Ad Rank changing. Google uses something called Ad Rank to determine where you are listed in the sponsor section of SERP’s (search engine result pages).

Your Google Ad Rank is your total CTR x Avg. CPC (click though rate x avg cost per click). The key is to have a better Ad Rating then the next guy. So a CTR of 2% and an avg CPC of $1.5 = a Ad Rating of 3. So if you competition as a CTR of .5 and a CPC of $2 = an Ad Rating of 1 - you win! Your ad will be above theirs because your ad is more popular and even costs you less!

To get a better ad rate you need to improve your CTR by writing better ads. Make ads specific to keywords. Use your keyword in the actual title of the ad. This is a art. Try many and Google will rotate them in and start to serve the better ones more often.

So here is what can happen. You can have a lower big price on a keyword and have a higher CTR and the higher position. Why? Because even if your ad is not making the highest $ amount for Google they are still making more money because your ad is being clicked on more.

Google’s system is pretty intuitive. It maximizes your ad exposure for well written ads and lines their pockets a little deeper!

Ian