On 12 August 2019, Google announced that as of 30 September 2019 it will be removing average position from its metrics.

However, this did not come as a shock to the advertising community, as earlier this year in February, Google shared its plans:

“With the availability of these new metrics to understand prominence, we plan to sunset average position in September of this year. If you currently use average position, we recommend that you start using these new metrics when measuring and optimizing for prominence.”

As the average position is sunsetting, Google recommends using six alternative metrics:

  • Search top impression share
  • Search absolute top impression share
  • Search lost top impression share (rank)
  • Search lost absolute top impression share (rank)
  • Search lost top impression share (budget)
  • Search lost absolute top impression share (budget)

So, what does this change mean for in house PPC advertisers and PPC agencies? Consequently, rules and custom columns using average position will be disabled. The same applies to saved filters with average position and saved reports that filter on average position.

The metric will also be removed from column sets, reports, and score cards using it.

As an alternative metric, you can use search top impression share or search absolute top impression share. These metrics can provide you with valuable information about the position of your ads in the SERPs and if there is potential to improve it.

Let’s take a closer look at the six new Google Ads metrics.

Search absolute top impression share

Search abs. top IS is the received impression in the absolute top position versus the estimated amount of impressions your ads were eligible for in this position.

Search top impression share

Search top IS is the received impression in above organic search results versus the estimated amount of impressions your ads were eligible for in this position.

Search lost absolute top impression share (budget)

Search lost absolute top IS (budget) shows how often low budget was the reason why your ad did not show at the top of the page.

Search lost top impression share (budget)

Search lost top IS (budget) shows how often low budget was the reason why your ad did not show above organic search results.

Search lost absolute top impression share (rank)

Search lost absolute top IS (budget) shows how often a low ad rank was the reason why your ad did not show at the top of the page.

Search lost top impression share (rank)

Search lost top IS (budget) shows how often a low ad rank was the reason why your ad did not show above organic search results.

For more information on competitive metrics, visit our ultimate PPC guide.