Advertising Glossary

Plain-English explanations of the terms behind Google Ads and Meta Ads — each with a citable definition, real numbers, a worked example, and frequently asked questions.

Google Ads

  • Responsive Search Ads (RSA) — A Responsive Search Ad (RSA) is Google's default search ad format. You supply up to 15 headlines (30 characters each) and 4 descriptions (90…
  • Quality Score — Quality Score is Google Ads' 1–10 diagnostic rating of how relevant your keyword, ad copy, and landing page are to a user's search. It has t…
  • Ad Rank — Ad Rank is the value Google calculates in every search auction to decide whether your ad shows and in what position. It combines your bid, a…
  • Negative Keywords — Negative keywords are terms you exclude from a Google Ads campaign so your ads do not show on searches containing them. They filter out wron…
  • Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) — Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) is a Google Ads feature that automatically inserts the keyword that triggered your ad into the ad text, usin…
  • Broad Match — Broad match is the default Google Ads keyword match type that shows your ad on searches related to your keyword's meaning, including synonym…
  • Phrase Match — Phrase match is a Google Ads match type, written in quotes ("running shoes"), that shows your ad on searches that include the meaning of you…
  • Exact Match — Exact match is Google Ads' most restrictive keyword match type, written in square brackets like [running shoes]. Despite the name, it matche…
  • Sitelink Extensions (Sitelink Assets) — Sitelink extensions (now called sitelink assets) are additional links shown beneath your Google ad, each pointing to a different page — Pric…
  • Callout Extensions (Callout Assets) — Callout extensions (callout assets) are short, non-clickable text snippets — up to 25 characters each — that appear after your ad's descript…
  • Performance Max (PMax) — Performance Max (PMax) is a goal-based Google Ads campaign type that serves ads across all Google inventory — Search, YouTube, Display, Gmai…
  • Ad Strength — Ad Strength is Google Ads' pre-serving feedback rating — Poor, Average, Good, or Excellent — for Responsive Search Ad asset sets. It measure…
  • Headline Pinning — Headline pinning is an RSA control that locks a specific headline (or description) to a fixed position — 1, 2, or 3 — so it appears in every…

Metrics & Bidding

  • CTR (Clickthrough Rate) — CTR (clickthrough rate) is the percentage of people who click your ad after seeing it: clicks divided by impressions, times 100. An ad shown…
  • CPC (Cost Per Click) — CPC (cost per click) is the amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad. In Google Ads you set a maximum CPC (the most you'll pay), whil…
  • CPM (Cost Per Mille) — CPM (cost per mille) is the cost of one thousand ad impressions — what you pay for visibility rather than clicks. A €12 CPM means every 1,00…
  • ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) — ROAS (return on ad spend) is revenue generated per unit of advertising cost: revenue attributed to ads divided by ad spend. A campaign spend…
  • CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) — CPA (cost per acquisition, or cost per action) is what you pay in advertising for each conversion — a purchase, signup, or lead: total spend…

Targeting

  • Retargeting (Remarketing) — Retargeting (Google calls it remarketing) is showing ads specifically to people who have already interacted with you — visited your site, us…
  • Lookalike Audience — A lookalike audience is a platform-generated targeting group of people who statistically resemble a source ("seed") audience you provide — t…

Testing & Optimization

  • Ad Fatigue — Ad fatigue is the decline in ad performance that occurs when an audience has seen the same creative too many times. Attention and clickthrou…
  • Message Match — Message match is the degree to which your landing page repeats the promise that earned the click — same headline idea, same offer, same lang…
  • UTM Parameters — UTM parameters are five standardized tags appended to URLs — utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, and utm_content — that tell ana…
  • A/B Testing (for Ads) — A/B testing in advertising is running two ad variants that differ in one deliberate way — hook, creative, offer, or audience — splitting imp…

Meta Ads

  • Primary Text (Meta Ads) — Primary text is the main copy block of a Facebook or Instagram ad — the text that appears above the image or video. Meta truncates it after …