Dive Brief: 

• Google released the results of a study it commissioned with Ipsos MediaCT that suggests search ads average a top-of-mind awareness lift of 80%. 
• In the study, participants in a test group and control group were given a search term to put into the search engine and the test group was shown a test brand in the top spot of paid search results. 
• When asked afterwards what was top-of-mind when they thought about the search term, 14.2% of the test group named the test brand, compared to 8.2% of the control group. 

Dive Insight: 

While the study does show some evidence that paid search helps brand recognition, there are a few holes. For starters, it only tested the very top spot in paid search results — not a spot that all brands could claim. Also, if a brand is able to appear on the top paid search spot, there's a good chance that brand already has name recognition related to the search term.