Google Ads Glossary
All important Google Ads terms explained simply and clearly, with practical tips straight from the expert.
Metrics & KPIs
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Click-Through Rate (CTR) indicates how often users click your ad after seeing it. It is calculated as: Clicks ÷ Impressions × 100.
Cost per Click (CPC)
Cost per Click (CPC) is the amount you pay for each click on your Google Ads ad. The actual CPC is often below your maximum bid.
Conversion Rate
Conversion Rate indicates what percentage of visitors complete a desired action, e.g. submitting an inquiry, making a call, or completing a purchase.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS shows how much revenue you generate per euro invested in Google Ads. A ROAS of 500% means: for every euro invested, you receive €5 in revenue back.
Impressions
Impressions count how often your ad is displayed on a screen. Each appearance in search results or on a website counts as one impression.
Cost per Acquisition (CPA)
CPA (Cost per Acquisition) indicates how much you pay on average to achieve one conversion: a purchase, inquiry, or signup.
Google Ads report columns explained
The keyword report in Google Ads shows one row per keyword with a fixed set of columns: status, match type, impressions, interactions, CTR, cost and conversions. Each column answers a different question.
Campaign Structure
Keyword Match Types
Keyword Match Types determine which search queries trigger your ad. Google offers three types: Broad Match, Phrase Match, and Exact Match.
Negative Keywords
Negative Keywords are search terms for which your ad should NOT appear. They prevent irrelevant clicks and save budget.
Ad Groups
Ad Groups are the organizational level within a campaign that bundles keywords, ads, and bids by theme.
Campaign Types
Google Ads offers different campaign types (Search, Display, Shopping, Video, Performance Max) that use different ad networks and formats.
Display Network
The Google Display Network (GDN) spans over 2 million websites, apps, and videos where you can show image and text ads.
Shopping Campaigns
Shopping Campaigns display product ads with image, price, shop name, and ratings directly in Google search results.
Brand Campaign
A brand campaign is a search campaign that bids exclusively on your own brand name. It secures the top position for brand searches, at very low click prices and with high conversion rates.
Keyword Status
Keyword status is the column in the Google Ads keyword table that shows whether a keyword can trigger ads: enabled, paused, removed, or flagged with a status reason such as "low search volume".
Context Hints
Context Hints are descriptions at ad group level in ChatGPT Ads. They tell OpenAI which conversations, topics and needs an ad fits, but they are not exact match keywords.
Campaign Optimization
Quality Score
Quality Score is a rating from 1-10 that Google shows at the keyword level. It summarizes how Google rates the quality of your ads and landing pages and works as a diagnostic tool. It is not itself an input in the auction, but per Google, higher quality ads can often lead to lower costs per click.
Ad Rank
Ad Rank decides if and where your ad shows on Google. Per Google it weighs your bid, ad and landing page quality, thresholds, competition and assets.
Ad Auction
The ad auction decides afresh with every Google search which ads appear and in what order. It sorts by Ad Rank, which per Google weighs the quality of your ads and landing page alongside your bid, not by the highest bid alone.
Landing Page Experience
Landing Page Experience evaluates how relevant and useful your destination page is for users who click your ad. It's a component of Quality Score.
Search Terms Report
The Search Terms Report shows the actual search queries that triggered your ads, as opposed to the keywords you're bidding on.
A/B Testing
A/B Testing compares two variants (e.g., ad copy, landing pages) against each other to determine the better version based on data.
Audience Signals
Audience signals are hints you provide to Performance Max campaigns to give the algorithm a head start. They are not strict targeting. Google uses them as a starting point and expands the audience on its own.
Ad Formats
Ad Extensions (Assets)
Ad Extensions (now called "Assets") are additional information that expand your ad: sitelinks, phone numbers, location, ratings, and more.
Responsive Search Ads
Responsive Search Ads (RSA) are Google's standard ad format where you enter up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Google automatically tests the best combinations.
Demand Gen Campaigns
Demand Gen campaigns are a visual Google Ads campaign format that serves ads on YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. They are designed to create demand before users actively search for your offer.
YouTube Ads
YouTube Ads are video ads you don't book on YouTube itself but in Google Ads via the Video campaign type. Depending on the format, you pay per view (CPV) or per 1,000 impressions (CPM).
ChatGPT Ads
ChatGPT Ads are sponsored ads OpenAI shows below the answer inside ChatGPT. They reach Free and Go users only and are booked through the Ads Manager at ads.openai.com.
Strategies & Tools
Performance Max
Performance Max is Google's AI-powered campaign type that automatically runs ads across all Google channels: Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Discover.
Remarketing / Retargeting
Remarketing shows ads specifically to people who have already visited your website. This keeps you top of mind and brings potential customers back.
Bidding Strategies
Bidding Strategies determine how Google sets your bids in the ad auction. Options range from manual control to fully automated AI management.
Smart Bidding
Smart Bidding is Google's AI-powered bidding strategy that uses machine learning to optimize bids in real-time for every single auction.
Daily Budget
The daily budget is the average amount you want to spend per day on a Google Ads campaign. Google may spend up to double on individual days.
Google Merchant Center
Google Merchant Center is the platform through which you submit your product data to Google. It is the foundation for Shopping ads, free product listings, and Performance Max with a product feed.
Keyword Planner
Keyword Planner is Google's free keyword research tool built into Google Ads. It provides search volume, competition data, and bid estimates for keywords and helps you discover new keyword ideas.
Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is your free business listing in Google Search and Google Maps. Linked with Google Ads, it enables local ad formats and location assets.
Search Intent
Search intent describes the goal behind a search query: does the user want to learn, buy, compare, or find a specific website? It determines which keywords are worth advertising on.
oCPC (conversion-optimized CPC)
oCPC is the conversion-optimized campaign objective in ChatGPT Ads. You still pay for valid clicks, but delivery is optimized towards one conversion event chosen upfront.
Tracking & Analytics
Conversion Tracking
Conversion Tracking measures which clicks on your ads lead to valuable actions: purchases, inquiries, calls, or newsletter signups.
Enhanced Conversions
Enhanced Conversions supplement your conversion tracking with hashed first-party data such as email addresses. This allows Google to attribute conversions even when cookies are missing or users switch devices.
Consent Mode v2
Consent Mode v2 is Google's interface between your cookie banner and Google tags. It controls which data is collected depending on user consent and is mandatory for advertisers in the EEA.
Server-Side Tagging
With server-side tagging, your tracking tags run on your own server container instead of in the user's browser. This makes data collection more stable and faster, and gives you full control over the data sent.
Auction Insights
The Auction Insights report in Google Ads shows you which competitors bid in the same auctions as you and how you compare. It is the most important tool for competitive analysis directly within Google Ads.
Attribution Model
An attribution model determines which ad interaction gets credit for a conversion when a user interacts with your ads multiple times before purchasing. In Google Ads, data-driven attribution is the standard today.
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