Top impression share
also called Search top IS
Definition
The share of available auction impressions where your ad appeared above the organic results.
How it's calculated
The average of Google Ads' own per-row search top impression share across the rows in scope.
Scope, grain and dimensions
- Grain
- One number per segment and date range, or one row per keyword or campaign.
- Dimensions
- keyword · campaign_name
- Required filters
- segment_id · date_range
- Aggregation
- An unweighted average across keyword-day rows.
- Metric type
- share · share of available auction impressions (stored 0 to 1, shown as a percent)
Data sources
Skills and analyses that use it
Skills carry the judgment; the analysis verbs do the reading.
Analysis verbs
paid_impression_share
Method rungs and levers
A rung tells you what a movement here can and cannot explain, read the rungs below it first.
levers L8 Paid/organic interplay
Ask Quattr
- "How often do our ads show above the organic results?" Simulate this →
How to read it
Position quality inside the auction. A healthy overall impression share with a weak top impression share means you are being shown, but low on the page.
Caveats, freshness and failure modes
Always per segment; called without one the verb returns the segment list.
Unweighted average across rows.
Stored as a fraction between 0 and 1.
"Top" here means above the organic results, which is not the same as the single highest ad slot, that is absolute top.
- Freshness
- ~1 day behind, Ads reporting settles overnight; same-day spend is provisional.
Common failure modes
- Reading top impression share as the first-position rate.
Not the same as
The confusions that cause the most wrong decisions.
Top impression share Absolute top impression share Compare definitions →
Top means anywhere above the organic results; absolute top means the very first ad slot. They are separate measures with separate columns.
Top impression share Top impression share lost to rank Compare definitions →
Top impression share is the above-organic placement you won; the rank-lost measure is the above-organic placement you lost on rank. Separate averaged columns, not complements, they do not sum to a whole.
Watch this metric read in a real run
All runs →
Related metrics and workflows
Verification
A definition is the smallest part of this.
The measurement matters because something acts on it. Here is the rest of the showcase, in the order most people find useful.