i know its basic, how can i be sure to use the 2nd position in the sponsored links? and whats the difference between the sponsored from the right or the top 3 in the search columns if im biddibg on a word exactly like my competitor how does google decide which place goes where? based on ctr? clicks? thanks for anyone
The sponsored ads running across the top of the page are placed by google itself based on a number of factors such as CTR, quality score, relevancy, bid amount, etc. They don't tell you all the factors. As for the top spots on the left side, that's also a combination of factors. Assuming you have the exact keywords your competitors are bidding for, you need to decide how much you want to spend and what the minimum bids are to get the top spots. Then your ads have to be relevant to get the CTR. Even if you bid the highest, you don't always get the number one spot if you have poor relevancy and CTR. Conversely, you can sometimes pay less than the ads below you if your CTR, quality score, etc. is better. Using adwords can be costly if you don't monitor your stats closely.
I've written a blog about where the best place to put your adverts is (aka the 'sweet spot'), see the blog on the epiphanysolutions.co.uk website if you're interested. In summary, there is no simple answer for what the best position to be in is. It depends on how much money you make per click (per conversion, multiplied by your conversion rate), and the clickthrough rate and cost per click for each position (which, sadly, can only be established by varying your bid and seeing what happens - with experience you can guestimate this from a few observed values). You are, in general, looking for the most profitable position for you - if your competitors can make money with the top result, good luck to them - and it'll be a trade-off between getting more traffic and conversions (higher up the results) and getting a better return-on-investment (lower down the results). Sadly, the only way to find out is to do the maths