Google Ads to Remove Average Position Metric on September 30
Google announced that the average position metric is getting removed from Google Ads starting the week of September 30.
It has been known since February that Google had plans to sunset the average position metric, but we didn’t have an exact date until now.
Google’s wording – “starting” September 30 – makes it sound as though the metric will be gradually removed from peoples’ accounts.
As a result of the average position metric getting removed, the following features will also be disabled:
• Rules using average position
• Custom columns using average position saved reports that filter on average position
• Saved filters with average position
Lastly, Google notes that the average position metric will be removed from saved column sets, saved reports that use the average position column, and scorecards that use average position.
Google is removing average position after introducing two new metrics that provide a clearer view of where ads actually appear in a SERP.
Those metrics include absolute top impression and top impression. Absolute top refers to the very first position in a SERP, while a top impression refers to any position within the top set of paid listings.
In an announcement in February, Google said: “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.”
Going forward, Google recommends, for Google Ads, using these new metrics as an alternative to the average position metric.
