Can we say something, with some level of assurance, about how expected click-through probabilities change if we do these types of pairwise swaps within pages of search results?
-- To clarify:
We're not after click-through rates relative to time (the sort of click-through rates which can be calculated from the leaked AOL date). What we seek are changes to click-through probabilities.
Click-through probabilities are determined by several factors, including (in no particular order):
(i) perceived relevance of the title; (ii) perceived relevance of the summary blurb; (iii) perceived relevance of the URL; (iv) position; (v) font/decoration.
What we'd like to know is: all things being equal (all the other determining factors), how does position affect click-through probability? If the fourth result, say, was switched with the fifth result on a page of search results, how would this effect their respective click-through probabilities?