Google Ads is about to retire the Average position metrics on September 30th. It´s been known for a while that the Average position metrics is going away from our Google Ads reports and we´ve even dedicated another article to this topic when the news first came out, but now we have a fixed date – September, 30 is the time to say goodbye to Average position.
So, what should you do?
First of all, you need to go to your Google Ads account and make sure that there is no bidding strategy, rule or script that functions based on the average position. If you find one, be sure to stop or make a change accordingly.
Also, it’s a good time to look through your reporting tables and templates and to delete the Average position column.
You might be wondering which metric to use instead?
Well, last year Google has added a bunch of metrics that are more informative in order to give us an alternative to the Average position. These are Impressions (Top) % and Impressions (Abs. Top) %.
Impressions (Top) % shows you the percentage of times that your ads appeared at the top of the page (before the organic search results) that is, the before-organic-results impressions divided by all the impressions that your ad has earned.
Impressions (Abs. Top) % is similar to the previous one, but in this case, we divide the number of impressions your ad received in the absolute number 1 position on the page by all the impressions it received.
Why are these new metrics better than the Average position one?
Average position may seem like an easier metric to use, but Impressions (Top) and Impressions (Abs. Top) are way more informative. The reason is that Google is not showing ads before the organic results for every users’ searches. Sometimes, the first ad to appear on the page is shown after the organic results, at the very bottom. But as it appears at the first place when comparing to other ads, it will have the first position in the report, though clearly much less chance to receive a click. This means sometimes you can spend hours trying to guess why your perfectly relevant ad with a first position ranking has such a low CTR.
With the new metrics, we will get a better idea of where the ad has appeared and will be able to make much more informed decisions while optimising the campaign.
For more information, bespoke strategies and efficient digital marketing solutions, just contact the Clarity’s girls through info@yourdigitalclarity.com or visit our website at www.yourdigitalclarity.com.
