The visibility and position of a search ad in the results for a query are primarily determined by the ad's "Ad Rank." Ad Rank is a composite score calculated based on several key factors:
- Bid amount : The maximum amount an advertiser is willing to pay for a click on their ad. Higher bids can improve ad position.
- Ad quality : This includes the relevance of the ad to the query, expected click-through rate (CTR), and the quality and relevance of the landing page.
- Ad relevance : How closely the ad matches the user's search intent.
- Expected impact of ad extensions : Use of features like sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets can enhance ad performance and rank.
- Context of the search : Factors like user's location, device type, time of search, and nature of search terms.
- Competition : The ad ranks of other advertisers bidding for the same keywords influence which ads show and their order.
Higher Ad Rank results in better positioning, often at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), increasing visibility and likelihood of clicks. Ads with lower Ad Rank may appear lower or not at all, depending on the competitive auction environment. Thus, whether an ad shows and its position depends on a mix of bidding strategy, ad quality, relevance, extensions, and contextual factors evaluated in real-time during the ad auction.
