{
  "slug": "top-impression-share",
  "name": "Top impression share",
  "aliases": [
    "Search top IS"
  ],
  "definition": "The share of available auction impressions where your ad appeared above the organic results.",
  "category": "Paid search",
  "type": "share",
  "unit": "share of available auction impressions (stored 0 to 1, shown as a percent)",
  "direction": "higher-better",
  "verification": "verified",
  "calculation": "The average of Google Ads' own per-row search top impression share across the rows in scope.",
  "aggregation": "An unweighted average across keyword-day rows.",
  "grain": "One number per segment and date range, or one row per keyword or campaign.",
  "dimensions": [
    "keyword",
    "campaign_name"
  ],
  "requiredFilters": [
    "segment_id",
    "date_range"
  ],
  "sources": [
    "google-ads"
  ],
  "reports": [],
  "skills": [
    "paid-efficiency-review",
    "paid-organic-balance"
  ],
  "verbs": [
    "paid_impression_share"
  ],
  "rungs": [
    "R2"
  ],
  "levers": [
    "L8"
  ],
  "questions": [
    "How often do our ads show above the organic results?"
  ],
  "interpretation": "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": [
    "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.",
  "failureModes": [
    "Reading top impression share as the first-position rate."
  ],
  "notSameAs": [
    {
      "slug": "absolute-top-impression-share",
      "why": "Top means anywhere above the organic results; absolute top means the very first ad slot. They are separate measures with separate columns."
    },
    {
      "slug": "top-impression-share-lost-to-rank",
      "why": "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.",
      "mirroredFrom": "top-impression-share-lost-to-rank"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "search-impression-share",
    "absolute-top-impression-share",
    "top-impression-share-lost-to-rank"
  ],
  "workflows": [],
  "lastVerified": "2026-08-04"
}