Hi Guys,

I have been managing a high profile PPC account for quite some time. About 2 weeks ago, I changed my ad. For months my ad was floated to the top 1 or 2 spot (above natural results) and the company I am managing this for enjoyed great success.

My new ads are usually placed in the 1 or 2 spot, but they NEVER float to the top any longer. If we are #2, the ad that beats us is floated to the top. If we are #1, no ads float to the top.

I originally had a $20 max bid for this campaign, but since the CTR problem I have my max set at over 30 (to try and get a higher CPM)

Does anybody have any ideas on how to make my Google ads float to the top? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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Phoenix Arizona web design and DrinkBait : Chris Hooley w0rd.

By "floating to the top" I presume you mean the ad appears in a horizontal bar above the organic results, as opposed to in the column at the right hand side of the page.
If so, I'm almost sure I'm correct in saying that there's neither a pattern nor a consistency to it. Rather, it just seems to happen periodically. Moreover, I've occasionally seen a couple of ads "floating" instead of just one.
In any case, I think the answer -- if there is one -- is to normally be in the first position and that means paying the highest CPC among all the ads. Even then, though, I'm certain that it's going to depend on Google's mood at any one time.

Duncan

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Acts as an Exclusive Buyer Broker for purchasers of residential, industrial, commercial, and investment properties in all parts of the Niagara Peninsula.
http://www.duncanpollock.com
http://www.iciniagara.com

When I was at SES last year in San Jose and visited their glorious complex (I love that place), one of their AdWords specialists told me it had to do with getting at least a certain click through rate compared to other ads showing as well as at least a minimum spend compared to some other ads showing at the time. Basically, it is their "Cream rises to the top" approach on steroids. This means new ads won't go right there, since they have to prove their CTR compared to the other ads for those words / phrases. It also presents an interesting problem : how do you get the click through rate while being listed lower than where you need to be for that high click through rate?

Well, I think the answer is patience and write some great ad copy. It's worked for us on nearly every phrase we bid on.

Brian.

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ToolBarn.com, an Internet Retailer Top 500 and Inc. 500 Company | Tool Parts | Pet Supplies