Otto rankings explained: overall, organic and ad position

Why does a product have several positions on otto.de?

otto.de mixes sponsored placements into its normal search results. Counting those ads or not changes the number. A product can be 5th among all results, 3rd among unpaid results and – if you advertise it – 2nd among the ads, all at the same time.

If you only know "the" position, you don't know which one it is. That's why it pays to look at all three separately.

What is the overall position?

The overall position counts every product card from top to bottom, ads included. It matches what a shopper actually sees and scrolls past.

otto.de currently shows 120 products per results page, so overall position 121 means the first product on page 2. For visibility, the overall position is the most honest number: it tells you how far a shopper has to scroll.

What is the organic position?

The organic position counts only unpaid results – the ads are taken out. It shows how Otto ranks your product on its own merits.

This is the number you move with listing optimisation: better titles, complete attributes, good images, price and availability. See otto.de SEO: how to rank your products higher.

What is the ad position?

If you advertise a product with Sponsored Product Ads, it also appears as a labelled ad. The ad position shows where your ad sits among the other ads.

If you don't advertise the product on that keyword, there is no ad position. More in OTTO Sponsored Product Ads: measuring your ad position.

Which position should you track?

• Organic position – to see whether your listing optimisation works.
• Overall position – to see how visible your product really is to shoppers.
• Ad position – to see how your campaign competes with other ads.

The combination tells you most: if a product already ranks high organically and also runs as an ad, the ad may add little visibility. If it ranks deep organically, the ad may be the only way onto page 1.

Why does the position change between two checks?

otto.de rotates ads and tests layouts, so a position can move a few places between two checks even when nothing about your product changed. Don't rely on a single check; watch the trend over weeks.

Frequently asked questions