Google Ads Glossary

 

Welcome to our comprehensive Google Ads Glossary! Here, you’ll find the essential information needed to understand the various terms and concepts used in Google’s powerful advertising platform. This glossary is ideal for any individual – whether they’re just beginning to explore online ads or have experience as a marketer – looking to increase their knowledge. As you browse through, you’ll find a wide range of topics, including campaign management, targeting, bidding strategies, ad formats, and analytics. With this guide in hand, you can gain an understanding of Google Ads’ complexities and further your success! Let’s get started and uncover the mysteries of Google Ads one term at a time.

Account

A Google Ads Account is a user account used to manage and oversee campaigns, ads, and other features related to Google Ads.

Ad Customizers

Ad Customizers are Dynamic Ad features that allow you to insert dynamic text into your ads and modify them in real time based on the user’s context.

Ad Extensions

Ad extensions are additional pieces of text, like a business address, phone number or call-to-action button, that appear with your ad to make it more visible and relevant.

Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool

The Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool is a tool used to preview and diagnose your ads on Google search results pages in different countries and languages, ensuring that your campaigns are running as expected.

Ad Rank

Ad Rank is a score calculated by Google Ads to determine the placement of an ad on search engine results pages, based on an advertiser’s bid, quality score, and other factors.

Ad Rotation

Ad Rotation is a Google Ads setting that allows advertisers to control which ad version or creative is served most often on a search engine results page.

Ad Schedule

Ad Schedule is a Google Ads setting that allows advertisers to specify the time and day of the week an ad should be served.

Add Observation

Ad Observation is a Google Ads setting that allows advertisers to keep an eye on their ads, so they can measure performance and make adjustments as needed.

AdMob

AdMob is a Google Ads platform designed to help developers monetize and promote their mobile apps.

Ad Strength

Ad Strength is a feature in Google Ads that uses machine learning to measure the expected performance of an ad and help users decide where to invest their budget.

All Conversions

All Conversions is a metric in Google Ads that measures the total number of conversions regardless of click attribution.

App Install Conversion

App Install Conversion is a type of conversion that tracks people who have downloaded or opened an app as a direct result of clicking an ad.

Assisted Conversion

Assisted Conversions are conversions that are partially attributed to one or more clicks from a paid search ad.

Attribution

Attribution is the process of assigning credit for online conversion to the marketing channel that drove it.

Audiences
Audiences are a collection of people with shared characteristics that can be used to target marketing efforts.

Automated Rules

Automated Rules are predetermined criteria used to trigger automated actions in marketing campaigns.

Automatic Placement

Automatic Placement is an automated process used to determine the best places to display ads within a given platform.

Auto-tagging

Auto-tagging is a process of automatically labeling digital assets with keywords to facilitate easy discovery and organization.

Bid Adjustment

Bid Adjustment is a feature used to increase or decrease the amount bid on a keyword in order to influence its placement in search engine results.

Bid Strategy

Bid Strategy is a set of rules used to determine how much should be bid for each keyword in order to get the desired placement in search engine results.

Broad Match

Broad Match is a keyword-matching tool in Google Ads that allows ads to appear when users search for phrases that include the keywords, even if they are not an exact match.

Budget

In a campaign, a budget is the predetermined amount of money allocated for advertising costs.

Bumper Ad

A bumper ad is a short, non-skippable video ad that typically lasts between 6 and 10 seconds.

Call-only Ad

A call-only ad is an ad that can only be used to direct people to make a phone call, rather than clicking through to a website.

Campaign

A campaign is a series of connected advertising messages and activities that promote a product, service, or idea.

Change History

Change history is an organized record of changes that have been made to a system or document, including who made the change and when it was made.

Click

When a user clicks on an advertisement within a website or application, indicating that they are likely interested in the product or service being advertised.

Close Variant

A close variant is a term used in advertising or search engine optimization to describe a keyword that is similar, but not the same as, another keyword.

Conservative Targeting

Conservative Targeting is a Google Ads targeting technique that limits the reach of an ad to users who are more likely to be interested in the product or service being advertised.

Contextual Targeting

Contextual Targeting is a type of Google Ads targeting that uses the content of the webpage to determine which ads should be displayed.

Conversion

Conversion is the process of turning website visitors into paying customers or clients.

Conversion Rate

Conversion Rate is the percentage of visitors who take a desired action after viewing an advertisement or website.

Conversion Category

A Conversion Category is a type of conversion goal, such as Sign Ups or Purchases, which tracks the completion of a desired action.

Conversion Value

Conversion Value is the monetary value associated with a specific conversion goal.

Conversion Window

Conversion Window is a set period of time, such as one day or one week, in which conversions are recorded.

Cost

Cost in Google Ads is the amount you pay for a click, impression, or other action associated with an advertisement.

CPA

Cost per Action (CPA) is a type of online marketing metric that measures the cost associated with getting a customer to take an action, such as making a purchase or subscribing to a service.

CPC

Cost per Click (CPC) is a pricing model used in online marketing that refers to the cost incurred every time a user clicks on an advertisement.

CPM

Cost per Mille (CPM) is a pricing model used in online advertising that measures the cost associated with delivering one thousand impressions of an advertisement.

CPV

Cost per View (CPV) is a pricing model used in online advertising that measures the cost associated with delivering one view of an advertisement.

Cross-device Conversion

Cross-device conversion is the process of attributing an action taken on one device to a user who interacted with an advertisement on another device.

CTR

Click-through rate (CTR) is a metric used to measure the success of an online advertising campaign, calculated by the number of users clicks on an ad divided by the number of times it is shown.

Customer Match

Customer Match is an online advertising tool that allows businesses to target users on a particular platform who have provided them with their email addresses.

Default Bid

Default bid is an automated feature in online advertising campaigns that sets the maximum amount a business will pay for each click on their ad.

Display Targeting
Display targeting is the process of selecting an audience for an online advertising campaign based on predetermined criteria.

Display URL

A display URL is a web address that shows where an ad or creative is hosted on the internet.

Drafts

Drafts are works in progress that need to be reviewed and edited before they can be finalized.

Dynamic Ad

Dynamic Ads are personalized online advertisements that are tailored to the needs and interests of individual consumers.

Dynamic Keyword Insertion

Dynamic Keyword Insertion is a form of advertising that allows marketers to customize ads by automatically inserting keywords into the ad copy.

Dynamic Remarketing

Dynamic Remarketing is an advertising method that allows businesses to serve ads tailored to customers who have already interacted with their websites.

Dynamic Search Ad

Dynamic Search Ads are a type of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising that allows businesses to advertise on search engine results pages using automatically generated ads.

Earned View

Earned views are the result of people watching or engaging with content that is shared and recommended by their friends or family.

Google Ads Editor

In Google Ads, an Editor is a tool for creating and managing campaigns, ad groups and ads.

 Enhanced CPC

Enhanced Cost Per Click (ECPC) is a bid strategy that automatically adjusts bids to maximize conversions while helping you reach your desired cost-per-acquisition (CPA) goal.

Effective CPM

Effective Cost-Per-Mille (eCPM) is a metric used to measure the effectiveness of digital campaigns, and shows the effective cost per 1,000 impressions.

Exact Match

In Google Ads, Exact Match is an option that allows advertisers to control which searches are eligible to trigger their ads and usually creates a more relevant and effective experience for users.

Exact Match Impression Share

Exact Match Impression Share (EMIS) is a metric in Google Ads that measures the percentage of impressions an ad receives on exact match queries relative to its total eligible impression share.

Experiment

An experiment is a scientific process in which different conditions are tested to determine the effect on a particular outcome.

Filter

In Google Ads, a filter is an action used to narrow down potential results by limiting what’s displayed based on specified criteria.

Final URL

The final URL is the address of the website page that a user will see after clicking on an ad or other link.

Frequency Cap

A frequency cap is a tool used to limit the number of times a user sees an ad during a specified length of time.

GCLID

GCLID stands for “Google Click Identifier,” which is a unique parameter appended to a URL when it is clicked on from an ad or organic search result.

Gmail Ad

Gmail Ads are a form of online advertising that allows users to advertise in their email inboxes, allowing them to target customers who have already expressed interest in their products or services.

Google AdSense

Google AdSense is an online advertising platform that allows website owners to monetize their content by displaying targeted advertisements from Google’s advertiser network.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic data.

Google Display Network

The Google Display Network is a collection of websites, apps and other digital media that enables advertisers to display their ads on Google-owned properties like YouTube and Gmail as well as third-party sites.

Google Forwarding Number

Google Forwarding Number is a virtual phone number that Google offers to businesses, allowing them to track and measure incoming calls.

Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center is a platform from Google used to manage product information and make it available for shopping ads, such as Google Shopping, across different surfaces like Search, Shopping and Display.

Google Search Network

The Google Search Network is a collection of websites that can display ads from Google AdWords, allowing businesses to reach customers when they search for relevant terms on Google and other search engine sites.

Google Search Partners

Google Search Partners are third-party websites like AOL and Ask.com that allow advertisers to reach customers through the Google AdWords platform.

Image Ad

Image Ads are Google AdWords ads that use images to attract customers, allowing businesses to stand out in organic search results and gain better visibility online.

Impression

An impression is a measure of how often an ad is seen, typically calculated as the number of times an ad is served to a user on any given web page.

Impression Share

Impression Share is a metric that measures how often an ad is displayed compared to the total number of ads shown for the same keyword.

Interactions

Interactions refer to people engaging with ad or content, such as liking or clicking or commenting on it.

Interaction Rate

Interaction Rate is a metric that measures the proportion of people who interacted with ad or content, such as clicked, liked or commented on it.

In-app Conversion

In-app Conversion is a metric that measures the proportion of people who take an action inside an app, such as making a purchase or signing up for a subscription.

Invalid Clicks

Invalid Clicks are clicks that are initiated by malicious actors or automated systems with the purpose of generating fake ad impressions or artificially inflating costs.

Keyword

A Keyword in Google Ads is a group of words or phrases that users enter into a search engine when they are looking for something specific.

Keyword Planner

The Google Ads Keyword Planner is a tool used to research and identify relevant keywords for use in advertising campaigns.

Label

In Google Ads, a Label is a way to group and organize keywords, ad groups, ads, and campaigns into meaningful categories.

Language Targeting

Language Targeting in Google Ads is the process of setting an ad campaign to serve ads only to people whose primary language matches a selected language.

Location Targeting

Location Targeting in Google Ads is the process of specifying the locations where an ad campaign should serve ads.

Lost Impression Share

Lost Impression Share in Google Ads is the difference between the number of impressions an ad should have received and the actual number of impressions it received.

Keyword Match Type

Match Type in Google Ads is a setting that allows advertisers to control which search queries can trigger an ad to show.

Manager Account

A Manager Account in Google Ads is an account that provides access to multiple Google Ad accounts while giving a single view of all performance metrics.

Maximize Conversions

Maximize Conversions in Google Ads is a target setting that optimizes campaigns to get the most conversions possible within your budget.

Mobile Bid Adjustment

Mobile Bid Adjustment in Google Ads is a setting that allows advertisers to adjust bids for their campaigns across mobile devices.

Mobile Speed Score

Mobile Speed Score measures how quickly an advertiser’s mobile page loads and provides feedback on how to improve page speed.

Narrow Targeting

Narrow targeting in Google Ads is a strategy that involves specifying a very specific audience to target with ads.

Negative Keyword Match

Negative match is a Google Ads feature that lets advertisers designate keywords and phrases they don’t want their ads to show up for.

Network

In Google Ads, a network is the type of website or app where an advertiser’s ads can appear.

Notes

In Google Ads, Notes are used to record useful information or reminders about campaigns or ad groups.

Offline Conversion

Offline Conversion is the process of tracking sales or conversion information from offline sources, such as in-store purchases.

Parental Status

In Google Ads, Parental Status is an attribute that can be used to target ads towards users with children.

Phrase Match

Phrase Match is a keyword matching option in Google Ads that allows for targeting ads to searches containing a specified phrase or word order.

Physical Location

Physical Location is an attribute in Google Ads that target ads to user based on their geographic location.

Placement

Placement is a method of targeting ads to specific websites or apps in Google Ads.

PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) is an online advertising model that charges advertisers only when the ad is clicked.

Product Group

Product Groups are a type of organization used in Google Ads campaigns to group similar products together.

Quality Score

Quality Score is a metric used by Google Ads to measure the relevancy and value of an ad, landing page, and keyword.

Quartile

Quartiles are divisions of a data set into four equal parts based on the value of the data points.

Radius Targeting

Radius Targeting is a form of digital marketing that targets users within a certain geographical radius around a location.

Recommendations

Recommendations are personalized suggestions made by algorithms based on an individual’s past activities, interests, and preferences.

Remarketing List

Remarketing lists are used in digital marketing to target customers who have previously visited your site or interacted with your brand.

Remarketing Lists for Search Ads

Remarketing lists for search ads allow advertisers to target users who have previously visited their site or interacted with their brand with personalized search ads.

Responsive Display Ad

Responsive Display Ads are a type of automated ad created by Google using the advertiser’s assets such as text, images, and logos to create ads that adjust in size and format across different sites.

Responsive Search Ad

Responsive Search Ads are automated ads created by Google that allow advertisers to create ads with up to 15 headlines and 4 description lines which can be rearranged to better match different searches.

ROAS

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is a performance metric that measures the return of an ad campaign relative to advertising costs.

Script

A script is a set of instructions that tells a computer program or device how to perform a task.

Search Query

A search query is a request for information from a database or other source.

Segment

In Google Ads, a segment is a way to group and analyze data based on specific criteria, such as time, device, location, or behavior.

Shared Budget

In Google Ads, a shared budget is a budget that can be shared across multiple campaigns within an account, allowing for more flexible allocation of funds.

Shared Library

In Google Ads, the shared library is a central location where advertisers can create and manage shared items, such as audiences, remarketing lists, and negative keyword lists, that can be used across multiple campaigns.

Shopping Campaign

In Google Ads, a shopping campaign is a type of advertising campaign that promotes product listings from an online store or e-commerce website in Google search results and other Google properties.

Shoppable Image Ad

A shoppable image ad is an interactive ad format that allows users to browse and purchase products directly from an image, typically seen on social media platforms like Instagram or Pinterest.

Showcase Shopping Ad

A Showcase Shopping Ad is a type of Google Ads shopping ad format that allows advertisers to showcase a collection of related products together in a single ad unit, providing a more immersive and visually appealing experience for users.

Site Category Options

In Google Ads, site category options allow advertisers to choose which types of websites or content their ads will appear on, providing greater control over where their ads are displayed.

Smart Bidding

In Google Ads, Smart Bidding is a set of automated bid strategies that use machine learning algorithms to optimize bids for conversions or conversion value based on historical performance data and other factors.

Smart Shopping Campaigns

Smart Shopping Campaigns is a type of Google Ads advertising campaign that uses machine learning to optimize bids and ad placements across Google’s ad networks to drive sales for e-commerce businesses.

Status
In Google Ads, status refers to the current state of a campaign, ad group, ad, or keyword, indicating whether it is active or paused and whether there are any issues or restrictions affecting its performance.

Tracking Template

In Google Ads, a tracking template is a URL parameter that allows advertisers to track and analyze the performance of their ads and campaigns by adding additional information to the final URL of their ads.

TrueView

TrueView is a type of ad format in Google Ads that allows advertisers to run video ads on YouTube and other video partner sites, with advertisers only paying when users watch a certain portion of the ad or interact with it in some way.

Value Track

Value Track is a feature in Google Ads that allows advertisers to dynamically insert tracking parameters into their final URLs to capture specific information about the ad’s performance, such as the keyword that triggered the ad or the ad position on the search results page.

Viewable CPM

Viewable CPM (vCPM) is a bidding strategy in Google Ads where advertisers bid on the number of times their ad is viewed and considered “viewable” by the user, rather than the traditional model of bidding on clicks or impressions.

View

In Google Analytics, a view is a subset of website data that can be analyzed separately, often representing a specific property, profile, or subset of traffic.

View-through Conversion

A view-through conversion is a type of conversion in Google Ads that occurs when a user sees an ad but doesn’t click on it, but later converts by completing a desired action, such as making a purchase, within a specified window of time.

YouTube

YouTube is a video sharing platform owned by Google that allows users to upload, view, and share videos, and for advertisers to run video ads to reach a large audience.

App Extension

An app extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that allows advertisers to promote their mobile app by providing a link to download it directly from the ad.

Call Extension

A call extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that allows advertisers to include a phone number with their ads, making it easier for customers to call the business directly from the ad

Call-Out Extension

A callout extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that allows advertisers to include additional text in their ads, highlighting specific benefits, features, or offers related to the business or product being promoted.

Location Extension

A location extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that allows advertisers to show their business address, phone number, and a map marker with their ads, making it easier for customers to find and visit their physical location.

Message Extension

A message extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that allows advertisers to include a button with their ads, which users can click to send a text message directly to the advertiser’s business phone number.

Price Extension

A price extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that allows advertisers to display their products or services along with their prices in a table format within the ad, making it easier for customers to compare prices and offerings

Promotion Extension

A promotion extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that allows advertisers to display specific promotions, discounts, or special offers within their ads, encouraging customers to take advantage of the offer and potentially driving more conversions

Seller Ratings Extension

A seller ratings extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that displays a rating score and reviews from various online sources for the advertiser’s business, making the ad more trustworthy and potentially increasing click-through rates.

Sitelinks Extension

A sitelink extension is a type of ad extension in Google Ads that allows advertisers to display additional links to specific pages on their website, providing more options for customers to explore and potentially driving more traffic to the site.

Structured Snippet Extension

Highlight product/service categories, brands, or styles; provide more information; increase click-through rates; ad extension in Google Ads.

First Click

First click refers to the first interaction or touchpoint a user has with a particular marketing channel or ad before taking any further action, such as making a purchase or conversion.

Linear Attribution

Linear attribution is a type of attribution model that assigns equal credit to each touchpoint or interaction a user has with a particular marketing channel or ad leading up to a conversion.

Time Decay

Time decay is a type of attribution model that assigns increasing credit to touchpoints or interactions a user has with a particular marketing channel or ad as they get closer to a conversion, with the most credit given to the final touchpoint

Position Based

Position-based attribution is a type of attribution model that assigns credit to the first and last touchpoints a user has with a particular marketing channel or ad, while also assigning some credit to the touchpoints in between.

Display Keywords

Display keywords are keywords that are used in Google Ads campaigns for targeting display network placements, based on the relevancy of the website’s content and the user’s browsing history.

Placements

Placements refer to the specific websites, apps, videos, or other locations on the Google Display Network where an advertiser’s ads can appear through a display campaign

Topics

Topics refer to the specific themes or categories of content on the Google Display Network where an advertiser’s ads can appear through a display campaign, based on the relevancy of the topic.

Interests

Interests refer to the particular topics or activities that a user has shown an interest in based on their browsing history, and that can be targeted in Google Ads display campaigns for reaching relevant audiences.

Remarketing

Remarketing is a type of advertising strategy that allows advertisers to target users who have previously interacted with their website or ads, in order to re-engage and encourage them to convert.

Demographics

Demographics are specific characteristics of a population or audience, such as age, gender, income, education, and other personal attributes that can be used to target ads in Google Ads campaigns.

Negative Broad Match

Negative broad match is a type of negative keyword match type in Google Ads that prevents an ad from showing for any search query that contains all of the words in the keyword, but not necessarily in the same order.

Negative Exact Match

Negative exact match is a type of negative keyword match type in Google Ads that prevents an ad from showing for any search query that exactly matches the keyword, ensuring highly targeted ad delivery.

Negative Phrase Match

Negative phrase match is a type of negative keyword match type in Google Ads that prevents an ad from showing for any search query that includes the exact keyword phrase, but may include additional words before or after it.

App Users

App users refer to individuals who have downloaded and installed a mobile application on their device, and are actively engaging with the app by performing various actions such as using its features and making in-app purchases.

Customer Emails

Customer emails refer to the email addresses provided by customers to businesses, which can be used for communication, marketing, or transactional purposes, such as order confirmations, promotions, and updates.

Website Visitors

Website visitors refer to individuals who access and browse a website by entering its URL in a web browser or clicking on a link, and view its content, products or services

YouTube Users

YouTube users are individuals who access and use the YouTube video-sharing platform to view, upload, share, and interact with video content, channels, and communities.

TrueView In-Stream

TrueView in-stream is a YouTube video ad format that allows advertisers to display skippable or non-skippable ads before, during, or after a video that a user is watching.

TrueView Video Discovery Ad

TrueView Video Discovery Ads are YouTube ads that appear as suggested videos in search results or as related videos on the watch page.

In summary, our Google Ads Glossary serves as a comprehensive resource for marketers, business owners, and anyone else who wants to understand the intricacies of Google’s advertising platform. By familiarizing yourself with these terms and concepts, you’ll be able to create effective campaigns, optimize them more effectively, and gain insight into how they perform. As digital marketing continues to develop and change, it’s important to stay up-to-date and understand the new strategies and techniques. We hope this glossary has been a useful tool in your journey toward mastering Google Ads, and we encourage you to keep learning and developing your understanding of this dynamic world of online advertising.