I’ve always wondered if Google AdWords hurts your SEO. Let’s say you sell widgets and searching for widgets you are ranked 5. You buy AdWords to be on the top. Since people click you AdWords ad that’s on top, they are less likely to click the organic listing thus penalizing your organic listing since it’s not getting clicks. Google factors in which organic listing click counts when determining ranking since it is a strong signal.
Most companies will buy Google Ads (formerly Adwords) as insurance for their SEO efforts. At the barest minimum, you don't want links to competitor sites at the top of the search results. With ads, you can at least claim the top spot for those search keywords.
Most people don't click on ads, so getting visitors to your site from organic search terms is more likely to convert them into returning users.
