A study of 4 million Google searches has found that the recent removal of ads from the right-hand side of the search results page has led to a significant increase in click-through rates. After looking into the click-through rates of 2 million searches prior to the change and 2 million searches afterwards, positions three and four were found to have seen the biggest impact, as they now appear above the fold. According to the data collected, these two positions saw their click-through rates increase by 72% and 52% respectively. Overall, the top four ad positions have seen their click-through rates increase by 49% since the change. However, since the change, position five no longer appears at the right-hand side but at the bottom of the page, and has seen its click-through rate decrease by just under 8%.Â
