Difference Between Google Search Results And Advertisements
When people search on Google for something they want, they find two types of results: search results and AdWords ads. Search results appear as links on search results pages and aren’t part of Google’s advertising programs. AdWords ads appear under an “Ads” label and may be placed in several locations around the free search results.
Search results: These show as links on the Google search page. You may also see relevant results on a map that lists local business locations, contact information, and driving directions. Google’s search results are independent of Google’s advertising programs.
AdWords ads: These appear under the “Ads” label alongside, above, or below free search results. If you’re not already an AdWords advertiser but would like to show ads here, you can sign up on the AdWords homepage.
Here’s a quick overview to help you understand the difference between the two types of results:
| Search results | AdWords ads | |
| Where | Typically down the middle of the | Typically along the edge of the page (like |
| they | page, below the colored box | the top, right side, and bottom), over a |
| appear | colored background | |
| How | Google shows links to webpages | Google matches ads to a person’s search |
| they’re | that are relevant to a person’s | based on how closely the search matches |
| matched | search based on text on the page | the keywords that you choose and your |
| and links to that page | campaign settings | |
| How | Results are ordered on the page | Ads are ordered based on a combination of |
| they’re | based on things like relevance to the | CPC bid and relevance |
| ordered | search term and popularity |
Understanding Ad Position
Ad position is the order in which your ad shows up on a page. For example, an ad position of “1” means that your ad is the first ad on a page. In general, it’s good to have a high ad position because it’s likely that more customers will see your ad. Ads can appear on the top of a search results page, on the side of the page, or on the bottom of the page.
How Ad Position Is Determined
Ad position is determined by your Ad Rank in the auction. Your Ad Rank is a score that’s based on your bid and your Quality Score. If you’re using the cost-per-click bidding option, your bid is how much you’re willing to pay for a single click on your ad. Your Quality Score is a measure of how relevant your keyword is to your ad text and to what a user is searching for.
To improve your ad position, you can increase your bid, or you can focus on improving your Quality Score. See the “Next steps” section below for more information about Quality Score and how to optimize your ad position.
Remember
Because of the diversity of websites on the Google Display Network, average position may be less useful in optimizing for performance on this network. If you want to measure performance on the Display Network, focus on metrics such as conversions and ROI. Read more on how to evaluate ad performance on the Display Network.
Where To Find Your Average Ad Position
In your AdWords account, you can easily see what your average ad position is. Let’s walk through the steps to view your average position:
- Sign in to your AdWords account.
- Click the Campaigns tab at the top.
- Look for the Avg. Pos. column in the statistics table. If you don’t see this column in your table, you can add this column by clicking the Columns button in the toolbar above the statistics table.
You can also click the Ads or Keywords tab to see your average position by ads or by keywords.
To see how often your ads have appeared on the top of the page, on the side of the page, or on the bottom of the page, you can segment your data.