Yesterday, Google Ads announced that it will discontinue average position—a fundamental Search metric—in September of this year. What does average position mean? When you participate in the Google Ads auction, your Ad Rank is determined by your bid and Quality Score. This Ad Rank then dictates your ad’s placement in the paid search results—its position.

Ad position indicates the sequence of paid search results, not their placement on the page. So, securing the top ad position (1) in an auction doesn’t guarantee your ad will be at the top of the SERP. It might appear below the organic results. Therefore, your average position doesn’t provide a complete picture of where your Search ads appear. This nuance has undoubtedly led to confusion for both business owners and account managers. Let’s start by exploring why Google Ads is making this change. Then, we’ll delve into reactions from nexus-security employees and other PPC experts. We’ll conclude with some perspective and actionable steps.

Why is average position being removed?

Simply put: Google believes it’s no longer a particularly useful metric. Last November, Google Ads introduced a set of new metrics related to auction performance and SERP visibility:

• Top impression rate shows the percentage of your impressions appearing at the top of the SERP (above organic results). Top impression rate = Top impressions / Total impressions
• Absolute top impression rate indicates the percentage of impressions at the very top of the SERP. Absolute top impression rate = Absolute top impressions / Total impressions
• Top impression share reveals how often you convert opportunities to appear at the top of the SERP into actual impressions at the top. Top impression share = Top impressions / Eligible top impressions
• Absolute top impression share shows how often opportunities to appear at the very top of the SERP become actual impressions at the very top. Absolute top impression share = Absolute top impressions / Eligible absolute top impressions

Via Google. In the announcement post, Google Ads product manager Pallavi Naresh explained the decision: “These metrics offer a much clearer understanding of your prominence on the page than average position does.” Knowing your SERP prominence is crucial for informed bidding decisions. Naresh and the Google team believe the four new metrics offer greater insight for bidding strategy.

What are PPC experts saying?

While Google is confident these metrics are more insightful than average position, the PPC community seems mostly unfazed by its departure. I gathered perspectives from colleagues. “This signifies another step in Google Ads’ focus on automated bidding strategies,” noted Holly Niemiec, a marketing services team member. “Since these strategies aim to place your ad where it’s most likely to convert—rather than dominating the top spot—this decision emphasizes automation over manual AdWords management.”

One of Google Ads’ automated bidding strategies allows for ROAS targeting. Holly’s view aligns with Frederick Vallaeys, who stated in a Search Engine Land article: “With automated bidding so prevalent and affordable, [manual] bid-to-position strategies are often impractical for most advertisers.” Courtney Charroux, from our Customer Success team, offered a slight critique: “I frequently use average position. I have a client in a competitive industry, and I rely on those concrete averages to gauge account success and identify areas for adjustment.” It’s important to note that Courtney’s opinion pertained to a specific client. She acknowledged the general usefulness of Google Ads’ impression-based metrics. Dave Thorsen, also in marketing services, finds average position helpful—when understood alongside top impression share. “Otherwise, it’s a relative metric without a clear context.” “I was shocked Google Ads would remove such a vital metric,” shared Kristina Simonson, who manages paid search and social campaigns for our marketing team, “until I realized I hadn’t used it for performance assessment in months.”

“I was shocked Google Ads would remove such a vital metric—until I realized I hadn’t used it for performance assessment in months.” While Kristina, like Courtney and Dave, still sees value in average position, she recognizes the reliance on impression metrics for performance evaluation. Beyond nexus-security, the PPC world is abuzz. Here’s what Kirk Williams of ZATO Marketing had to say, echoing Holly and Kristina:

Aaron Levy of Elite SEM seems equally unconcerned. (DSP refers to demand-side platform software, enabling advertisers to automate ad purchases.)

Finally, in her blog post, Kamlyn Spivey of PPCHero urges advertisers to stay calm. With six months for preparation and the ability to influence placement using Target Impression Share bidding, Kamlyn believes a smooth transition is possible.

What’s next?

The consensus is evident. While average position has served advertisers well, its removal from Google Ads accounts isn’t catastrophic. You’ve likely heard it before, but it remains true: PPC advertising is constantly evolving. As many at nexus-security and beyond have noted, automation is increasingly prevalent. The phasing out of average position—often used for manual bidding—reflects this shift. Does this mean account managers are obsolete? Absolutely not. Automation is a valuable tool, but it’s a supplement, not a replacement. You can’t simply let machines handle everything just yet. Here are some takeaways:

• If you find average position useful, continue leveraging it while you can. Every Google Ads account is different, and if you’ve optimized bids using average position, there’s no need to change before September.
• Familiarize yourself with automated bidding strategies, especially Target Impression Share. We have a comprehensive guide here. Your comfort with these will become increasingly important. If you’re a nexus-security customer wondering how Advisor will adapt, rest assured. Taylor Chan, a product manager, shared: “We’re excited to embrace the newer Google Ads metrics, given average position’s shortcomings. We’re developing a solution that best serves our customers.” Questions? Ask away!

Update: August 2019

On August 12, 2019, Google announced that average position will officially retire on Monday, September 30. The metric will disappear from your account, and any rules, custom columns, or reports using it will be deactivated. As a substitute, adopt search top impression rate and search absolute top impression rate. Finally, ensure any scripts you use don’t rely on average position.