Do people click on ads or organic listings first on Google?

?Do people click on ads or organic listings first on Google? WebDigital Works Ltd - Web-SEO_Google Ads-E Mail Marketing-Design

?We’ve all been there. You type a few words into the Google search bar, hit enter, and are faced with a screen of results. But which do you click on first—the ad at the top of the page or one of the organic listings further down? The answer may surprise you.

A 2012 study conducted by Chitika Insights found that, of the clicks on a Google SERP (search engine results page), 61.5% went to an organic listing while only 5.7% went to an ad. This is despite the fact thatads occupy the majority of above-the-fold real estate on a SERP. However, it’s important to keep in mind that not all ads are created equal—text ads, banner ads, and video ads all have different rates of conversion. The study found that text ads had a CTR (click-through rate) of 3.17%, while video and display ads had CTRs of 0.39% and 0.19%, respectively.?

Why do people tend to click on organic listings over ads? There are a few possible explanations. First and foremost, people generally trust organic results more than they trust ads because they seem more objective—after all, you can’t pay Google to boost your ranking in the organic listings. Additionally, ads can be intrusive and disruptive, especially if they’re not relevant to what the user is looking for. Irrelevant or excessive ads can create a negative user experience, which is something that Google takes very seriously. In 2012, Google made changes to its algorithm specifically designed to penalize sites with too many ads above the fold.?

Conclusion:?

So, what does this all mean for businesses? Should you give up on PPC (pay-per-click) advertising altogether? Not necessarily. While it’s true that people are more likely to click on an organic result than an ad, it’s also true that ads have a higher CTR than other types of online advertising, such as banner ads or video ads. Additionally, while relevantads won’t guarantee that people will click on them, irrelevantads almost certainly will result in low CTRs and wasted spend. Therefore, businesses should focus on creating relevant, targeted PPC campaigns if they want to maximize their chances of success.