Ok...

Ever list an AdWord, and make sure it shows up in the top positions (Position 1-2) for one or more keywords?

Well... there you are, truckin' along... getting a lot of impressions and a healthy stack of clicks each day. Your Conversion Ratio is... whatever it is. Something reasonably stable.

Then one day, you notice your Conversion Ratio drops... up goes the eyebrow, and you check your tracking statistics.

Sure enough, you see what *probably* amounts to a bunch of competitor's clicks on your ads. Click-fraud, most likely, because someone else (or several others) want to use up your daily budget... knock you out of the top spot.

So, you know what you need to do... because it's not personal, of course... you need to get out of the line of fire for a bit. Let the rest of those guys shoot at (click on) each other. The best way is to go into your Campaigns and forcibly drop your Ad Position such that you're no longer in the Position 1-2 range, but instead, in the 3-5 range.

And... lo and behold... now BOTH eyebrows kick up... your jaw drops as you see your overall impressions drop like a rock, and with it, your clicks. Now, all you did, darn it, was lower your ad position a few notches. Nothing more... you're still set for the front page. What the heck gives??

Ok, I've had clients actually ask me if that's because it's Google's way of punishing them for lowering their position (and with it, their CPC). They wonder if it's a trick of some kind.

Well... it's not... it's just that folks don't quite get how that tidbit works in the context of other advertisers.

You see, that scenario usually happens to the guys who are reasonably well optimized (even if coincidentally) to the point where Google has figured that they SHOULD RANK for the first position (and some competitor for the next position, and another fellow for the next position at whatever amount they're paying per click, etc).

So... that means this: you can't have that Position 3 for a whole bunch of impressions. Nor Position 4. Nor Position 5... BECAUSE those spots are reserved for the fellows who most qualify for those positions at whatever CPC they're paying to be localized into those spots (!!!)

That is, Positions are basically 'reserved' (per impression) at lightning speed against the algorithms that Google has to calculate for every page view.

And you are not being calculated as 'fitting' in those Positions (you're overqualified, actually!) Other guys are, across most of the Impressions you DO qualify for Position 1-2 on.

SHEESH... do you get it?

You don't show up on most of the pages anymore because your entries are misplaced for the Positions you want. That's because other guys are slated to fill those positions, rendering your Ads out-of-place for those showings.

And THAT is why you see the marked drops in Impressions (and Clicks) when you simply drop your Position down forcibly.

Neat, eh...? The question therefore becomes 'how to deal with that, in the face of the darn fraudsters?'

Well... that's a longer story.

I'm not sure if I should write up an Article, or produce a video (easier to see this visually) or if I should finish a piece of software that I had been working on, but set aside for all too long, to take care of that.

Nonetheless, the idea is that you drop down for short periods, and when the attention is off of you, rise back up to fill the spot. Namely, you want a program to watch your live stats. When it notices repeat elements creeping up, then it logs into your AdWords account and resets your Ad Positions for 30 minutes - 1 hour (should be long enough for the fraudsters to figure you're out of the game for the day). At the end of the timer bit, the software logs BACK into your AdWords account and raises your positions BACK up to what they were before the irregularities.

And so, the software has to quietly run in the background and check your stats from time to time.

Tough, but cool, eh...?

Some time or another, I should put some effort back into that piece of software (unless one is out there already... anyone?)

It'll be a job, and I might need the help of another programmer - I'm really not one myself, but I have half a clue... though admittedly not much more.

Ok... I hope you found this tidbit useful...!

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