Google Premier Partner
Meta Business PartnerMarketing glossary
SEA terms explained.
From CPC to ROAS: the key concepts behind Google Ads and paid search explained in plain language, with practical examples.
A
- Absolute top impression rateImpressions where your ad was the very first ad above the organic results.
- Ad auctionThe process Google uses to decide which ads show for a search, and in what order.
- Ad groupA part of a campaign that holds related keywords and the ads that go with them.
- Ad policiesGoogle’s rules in Google Ads that ads, landing pages and advertisers must follow.
- Ad RankThe score Google uses in the auction to decide whether and where your ad shows.
- Ad relevanceThe rating of how well your ad matches the intent behind a search keyword.
- Ad schedulingSetting the days and hours your Google Ads ads run, or when to bid higher or lower.
- Ad strengthA rating of the variety and relevance of the assets in a responsive search ad.
- Affinity audiencesGoogle Ads segments of people with long-term interests and hobbies, such as sports or travel.
- App campaignA campaign that promotes an app across Search, Google Play, YouTube and Display, among others.
- Assets (ad extensions)Additional components of your Google Ads ad, such as sitelinks, callouts and images.
- Attribution modelThe rule that decides how the value of a conversion is divided over earlier clicks.
- Auction insightsA report showing how you perform compared with other advertisers in the same auctions.
- AudiencesGroups of people with shared interests or behavior that you target your Google Ads ads to.
- Auto-taggingA Google Ads setting that adds a GCLID to the URL of every ad click.
- Average CPCWhat you paid per click on average: ad costs divided by the number of clicks.
B
- Bid adjustmentsPercentage increases or decreases of your bid for device, location, time of day or audience.
- Bid strategyThe setting that decides how Google Ads bids in auctions: manually or automatically toward a goal.
- Brand biddingBidding on brand names in Google Ads, either your own brand or competitors’.
- Brand campaignA campaign that targets searches containing your own brand name or company name.
- Broad matchThe widest keyword option, where your ad can also show for related searches.
C
- Call assetsAssets that add a phone number to your Google Ads ad so people can call directly.
- Callout assetsShort, non-clickable text snippets with your Google Ads ad that highlight a benefit.
- CampaignThe part of your Google Ads account that has its own budget, goal and settings.
- Campaign structureThe way you organise a Google Ads account into campaigns and ad groups.
- Click fraud (invalid clicks)Clicks on ads without real interest, for example from bots or with malicious intent.
- Consent ModeA Google feature that lets tags respond to the consent visitors give.
- ConversionA valuable action a visitor takes after clicking your ad, such as a purchase or a form.
- Conversion actionThe setting in Google Ads that defines and measures one type of result.
- Conversion trackingMeasuring actions such as purchases and forms after someone clicks on your ad.
- Conversion valueThe amount you assign to a conversion, such as the revenue of an order.
- CPA (Cost per Acquisition)What you spend on average in ad costs for one conversion, such as a lead or a purchase.
- CPC (Cost per Click)Cost per click: the amount you pay each time someone clicks on your ad.
- CPM (Cost per Mille)The price per thousand impressions of your ad, whether or not anyone clicks.
- CTR (click-through rate)The percentage of your ad’s impressions that lead to a click, measured per ad or keyword.
- Customer MatchAn uploaded list of customer data that lets you reach or exclude your existing customers.
D
- Daily budgetThe average amount you want to spend per day on a campaign in Google Ads.
- Data-driven attributionAn attribution model that divides conversion value based on statistics from your own account.
- DaypartingSplitting the day or week into time slots and deciding per slot whether and how hard to advertise.
- Demand Gen campaignA visual campaign for YouTube, Discover and Gmail that uses images and video.
- Display NetworkThe network of websites and apps where you show visual ads through Google Ads.
- Display URLThe web address shown in your Google Ads ad, with two optional path fields.
- Dynamic Search Ads (DSA)Search ads where Google builds the headline from the content of your website.
E
F
G
- GCLIDA unique code Google Ads adds to your landing page URL to identify a click.
- GeotargetingTargeting your ads to countries, regions, cities or a radius around a location.
- Google Ads EditorFree desktop software from Google for editing Google Ads accounts offline and in bulk.
- Google Merchant CenterThe Google platform where your product feed, business details and policy checks are managed.
- Google ShoppingProducts with photo and price in Google’s search results, based on a product feed.
- Google tagThe shared piece of code on your site that sends data to Google Ads and GA4.
H
I
- Image assetsPhotos you attach to a Google Ads ad so it can appear with an image in the search results.
- Impression shareThe percentage of possible impressions that your ads actually received.
- ImpressionsThe number of times your ad is shown to someone, whether or not they click.
- In-market audiencesSegments of people who, according to Google, are actively researching or comparing before buying.
L
- Landing page experienceThe rating of how useful and relevant your landing page is for people who click.
- Learning phaseThe period after a new or substantially changed Smart Bidding strategy during which the system learns.
- Lookalike segmentsAudiences of people who resemble your customers or visitors, available in Demand Gen.
M
- Manager account (MCC)A Google Ads account for managing several other accounts under a single login.
- Manual CPCA bid strategy where you set the maximum price per click yourself, per keyword or ad group.
- Maximize conversion valueA bid strategy that tries to get as much revenue or conversion value as possible within your budget.
- Maximize conversionsA bid strategy that tries to get as many conversions as possible within your budget.
- Maximum CPCThe highest amount you are willing to pay for a single click on your ad.
- Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads)Microsoft’s advertising platform for paid search on Bing and its partners.
O
P
- Pay per click (PPC)A payment model where an advertiser pays when someone clicks on the ad.
- Performance Max (PMax)A campaign type that advertises across all Google channels from a single campaign.
- Phrase matchA keyword option where your ad shows for searches that include the meaning of your keyword.
- POAS (Profit on Ad Spend)The gross profit you earn per euro of ad costs, instead of looking at revenue alone.
- Price assetsAssets that show products or services with prices and links as cards with your Google Ads ad.
- Product feedA file with all the product data of your store, which advertising platforms read.
- Programmatic advertisingAutomated buying of ad space such as display, video and audio through a DSP and ad exchanges.
R
- RemarketingReaching earlier visitors or customers again with ads that fit their behavior.
- Responsive display adsAds that Google assembles itself from the images, logos and texts you provide.
- Responsive search ads (RSA)Google Ads text ads that combine your headlines and descriptions into the best-performing mixes.
- RetargetingShowing ads again to people who earlier came into contact with your site or ads.
- RLSA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads)Applying remarketing lists to search campaigns to treat earlier visitors differently.
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)The conversion value you get per euro of ad costs, for example revenue divided by costs.
- ROI (Return on Investment)The return on an investment: (profit minus investment) divided by the investment.
S
- SEA (Search Engine Advertising)Paid advertising in search engines, so your ad appears for relevant search queries.
- Search NetworkThe part of Google Ads where your ads show for searches on Google and its search partners.
- Shopping campaignA campaign that shows product ads with image and price, based on your product feed.
- Sitelink assetsExtra links below your Google Ads ad that lead to other pages on your website.
- SKAG (Single Keyword Ad Group)A setup with exactly one keyword per ad group, now less useful than it used to be.
- Smart BiddingAutomated bid strategies in Google Ads that use machine learning to set a bid in every auction.
- Structured snippetsAssets that show a list of features of your offer under a fixed header.
T
Y
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