Master the language of Google Ads Management. From basic metrics to advanced optimization concepts, this glossary covers everything you need to run successful campaigns.
Learn About Our Google Ads Management ServicesA value that's used to determine your ad position (where ads are shown on a page relative to other ads) and whether your ads will show at all. It is calculated by multiplying your Bid Amount by your Quality Score.
Ad Scheduling lets you control when your ads run by time of day and day of week. You can increase bids during high-converting hours, reduce spend on low-value times, or pause ads entirely during off-hours. Requires campaign daily budget mode.
Asset Groups are collections of creatives (images, videos, headlines, descriptions) within Performance Max campaigns. Each Asset Group targets a specific audience signal and product set. Think of them as ad groups, but for PMax's cross-channel format.
A report available in Google Ads that lets you compare your performance with other advertisers who are participating in the same auctions that you are.
Audience Segments are groups of users you can target or observe. Types include: Affinity (interests/lifestyles), In-Market (actively researching products), Custom Segments (based on keywords/URLs), Remarketing (your website visitors), and Similar Audiences (lookalikes).
Audience Signals in Performance Max tell Google who your ideal customers are. They include your data (customer lists, website visitors), custom segments, demographics, and interests. They're suggestions to the algorithm, not hard targeting - PMax can expand beyond them.
Conversion Tracking measures valuable actions users take after clicking your ads - purchases, leads, sign-ups, calls. It requires the Google Ads tag or Google Tag Manager on your site. Accurate tracking is essential for Smart Bidding optimization.
CPA measures how much you spend to acquire one conversion (purchase, lead, sign-up). It's calculated as total spend ÷ total conversions. Also called Cost Per Action or Cost Per Conversion. It's the primary efficiency metric for performance campaigns.
CTR is the percentage of people who click your ad after seeing it, calculated as clicks ÷ impressions × 100. Higher CTR indicates more relevant, engaging ads. For Google Search, 3-5% is average; for Display/Social, 0.5-1% is typical.
Demand Gen Campaigns (formerly Discovery Ads) show visually rich ads across YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Discover feed, and Gmail. They support carousel, single image, and video formats with AI-powered audience expansion for upper-funnel marketing at scale.
Display Extensions add extra information to your text ads - sitelinks (additional links), callouts (short value props), structured snippets (lists), call extensions (phone numbers), and more. They improve ad real estate and often boost CTR by 10-15%.
GCLID is a unique parameter Google appends to URLs when someone clicks your ad. It's used to track conversions back to specific clicks, enabling accurate attribution and Smart Bidding optimization. Auto-tagging must be enabled for GCLID to work.
The Google Display Network is a collection of over 2 million websites, apps, and videos where your display ads can appear. It reaches over 90% of internet users worldwide. GDN is used for awareness, remarketing, and prospecting with image, responsive, and video ads.
Google Shopping Campaigns show product ads with images, prices, and store names in search results and the Shopping tab. They use product feed data from Merchant Center rather than keywords. Performance Max has largely replaced standalone Shopping campaigns.
Performance Max is Google's AI-driven, cross-channel campaign type that runs ads across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps from a single campaign. It uses machine learning to optimize for conversions, requiring only assets and goals from advertisers.
A Product Feed is a structured data file containing all your product information: titles, descriptions, prices, images, availability, and more. It's uploaded to Google Merchant Center and used to generate Shopping and Performance Max product ads automatically.
The percentage of impressions your ads actually received compared to the total number of impressions your ads were eligible to receive. It is the single most important metric for understanding market share and missed opportunity.
The Search Terms Report shows the actual queries people typed before clicking your ads. It's essential for finding new keyword opportunities and identifying irrelevant terms to add as negative keywords. Note: Google now hides many low-volume queries.
Smart Bidding is Google's suite of automated bid strategies powered by machine learning. Options include Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions, and Maximize Conversion Value. It adjusts bids in real-time based on signals like device, location, time, and audience.
Target CPA is a Smart Bidding strategy that automatically sets bids to get as many conversions as possible at your target cost-per-acquisition. Google adjusts bids in real-time based on the likelihood of conversion for each auction.
Target ROAS is a Smart Bidding strategy that automatically sets bids to achieve your target return on ad spend. If you set a 400% target, Google optimizes bids to generate £4 in revenue for every £1 spent. Requires conversion value tracking.
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