Search engine advertisement design effects on click-through rates

This article reports the relationship that specific elements of search engine advertisements (SEAs) have with click-through rates (CTRs) within Google AdWord Campaigns. In total, 1,880 separate advertisements with more than 57 million impressions and 185,000 click-throughs were analyzed. The main finding is that some elements have both positive and negative relationships with CTRs depending on where they are placed within the advertisement. An implication is that the section of the advertisement in which an element appears should be taken into consideration when devising SEAs and when evaluating the relationship between elements and CTRs. We found the elements with mostly a positive effect on CTRs were brand, value “puffery,” and price; and those with a negative effect were promotions and questions. Limitations of the study and future research opportunities are given