The top step
gets the click.

What the research found

What the research found

• NYU Stern · 2018

  More clicks

  from a higher position alone

  In Expedia's randomly ordered hotel lists, a higher spot won more clicks. Once people clicked, the spot no longer changed whether they booked, so the page has to do the rest.

  By Raluca M. Ursu

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• Columbia University · 2018

  18 to 42%

  of your clicks rivals can take

  When competitors bid on a brand's own name and the brand did not, rivals took 18 to 42 percent of its clicks. When the brand advertised on its own name, rivals took only 1 to 5 percent.

  By Andrey Simonov, Chris Nosko and Justin M. Rao

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• Stanford and Santa Clara University · 2015

  Smaller brands

  gain the most from a higher spot

  A higher ad position helped smaller advertisers and less familiar shoppers most. The true lift was smaller than simple comparisons suggest, so position is not the whole story.

  By Sridhar Narayanan and Kirthi Kalyanam

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