Part 4: Google Ad Innovations-Display Innovations: Location, Location, Location!

Above the Fold Advertising (Status: Fully Released)

Above the Fold is a phrase that started with newspaper publication.  With a newspaper, it referred to the area of print that was located above where the paper was folded.  This particular area has always been considered prime because of its presumably higher visibility.

Often, advertisers will have to pay more for space “Above the Fold”.  In the electronic world, above the fold is not as literal but it still references the area that the viewer will see first; the area that the viewer sees without having to take any extra action such as scrolling or clicking through.

In its truest form, it’s the most passive way to reach a viewer.  One online survey company, Vertical Response, conducted a survey that showed that 43-60% of all clicks in email marketing happened “above the fold”.

I also ran across a cool Eye Tracking Study that shows that visibility of information on a webpage maintains 85% effectiveness down to just “above the fold” but dramatically decreases to 50% below the fold all the way down to 20% at the bottom.  This information is valuable for you to know as an advertiser.  When you structure the creative and text elements of your ad, you will want to make sure that the elements that are important for the searcher to see are placed in the “hot” zone.  If you don’t, then the placement of your ad “above the fold” could be for naught.

These statistics highlight just how important that piece of screen real estate can be when we think about CTR’s and Conversion rates.

So, as the name suggests, this ad option means that your ad will ONLY appear on visible screen when browser window loads.  Yes.  You’re right, different screen resolutions and monitor sizes will make it impossible to guarantee exact placement but this feature certainly grants you much more control.

I’d also like to point out that before you make any changes, you need to be certain that switching to Above the Fold Advertising is something that would truly benefit your campaign.  Running a report to determine the adwords ad position that converts at the highest rate / lowest cost will help you be certain that this is something that will help you