What It Means For CTR To Be More Than 100%

Have you discovered an incredibly high click-through rate (CTR) of more than 100% on your ad campaign?

Stumbling across a CTR of 200% can certainly raise a few eyebrows the first time you see it, and for some digital marketers, they may not grasp the CTR 200% meaning straightaway.

Initially, you may wonder if Google is attempting to cheat your ads, charging you double for every impression. Don’t worry though — that is not what is happening here.

The seemingly impossible CTR tends to occur in the early stages of your ad campaign, often when you only have a small number of impressions.

So, just what is going on? How does a CTR of 200% happen?

There are a few possible reasons for an invalid CTR greater than 100%. Let’s consider each one of them to find out what you can do about it.

If you have Google Ads sitelinks enabled for your ad, then it is quite likely that you will end up with an abnormal CTR.

This happens because users are able to access your ad in two different ways during a single browsing session. For example, they can open the ad and the sitelink by using a new window or new tab.

Whenever a user does this, one ad impression generates two separate clicks, causing the CTR to double. Sometimes it will continue past 200%, resulting in rates as high as 500%.

The concern for digital marketers is that Google will charge multiple times for a single impression. Google will charge for two clicks when this happens, but then it ignores further clicks that come from the same user.

Many users will click an ad in Google SERPs, and then exit your ad to return to the SERPS before clicking the same ad again. They might do this because they are quickly clicking through a few ads and top-ranked articles to see which one is most relevant to their search query.

Essentially, the first click was a quick peek, and then they return with the second click after checking out other alternatives.

This scenario is beneficial to your ad campaign as it lets Google know that your content and ad copy is relevant to certain keyword search terms.

For example, if you are looking for “Best Dog Harness”, you might click on the ad at the top of the search results. After a quick browse around the landing page, you navigate back to the search results and click the next result.

You quickly realize that the first ad had better options, and so you want to go back to it. Clicking ‘back’ once again, you return to the search results.

The ad impression for the first ad is counted as “one” already, but it will get two clicks when you re-enter it. This results in the CTR of 200%.

A genuine technical fault can be to blame when you see a CTR of more than 100%. In some cases, data for your ad campaign comes from a number of unique servers. The data for impressions may come from one server, while the data for clicks is from another.

Unless these servers are correctly in sync, it’s very possible that you will discover abnormal or invalid results. An impossible CTR of 200% is no need to panic though, as Google will soon correct the issue within a day.

Full reports can be delayed by up to 24 hours, so the 200% CTR is just an indication that the data is incomplete. For this reason, it’s better to check the data for yesterday, rather than focus on the live data for today that is still coming in.

With one impression and two clicks you get 200%. As impressions grow CTR is normalized, so when you have been advertising for a while CTR 200% is less likely to happen.

What some people don’t realize is that Google does not limit the impressions on their search network. As a result, it’s quite common for the same person to see your ad several times in a single day, even if they have already clicked on it earlier.

While this may seem like a flaw in the design, Google has an advanced detection system that weeds out invalid clicks with incredible accuracy.

Invalid clicks include:

• When a user double-clicks on your Ad.
• Dubious clicks that are used to increase profits for the website hosting your Ad. This is a
• Manual clicks that are intended to increase your advertisement cost.
• Clicks and impressions performed by any automated tools with the intention of disrupting your

Marketers can pull in the invalid clicks data to their campaign tab so they can analyze how many invalid clicks their ads are getting each day.

If none of the situations here fit your specific profile, you may really be wondering what is going on with your ad.

As a last resort, it’s possible to contact Google and request that they do a manual investigation into the situation. They can check to see if there has been any invalid or unauthorized interactions on your account, and will be able to confirm if there is any major technical issue or other untoward practice to blame.

This investigation can take a few days to complete, but you can be sure of getting solid answers on the situation.

In paid advertising, a high click-through rate is a great sign that your ads are relevant and engaging for the viewers. You are attracting a high number of clicks, and that can soon turn into qualified leads, and ultimately, more conversions.

Finding a CTR of 200% or higher may raise alarm bells, but more often than not it is simply a minor glitch resulting from incomplete data or invalid clicks.

Check if Google Ads sitelinks are enabled, and focus on the complete data from the day before. If the issue hasn’t corrected itself after 24 hours, you can get in touch with Google for some further clarification.