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Why search CTR needs impressions, not only clicks

analyticsrelevance

Searches are not impressions

A search that returns ten hits and gets one click looks like 10% CTR if you only divide clicks by searches. In reality nine documents were shown and ignored. Impression CTR (clicks / views) tells you which positions and documents earn attention.

What AACSearch records

The embed widget and API accept view, click, and conversion events. Views fire when a hit is rendered; clicks include position; conversions carry optional value. Analytics surfaces both search CTR and impression CTR so you can tune pins, synonyms, and recommendations from the same history.

What to do next

  1. Enable recommendations and Related / For you on the embed.
  2. Call AACSearch.trackConversion on purchase.
  3. Open Analytics → top clicked documents and zero-result queries.

Relevance work without impressions is guessing. With them, every rule has a feedback loop.