Average click through rates across the board for ads placed on the first page of Google search results have been found to range from 8.0% to 0.2% for positions 1 to 10, with an average click through rate of 3.16%.
The graph above shows the steep decline in clickthrough rates on AdWords ads as the position falls. In fact, ads that show below the fold on most computers, that is ads below position 7 have an average CTR of 0.80%.
Where click volumes are concerned, positions 1, 2, 3 and 4 are the best as they represent ads often placed abovethe organic search results and the first ad on the right-hand column.
Average click through rates for Google AdWords ads for each position from 1 (top of first page) to 20 (bottom of second page right-hand column) are listed in the table below:
| Position | Click Through Rate |
|---|---|
| 1 | 7.94% |
| 2 | 5.00% |
| 3 | 2.47% |
| 4 | 1.96% |
| 5 | 0.90% |
| 6 | 0.81% |
| 7 | 0.91% |
| 8 | 0.74% |
| 9 | 0.75% |
| 10 | 0.20% |
| 11 | 0.78% |
| 12 | 0.51% |
| 13 | 0.83% |
| 14 | 0.37% |
| 15 | 0.54% |
| 16 | 0.48% |
| 17 | 0.25% |
| 18 | 0.06% |
| 19 | 0.60% |
| 20 | 0.71% |
The slight bump in CTR on positions 12 and 11 represents the first sponsored link placement on the second page or the last ad on the first page of the search results, both of which typically have higher visibility due to their positioning.
The data shown here is based on over 1.2 million clicks collected from advertisers across a wide variety of idustries.
About the Author
Farhad is the Group CEO of AccuraCast. With over 20 years of experience in digital, Farhad is one of the leading technical marketing experts in the world. His specialities include digital strategy, international business, product marketing, measurement, marketing with data, technical SEO, and growth analytics.
