Advertising terms, defined in plain English

A

A/B test

A comparison of two versions of an ad or page, shown to similar people at the same time, to see which performs better on a chosen measure such as conversion rate. Change one thing at a time so you know what caused the difference.

Above the fold

The part of a web page visible without scrolling. The main message and call to action should be here, because many visitors never scroll.

Ad copy

The words in an ad: the headline, the description and the call to action. Good ad copy says what you offer, who it is for and what to do next, in the language your customer uses.

Ad creative

Everything a person sees in an ad, including the image, video, headline and copy. On social platforms the creative usually matters more than the targeting.

Ad disapproval

When an ad platform rejects an ad for breaking its policies, for example because of claims, restricted topics or a broken landing page. The ad does not run until it is fixed and approved.

Ad extension (asset)

Extra information added to a search ad, such as phone number, location, sitelinks or a price. Google now calls these assets. They make an ad larger and give people more ways to act.

Ad fatigue

The drop in performance that happens when the same people see the same ad too many times. Click rates fall and costs rise until the creative is refreshed.

Ad group

A set of ads and keywords inside a search campaign that share a theme. Keeping each group focused lets the ads match what people are searching for.

Ad network

A service that places ads across many websites or apps and sells that space to advertisers. Google's display network and Meta's audience network are examples.

Ad rank

The score that decides whether and where a search ad appears. It combines your bid, the expected quality of the ad and landing page, and the likely effect of extensions.

Ad scheduling (dayparting)

Choosing the days and hours when ads can show, for example only when someone can answer the phone. It avoids paying for clicks you cannot serve.

Ad spend

The total amount of money paid to ad platforms in a period. It does not include agency fees, creative costs or software unless you choose to count them.

Advertiser

The business or person that pays to run an ad. The platform or publisher that shows the ad is the other side of the deal.

Affiliate marketing

A setup where partners promote your product and are paid a commission for each sale or lead they send, usually tracked through special links.

Attribution

The method used to decide which ad or channel gets credit for a sale when a customer interacted with several. Different models, such as last click or data-driven, can credit the same sale to different ads.

Auction

The instant competition that decides which ads show for a search or a page view and in what order. Ad rank, not just the highest bid, decides the winner.

Audience

A group of people an ad can be shown to, defined by things like location, age, interests, past visits to your site or a customer list.

Audience segment

A smaller group within an audience that shares something, such as past buyers, cart abandoners or people in one city, so each group can get a fitting message.

Automated rules

Settings that change ads automatically when a condition is met, for example pausing an ad that spent a set amount with no conversions.

Average order value (AOV)

The average amount customers spend per order, found by dividing total revenue by the number of orders. Raising it makes each customer worth more, which can raise the cost per sale you can afford.

B

Behavioral targeting

Showing ads based on what people have done online, such as pages visited or things searched. It is shaped by privacy rules and browser limits.

Bid

The most you are willing to pay for a click, an impression or a conversion. Many platforms can set bids for you automatically toward a goal.

Bid adjustment

A change to your bid for a particular group, such as a location, device, time of day or audience, to pay more or less for those clicks.

Bid strategy

The rule for how bids are set, such as maximizing clicks, aiming for a target cost per conversion, or aiming for a target return on ad spend.

Bounce rate

The share of visits in which a person leaves after seeing only one page or without meaningful interaction. A high rate on a landing page can mean the page did not match the ad.

Brand awareness

How well people recognize and remember a business. Awareness campaigns aim to be seen, so they are judged on reach and recall rather than immediate sales.

Brand safety

Keeping ads from appearing next to content that would harm a brand's reputation, such as violent or misleading pages.

Branded keyword

A search that includes your business name. People searching it already know you, so these clicks usually convert well and cost less.

Broad match

A keyword setting that lets an ad show for searches related to the keyword, not just close variations. It reaches more people and needs careful negative keywords.

Budget

The amount you are willing to spend on a campaign, usually set per day or per month. A budget that is too small to gather useful data can make results hard to read.

Budget pacing

How a daily or monthly budget is spread over time. Some platforms may spend faster on busy days, so check that spend lasts the whole period.

C

Call to action (CTA)

The instruction in an ad or page that tells people what to do next, such as call now, get a quote or buy. Clear and specific works best.

Call tracking

Recording phone calls that come from ads, usually with a tracking number, so calls can be counted as conversions and tied to the ad that caused them.

Call-only ad

A search ad on phones whose main action is to call, with no link to a website. It suits businesses that win by phone.

Callout asset

A short extra line added under a search ad, such as free estimates or open late, that highlights a benefit.

Campaign

The top-level container for ads on a platform, with its own budget, goal and settings. Campaigns usually hold ad groups or ad sets.

Carousel ad

An ad that shows several images or cards that the viewer can swipe through, each with its own link, often used to show different products.

Churn

The rate at which customers stop buying or cancel. High churn makes each new customer worth less, which lowers what you can afford to spend to win one.

Click

A person selecting an ad. In pay-per-click advertising you are charged for clicks, which is why clicks alone do not show whether the advertising works.

Click fraud (invalid clicks)

Clicks that are not from genuine potential customers, such as bots or repeated clicks. Platforms filter many and may credit some back.

Click-through rate (CTR)

The share of people who saw an ad and clicked it, found by dividing clicks by impressions. A higher rate usually means the ad was relevant, but it says nothing about what happened after the click.

Closed-loop reporting

Connecting an ad click to the final sale, even weeks later, so advertising is judged on revenue and not on leads alone.

Cohort

A group of customers who started in the same period or share a trait. Comparing cohorts shows how behavior changes over time.

Contextual targeting

Showing ads on pages whose content matches your topic, rather than targeting people by their past behavior.

Conversion

A valuable action someone takes after an ad, such as a phone call, form submission, booking or purchase. You decide what counts, and tracking it correctly is essential.

Conversion rate

The share of visitors or clicks that become conversions, found by dividing conversions by clicks or visits. Improving the website often raises it without spending more on ads.

Conversion tracking

The setup that records conversions and tells the ad platform which clicks led to them. Without it, automatic bidding has nothing real to learn from.

Conversion window

The period after a click or view in which a conversion still counts toward the ad. A short window may miss slow decisions.

Cost per acquisition (CPA)

What you spend to win one customer or one conversion, found by dividing ad spend by conversions. Compare it with what a customer is worth.

Cost per click (CPC)

The average price paid for a click, found by dividing ad spend by clicks. Cheap clicks are not good if they do not convert.

Cost per lead (CPL)

What you spend to get one lead, found by dividing ad spend by leads. Useful for businesses that follow up with prospects before a sale.

Cost per mille (CPM)

The cost of showing an ad one thousand times. It is the standard price measure for awareness advertising.

Cost per view (CPV)

What you pay each time someone watches a video ad for a set time or interacts with it.

Creative testing

Running different versions of an image, video or text to see which gets better results. Change one element at a time to learn from it.

CRM (customer relationship management)

Software that stores customer and lead details and your history with them. Connecting it to ads shows which ads bring paying customers.

Cross-device

Following one person across their phone, tablet and computer, so their actions are not counted as several people.

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

The total cost of winning one new customer, including advertising and sales effort. Compare it with what a customer is worth.

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

The total profit a customer is expected to bring over the whole relationship. It tells you how much you can afford to pay to win a customer.

D

Demographic targeting

Choosing who sees an ad by traits such as age range, gender or household income, where the platform and rules allow.

Direct response advertising

Advertising designed to bring an immediate action, such as a call or a purchase, rather than build awareness over time.

Display ad

A visual ad, often an image or animation, shown on websites, apps and other places away from search results. Good for reach and for reminding people who already know you.

Display network

A network of websites, apps and videos where an advertiser can show image or video ads, as opposed to search results.

Dynamic ads

Ads that fill in details such as product name, image or price automatically from a catalog, often shown to people who viewed those items.

E

Engagement rate

The share of people who interacted with an ad or post, such as by liking, sharing or clicking. It shows interest, not sales.

Enhanced conversions

A Google feature that uses securely hashed customer details, such as an email, to measure conversions more accurately when cookies are limited.

Exact match

A keyword setting that shows an ad only for searches that mean the same as the keyword. It gives the most control and the least reach.

F

First-party data

Information you collect yourself from your own customers and visitors, such as emails and purchase history. It is permission-based and reliable.

Frequency

The average number of times one person sees an ad in a period. Too low and the message is forgotten, too high and it causes ad fatigue.

Funnel

The path from first hearing about a business to buying, usually shown as stages such as awareness, consideration and decision.

G

Geotargeting

Showing ads only to people in chosen places, such as a city or a radius around a shop. Essential for local businesses.

Gross margin

The share of a sale you keep after the direct costs of delivering it. Together with the average sale it sets the most you can pay to win a customer and still profit.

I

Impression

One showing of an ad on a screen. An impression does not mean the ad was noticed, which is why impressions alone are a weak measure of success.

Impression share

The share of the available impressions your ads actually received. It shows how much of the market you are missing because of budget or ad rank.

Interest targeting

Showing ads to people who have shown interest in a topic, based on their activity or declared interests.

Invalid traffic

Visits or clicks that do not come from real people interested in your offer, including bots and accidental clicks.

K

Keyword

A word or phrase you want your ads to show for when someone searches. Choosing keywords that match real buying intent matters more than choosing many.

L

Landing page

The page a person arrives at after clicking an ad. It should match the promise of the ad and make the next step obvious, especially on a phone.

Landing page experience

How useful, relevant and fast the page is for someone arriving from an ad. Google rates it as part of Quality Score.

Lead

A person who has shown interest by giving contact details or reaching out, for example by calling or filling in a form. Not every lead is a good one.

Lead magnet

Something free and useful offered in exchange for contact details, such as a guide, checklist or calculator.

Learning phase

The early period after a campaign or a big change when automatic bidding is still gathering data. Results can be unstable until it finishes.

Local Services Ads

Google ads for local trades and services that appear at the top of search results with a verified badge. Advertisers usually pay per lead rather than per click.

Lookalike audience

A group of people a platform finds who resemble your existing customers. It is used to reach new people who are likely to be interested.

M

Manual CPC

A bidding setting where you choose the maximum price for each click yourself, rather than letting the platform set bids.

Marketing qualified lead (MQL)

A lead that has shown enough interest, such as downloading a guide, to be passed to the sales team for follow-up.

Match type

The setting for how closely a search must match your keyword before your ad can show: broad, phrase or exact.

Maximize conversions

An automatic bidding goal that tries to get as many conversions as possible within your budget.

N

Native advertising

Paid content designed to look like the surrounding page, such as a sponsored article, and labeled as an ad.

Negative keyword

A word or phrase that stops your ad from showing when it appears in a search. Using them keeps you from paying for irrelevant clicks, such as jobs or free when you sell services.

O

Offline conversion

A sale or action that happens outside the website, such as a phone order or in-store purchase, and is imported back to tie it to the ad.

Organic

Traffic or results that were not paid for, such as ordinary search results or unpaid social posts. Organic and paid work best together.

P

Paid media

Any channel where you pay to place a message, including search ads, social ads, display, video and sponsored content.

Pay per click (PPC)

A pricing model where you pay each time someone clicks your ad, rather than when it is shown. Search advertising is the best-known example.

Pay per lead

A pricing model where you pay for each lead delivered rather than for clicks or impressions.

Performance Max

A Google campaign type that runs ads across Google's channels from one set of assets and goals, using automation to decide where and when to show them.

Phrase match

A keyword setting that shows an ad when a search includes the meaning of your phrase, with other words allowed before or after. It sits between broad and exact.

Pixel

A small piece of code on a website that records visits and actions so an ad platform can measure results and build audiences. Platforms use different names, such as tags.

Placement

The exact location where an ad shows, such as a specific website, app, video or part of a feed.

Programmatic advertising

Buying and placing ads automatically through software that bids in real time for each opportunity to show an ad.

Q

Quality Score

A Google Ads diagnostic that rates the expected click rate, ad relevance and landing page experience of a keyword. It is a guide, not a guaranteed measure of performance.

R

Reach

The number of different people who saw an ad at least once. Reach counts people, while impressions count showings.

Remarketing (retargeting)

Showing ads to people who have already visited your site or interacted with your business. It reminds people who showed interest.

Responsive search ad

A Google search ad where you supply several headlines and descriptions and Google tests combinations to find the best performers.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)

The revenue earned for each dollar of ad spend, found by dividing revenue by spend. A result of 4 means four dollars of revenue for every dollar spent, before costs of goods and other expenses.

Return on investment (ROI)

The profit made compared with the money put in, usually shown as a percentage. Unlike ROAS, ROI takes costs into account.

S

Sales qualified lead (SQL)

A lead the sales team has judged ready for a sales conversation, because it fits the customer profile and shows intent.

Search engine marketing (SEM)

Promoting a business through search engines, most often through paid search ads, and sometimes including search optimization as well.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Improving a website so it appears higher in unpaid search results. It takes longer than paid ads but builds lasting visibility.

Search partners

A group of other sites that show Google search ads. Results from them can differ from Google's own search results, so check them separately.

Search term

The exact words a person typed when your ad appeared. Reviewing them shows what people really searched for and which ones to block with negative keywords.

Segmentation

Dividing an audience into groups, such as new and returning customers or different areas, so each can get messages and budgets that suit it.

Share of voice

Your share of the total advertising or attention in a market compared with competitors. It is a rough sign of visibility.

Shopping ads

Product listings with a picture, price and store name, shown in search and shopping results using a product feed you provide.

Sitelink

An extra link under a search ad that goes to a specific page, such as Pricing or Contact, giving people more places to click.

Smart bidding

Automatic bidding that uses machine learning to set bids for each auction toward a goal such as conversions. It works best with accurate conversion tracking and enough data.

Social ads

Paid ads shown in social media feeds and stories, such as on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. They reach people by interest and behavior rather than by search.

Social proof

Evidence that others trust you, such as reviews, ratings, testimonials and customer numbers, shown to make a visitor more comfortable.

T

Target CPA (tCPA)

A bidding goal that asks the platform to get as many conversions as possible at an average cost near the number you set.

Target ROAS (tROAS)

A bidding goal that asks the platform to aim for a chosen amount of revenue per dollar spent. It needs conversion values to be recorded correctly.

Targeting

The choices that decide who sees an ad, such as location, keywords, interests, age or past behavior. Narrow targeting reduces waste but limits reach.

Tracking template

A rule that adds tracking information to your ad's web address, used to pass campaign details to analytics or other tools.

U

UTM parameters

Short tags added to a web address that tell analytics which campaign, source and ad a visit came from. They let you separate results by campaign.

V

Vanity metric

A number that looks impressive but does not show business results, such as followers or impressions on their own.

Video ad

An ad in video form, shown before, during or next to other videos or in social feeds. Good for explaining and showing, and judged by views, watch time and what viewers do next.

View-through conversion

A conversion that happens after someone saw an ad but did not click it. Counting them can overstate the effect of an ad, so treat them with caution.

Viewability

Whether an ad had a fair chance to be seen, for example appearing on screen for a minimum time, rather than just being served.

Z

Zero-party data

Information a customer chooses to share with you on purpose, such as preferences in a quiz or form.