There is a significant change coming to Google Ads. At the end of September, Google will remove the average position metric from Google Ads, which has been expected for some time, although an exact date had not been announced.
It is anticipated that the removal will be gradual rather than instant, but over time, this commonly used metric will go away. Also being disabled are rules using average position, custom columns using average position, saved reports that filter on average position, and saved filters on average position. Other metrics that use the average position metric will also be affected.
In the place of the average position metric, two new metrics are being introduced:
“Impression (Absolute Top) %” is the percentage of time your ads are in the very first position, above the organic search results.
“Impression (Top) %” is the percentage of the time your ads are anywhere above the organic search results.
SEO specialists think there are a couple of reasons for this change. Google wants its advertisers to stop focusing on average position when describing where their ads show up on search engine results pages (SERPs). Since ads are now displaying in different ways on different pages, or in different layouts, the average position metric doesn’t always tell you what’s really happening.
The bigger reason, however, may be that Google would like for advertisers to move away from manual bidding. Google would prefer that you use its machine-learning bids, which they say will deliver better results.
All of this can be confusing. At RTL Digital Media, we’re watching these changes carefully and making adjustments as needed for our Google Ads clients. We’re also happy to answer any questions you may have, or show you how these changes affect your ad buys specifically.
Don’t hesitate to reach out. Click here with your questions.
