Google AdSense Above the Fold — What does it mean?

Moving ads higher up on a page is a simple yet effective change that can have a big impact on your ad revenue. The area that's immediately visible when a page is loaded without scrolling down is known as "above the fold."

The term comes from the newspaper industry where there's a physical fold in the paper itself. With newspapers, the stories and headlines above this fold receive more attention, and are therefore deemed more important, than things below the fold. The same concept holds true for websites-- ads above the fold are much more likely to be noticed and remembered.

By moving ad units buried at the bottom of your site to a more prominent location above the fold, you'll generally see an increase in performance. On average, above the fold units tend to outperform below the fold units. We've found that the eCPM for above the fold units is approximately 80% higher than below the fold units. You'll get the best results by having more ad units above the fold.

Above the fold? – Web Design