What is relative clickthrough rate?

This new metric allows you to see how your ads are performing in relation to other advertisers appearing in the same advertising spaces as you on the same placements.

It differs from click through rate because this refers to the entire placement, whereas relative click through rate gives you an insight into how competitors are performing in the same advertising spots on that placement as you. This can only be seen at campaign/ad group level for now. We’re hoping to be able to see this at account level in the future.

Where do I find it?

Under your Campaign/Ad Group tab select columns and you’ll see it under the new title of competitive metrics. You can then tick this box to see the data in a new column.

What should I do with this information?

You can use this information to get an indication of what your quality score looks like compared to other advertisers. If you have a higher relative CTR then you will have a higher QS, meaning that you will be paying lower prices on the display network compared to your competitors.

Google state that the average relative CTR is +1. If you find that you are below this it is advised to look into your CPA and see if improvements can be made in a positive way by for example trialling new ad copy & refining your placements. If your ad group has a higher relative CTR then try expanding it out and getting more traffic from it as it is obviously working well compared to competitors in those advertising slots.

Other new features

Google is starting to introduce ad diagnostics features for your display network ads. This is still being rolled out but should be with us all shortly. This will enable you to see why your ads aren’t being shown.

You can also now see lost impression share on the display network due to budget and also ad position rank. These are both additional columns under the campaign level tab.

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