I have been experimenting with my advertising budget and I have noticed that sometimes ads will be above the free listings and sometimes not. Is there any reason for this and is there a minimum threshhold CPC to be at the top that anyone has found?
It seems to be a combination of max. $ per click you are willing to pay and the CTR your ad has, but I have never seen the exact formula.
Now I have noticed that this is true for a position for advertising, but how does one get up higher (above the free listings)?
You don't always have to be the higher bidder With a high enough click through rate you can be featured without paying big bucks. You can do this by writing really specialist ads for EACH keyword.
I am sure there is a formula, and we don't know exactly what it is. If it is about quality/cash that's fine. But I have noticed for myself, even with a good CTR and top payer, no listing above free listings. Maybe on the side, but not on top. This could be due to my lack of experimentation with the high-end bidding, however.
Yuo also need to have a big chuck of budget left. I get the impression Google uses those to make sure your budget will be emptied in it's entirety (benefits them).