Is this a trademarked keyword? If so, is it his trademark word? Even if it is, bidding aggressively as it sounds like you are should ensure you appear in the top horizontal spots. When did you start doing this? It could be you are stuck on the right hand side because your ad copy is still awaiting approval.

Write better ads and be sure you are using google ad preview when visually checking your position. If you improve your CTR, it becomes much easier to overtake position 1.

I should also add that sometimes when you test new ad copy, your ads get pushed up a little higher in the list. I guess sort of as a test of the new ad. This is a good way to improve CTR with new ads. Continue to test and remove underperforming ads.

My click thru rate is garbage cause everyone clicks his ad instead of mine, because he is on the left side.

CTR used in quality score is normalized by position. You aren't penalized for not being in the top positions.

To be in the top positions, your ad has to have a minimum on the major QS factors (landing page, CTR, relevancy (keyword/ad copy)).

Yeah I don't care about being top spot, I was more wondering that If I am bidding $99, which I am now, is the guy above me paying somewhere in the range of $89/click, which he should be. Using the formula the Google guy said,

My QS is a 9 * 99 (my max cpc) = 891
891/10 (his QS) = $89/click

Unless something super shady is going on, because I doubt he can afford that, but he's still ahead of me nonetheless.

So, I was just wondering, either left side sponsered ads don't factor into the equation, or this guy is spending like $80K/day, or its all B.S.

[edited by: JacksonMahoney at 3:53 pm (utc) on Mar. 17, 2009]

There are a few other possibilities.

One is that if one ad does not meet all of the min requirements for the top spot, and there's an open top spot - Google will 'leapfrog' one advertiser over another to be in this position.

The second is that geo CTR is taken into account. You could be in position 1 in one area and position 3 in another. The ad preview tool will help clarify that.

There are even a few other possibilities as well, but the top 2 spring to mind first.

My click thru rate is garbage cause everyone clicks his ad instead of mine, because he is on the left side.

Who's display URL is in better correlation with that keyword?

Are you both affiliates?