Google has a very nice business model, with companies falling over themselves to out-bid each other and reach the top spot on search result pages. However research from Miratech suggests that advertisers should stop aiming for top spot and instead concentrate on other page positions.
The study followed people’s eye movements as they searched on Google, and used the results to build a picture of how long people looked at particular page positions. Below is a video of the eye-tracking technology in action.
Miratech conducted two studies in total and they identified the following trends:
- Advertisements are not viewed in the order they appear on screen.
- With sponsored links, above the search results, people look at the second link more than others.
- If there is only one sponsored link, people look at the first, and second, search results for longer than the advertisement.
The study also tracked eye movement across advertisements on the right of search results. For these, the top advert was the most looked at however, as you move down the listings, the sixth advertisement is viewed more than the fourth or fifth.
You can read more about the study from the source link:
Source: Miratech — Google ads in second position get more attention
