Glossary
Digital marketing glossary
Clear, no-jargon definitions of 99 digital advertising terms — every major Google Ads campaign type, every Meta campaign objective and strategy, and the metrics that tie them to revenue. Each entry includes an example and how we use it.
Performance marketing fundamentals
The core metrics and concepts that apply across every ad platform — from ROAS and CPA to attribution and first-party data. 14 terms
Conversion Funnel
A conversion funnel is the journey a prospect takes from first becoming aware of you to converting into a lead or customer, usually described in stages.
Read definitionConversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is the measurement setup that records valuable actions — form submissions, calls, purchases — and attributes them to the ads that drove them.
Read definitionCPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
CPA (cost per acquisition, or cost per action) is the average advertising cost to generate one conversion, calculated as ad spend divided by conversions.
Read definitionCPC (Cost Per Click)
CPC (cost per click) is the price an advertiser pays each time someone clicks an ad, calculated as total click cost divided by the number of clicks.
Read definitionCPL (Cost Per Lead)
CPL (cost per lead) is the average amount you spend on advertising to generate a single lead, calculated as total ad spend divided by the number of leads.
Read definitionCPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions)
CPM (cost per mille) is the cost an advertiser pays for one thousand ad impressions — the standard pricing unit for social, video, display, and connected-TV advertising.
Read definitionCTR (Click-Through Rate)
CTR (click-through rate) is the percentage of people who click an ad after seeing it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions.
Read definitionCTV (Connected TV)
CTV (connected TV) is television content streamed over the internet on a smart TV or device, where ads can be targeted by household and measured like digital.
Read definitionFirst-Party Data
First-party data is information a business collects directly from its own customers and audience — such as CRM records, email lists, purchase history, and on-site behavior — with their consent.
Read definitionLearning Phase
The learning phase is the period after a campaign or ad set launches — or is significantly edited — when the platform's algorithm explores delivery options and performance is less stable.
Read definitionMarketing Attribution
Marketing attribution is the method of assigning credit for a conversion to the ads, channels, and touchpoints that contributed to it.
Read definitionProspecting
Prospecting is advertising aimed at new audiences who haven't yet interacted with your business, used to create demand and fill the top of the funnel.
Read definitionRemarketing (Retargeting)
Remarketing, also called retargeting, is showing ads to people who have already interacted with your business — such as visiting your website, watching a video, or engaging on social — to bring them back to convert.
Read definitionROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
ROAS (return on ad spend) is the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising, calculated as revenue divided by ad spend.
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Google Ads
Every major Google Ads campaign type, plus the ad formats, keywords, bidding, auction, and measurement terms behind them. 40 terms
Ad Assets (Ad Extensions)
Ad assets, formerly called ad extensions, are additional pieces of information — like sitelinks, callouts, phone numbers, and images — that expand a Google ad and give searchers more reasons and ways to choose you.
Read definitionAd Rank
Ad Rank is the value Google calculates in every auction to decide whether your ad can show and in what position, based on your bid, ad quality, Ad Rank thresholds, the search context, and the expected impact of your assets.
Read definitionAd Strength
Ad Strength is a Google Ads rating — Poor, Average, Good, or Excellent — that measures how closely a responsive ad or asset group follows Google's best practices for relevance, quantity, and diversity of assets.
Read definitionAI Max for Search Campaigns
AI Max for Search campaigns is a Google Ads feature suite that uses AI to expand a Search campaign beyond its keyword list, tailor ad text to each query, and send searchers to the most relevant landing page.
Read definitionApp Campaigns
App campaigns are the Google Ads campaign type that promotes a mobile app across Google Search, Google Play, YouTube, Discover, and the Display Network to drive installs or in-app actions.
Read definitionAsset Groups
Asset groups are the building blocks of Performance Max (and Demand Gen) campaigns: collections of headlines, descriptions, images, logos, and videos — plus audience signals and, for retail, product listing groups — organized around one theme.
Read definitionAudience Signals
Audience signals are suggestions you add to a Performance Max asset group — such as customer lists, website visitors, custom segments, and interests — that help Google's AI find your likely customers faster.
Read definitionBranded Search Campaigns
A branded search campaign is a Google Ads campaign that bids on your own business name and branded terms, so your ad appears when people search for you specifically.
Read definitionCall Ads
Call ads, formerly called call-only ads, are Google search ads shown on mobile devices that encourage people to phone your business directly instead of visiting your website.
Read definitionCustomer Match
Customer Match is a Google Ads feature that lets you upload your own first-party customer data — such as email addresses and phone numbers — to reach those people, or exclude them, across Search, YouTube, Gmail, and Display.
Read definitionData-Driven Attribution (DDA)
Data-driven attribution (DDA) is an attribution model that uses machine learning to assign credit for a conversion across each ad interaction based on how much it actually contributed — and it's the default model in Google Ads and GA4.
Read definitionDemand Gen
Demand Gen is a Google Ads campaign type that runs visually-rich, social-style image and video ads across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail to create and capture demand.
Read definitionDisplay Campaigns
Display campaigns are the Google Ads campaign type that shows visual ads across the Google Display Network — millions of websites, apps, and Google properties like Gmail and YouTube.
Read definitionDynamic Search Ads (DSA)
Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) are Google search ads that use the content of your website, rather than a keyword list, to decide which searches to show for and to generate the ad headline automatically.
Read definitionEnhanced Conversions
Enhanced conversions is a Google Ads feature that supplements conversion tags with hashed first-party data — such as the email address or phone number from a form — to measure conversions more accurately.
Read definitionGoogle Ads
Google Ads is Google's online advertising platform, where businesses bid to show ads on Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Play, Discover, and millions of partner websites and apps.
Read definitionGoogle Analytics 4 (GA4)
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google's current web and app analytics platform, which measures user behavior as events and replaced Universal Analytics in July 2023.
Read definitionGoogle Consent Mode
Google Consent Mode is a framework that tells Google's tags — Analytics, Ads, and Floodlight — whether a visitor has consented to analytics and advertising cookies, so the tags adjust their behavior accordingly.
Read definitionGoogle Merchant Center
Google Merchant Center is the Google platform where retailers upload and manage their product data feed — titles, prices, images, availability — which powers Shopping ads, Performance Max retail campaigns, and free product listings.
Read definitionGoogle Tag Manager (GTM)
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free Google tool for adding and managing tracking tags — such as Google Analytics 4, Google Ads conversions, and the Meta Pixel — from one interface, without changing your website's code for every update.
Read definitionImpression Share
Impression share is the percentage of impressions your ads received out of the total they were eligible to receive — a measure of how much of the available search demand you're capturing.
Read definitionKeyword Match Types
Keyword match types are settings — broad match, phrase match, and exact match — that control how closely a person's search must relate to your keyword for your Google ad to show.
Read definitionLocal Services Ads (LSAs)
Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) are pay-per-lead ads that appear at the very top of search results with a Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge.
Read definitionLocation Targeting (Geotargeting)
Location targeting, or geotargeting, is the setting that controls the geographic areas where your ads can appear — by country, state, city, ZIP code, or a radius around an address.
Read definitionManual CPC Bidding
Manual CPC is a Google Ads bid strategy where you set your own maximum cost-per-click bid for each ad group or keyword, rather than letting Google's AI set bids automatically.
Read definitionMaximize Conversions & Conversion Value
Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value are Google Ads Smart Bidding strategies that automatically set bids to get the most conversions — or the most total conversion value — within your daily budget.
Read definitionNegative Keywords
Negative keywords are words or phrases you add to a Google Ads campaign to prevent your ads from showing on searches that contain them, keeping spend focused on relevant queries.
Read definitionOffline Conversion Import (OCI)
Offline conversion import (OCI) is the process of sending outcomes that happen after the click — qualified leads, closed sales, signed contracts — from your CRM back to Google Ads, matched to the original ad interaction.
Read definitionPerformance Max
Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that uses AI to serve ads across all of Google's channels — Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps — from one campaign.
Read definitionQuality Score
Quality Score is a 1–10 diagnostic rating Google assigns to each keyword, based on expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience compared with other advertisers.
Read definitionResponsive Search Ads (RSAs)
Responsive search ads (RSAs) are the standard Google Search ad format: you provide up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, and Google tests combinations to show the best-performing version for each search.
Read definitionSearch Campaigns
Search campaigns are the Google Ads campaign type that shows text ads on Google search results to people actively searching for keywords related to your business.
Read definitionSearch Terms Report
The search terms report is a Google Ads report that shows the actual searches people typed before your ad appeared and was clicked — as opposed to the keywords you bid on.
Read definitionShopping Campaigns
Shopping campaigns are the Google Ads campaign type that shows product listing ads — with an image, title, price, and store name — powered by a product feed in Google Merchant Center.
Read definitionSmart Bidding
Smart Bidding is Google Ads' family of automated bid strategies that use machine learning to set a bid in each individual auction to maximize conversions or conversion value.
Read definitionSmart Campaigns
Smart campaigns are a simplified Google Ads campaign type built for small businesses, where Google automates targeting, ads, and bidding based on a few business details.
Read definitionTarget CPA (tCPA)
Target CPA (tCPA) is a Google Ads Smart Bidding strategy that sets bids to get as many conversions as possible at or below the average cost per acquisition you specify.
Read definitionTarget ROAS (tROAS)
Target ROAS (tROAS) is a Google Ads Smart Bidding strategy that sets bids to maximize conversion value while aiming for the average return on ad spend you specify.
Read definitionVideo Campaigns (YouTube Ads)
Video campaigns are the Google Ads campaign type that runs video ads on YouTube and Google video partner sites, optimized for awareness, reach, frequency, or views.
Read definitionYouTube Ad Formats
YouTube ad formats are the different ways video ads appear on YouTube: skippable and non-skippable in-stream ads, bumper ads, in-feed video ads, Shorts ads, and the masthead.
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Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram)
All six Meta campaign objectives, Advantage+ automation, Facebook and Instagram ad formats, audiences, measurement, and strategy. 45 terms
Account Consolidation
Account consolidation is a paid-media strategy of running fewer, larger campaigns and ad sets so each gets enough conversion data for the platform's algorithm to optimize effectively.
Read definitionAd Frequency & Creative Fatigue
Ad frequency is the average number of times each person has seen your ad; creative fatigue is the drop in performance that happens when the same audience sees the same creative too many times.
Read definitionAdvantage Campaign Budget (CBO)
Advantage campaign budget, formerly campaign budget optimization (CBO), is a Meta setting where you set one budget at the campaign level and Meta automatically distributes it across ad sets to get the best results.
Read definitionAdvantage+
Advantage+ is Meta's suite of AI-driven automation that handles targeting, placements, creative, and budget across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network.
Read definitionAdvantage+ Audience
Advantage+ audience is a Meta targeting option where the AI finds your audience automatically, using any age, interest, or custom-audience inputs you provide as suggestions rather than hard limits.
Read definitionAdvantage+ Catalog Ads
Advantage+ catalog ads, formerly dynamic ads or dynamic product ads (DPA), automatically show people products from your Meta catalog based on their interests and behavior — including items they viewed on your site.
Read definitionAdvantage+ Creative
Advantage+ creative is a set of Meta AI enhancements that automatically adjust and personalize your ad creative — such as tuning images, expanding them to fit placements, adding music, and testing text variations — for each person who sees it.
Read definitionAdvantage+ Placements
Advantage+ placements, formerly automatic placements, let Meta distribute your ads across all eligible placements — Facebook and Instagram Feeds, Stories, Reels, Messenger, and Audience Network — wherever they're likely to perform best.
Read definitionAdvantage+ Sales Campaigns
Advantage+ sales campaigns, formerly Advantage+ shopping campaigns (ASC), are Meta's most automated campaign type for driving sales, where AI controls the audience, placements, and creative mix from a single campaign.
Read definitionAggregated Event Measurement (AEM)
Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM) is Meta's privacy-preserving protocol for measuring conversions from people on iOS 14.5 and later who have opted out of app tracking.
Read definitionBoosted Posts
A boosted post is an existing organic Facebook or Instagram post that you pay to show to more people, created through a simplified flow rather than the full Meta Ads Manager.
Read definitionBroad Targeting
Broad targeting is a Meta Ads strategy that uses few or no audience restrictions beyond basics like location and age, relying on the delivery algorithm, conversion data, and creative to find the right people.
Read definitionCarousel Ads
Carousel ads are a Meta ad format that displays up to 10 swipeable images or videos in a single ad, each card with its own headline and link.
Read definitionClick-to-Message Ads
Click-to-message ads are Meta ads that open a conversation with your business in Messenger, Instagram Direct, or WhatsApp when tapped, instead of sending people to a website.
Read definitionCollection Ads
Collection ads are a mobile Meta ad format that pairs a cover image or video with several product images below it; tapping opens a full-screen, fast-loading Instant Experience.
Read definitionConversions API (CAPI)
The Conversions API (CAPI) is Meta's server-side connection that sends conversion events — website actions, offline sales, CRM outcomes — directly from your server or platform to Meta, without relying on the browser.
Read definitionCreative Testing (Meta Ads)
Creative testing is the structured, ongoing process of launching new ad concepts, hooks, and formats on Meta and measuring which ones drive the best results — the main performance lever in automated accounts.
Read definitionCustom Audiences
Custom Audiences are Meta audiences made up of people who already have a connection to your business — website visitors, customers from your lists, app users, and people who engaged with your content.
Read definitionEvent Match Quality (EMQ)
Event Match Quality (EMQ) is a 0–10 score in Meta Events Manager that rates how effectively the customer information sent with your conversion events can be matched to Meta accounts.
Read definitionFacebook Ads
Facebook ads are paid advertisements that appear on Facebook — in the Feed, Stories, Reels, Marketplace, video, and search results — created through Meta Ads Manager and usually running alongside Instagram ads.
Read definitionHook Rate (Thumb-Stop Ratio)
Hook rate, also called thumb-stop ratio, is a creative metric that measures the percentage of impressions where someone watched at least the first three seconds of a video ad — how well the opening stops the scroll.
Read definitionInstagram Ads
Instagram ads are paid ads that appear across Instagram — in the Feed, Stories, Reels, Explore, profile feeds, and search results — created and managed through Meta Ads Manager alongside Facebook ads.
Read definitionInstant Forms (Lead Ads)
Instant Forms are Meta's native lead forms: when someone taps a lead ad, a pre-filled form opens inside Facebook or Instagram so they can submit their contact details without visiting a website.
Read definitionLift Studies (Conversion & Brand Lift)
A lift study is a controlled experiment that measures the incremental impact of advertising by comparing a group that can see your ads with a similar holdout group that can't — for conversions (conversion lift) or brand perception (brand lift).
Read definitionLookalike Audiences
Lookalike audiences are Meta audiences of new people who share characteristics with a source audience you provide — such as your best customers — used to prospect efficiently.
Read definitionMeta A/B Testing
Meta A/B testing is a built-in experiment tool that divides your audience into random, non-overlapping groups to compare versions of a campaign — such as different creative, audiences, or placements — and report a winner with a confidence level.
Read definitionMeta Ad Library
The Meta Ad Library is a free, public, searchable database of ads currently running across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network, including an archive of social-issue, election, and political ads.
Read definitionMeta Ads Manager
Meta Ads Manager is Meta's main tool for creating, managing, and analyzing ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Audience Network, organized into campaigns, ad sets, and ads.
Read definitionMeta App Promotion Campaigns
App promotion campaigns are the Meta Ads objective for getting people to install a mobile app or take specific actions within it, such as purchases or subscriptions.
Read definitionMeta Attribution Setting
The attribution setting in Meta Ads defines the window of time after someone clicks or views your ad during which a conversion is credited to that ad — by default, 7-day click and 1-day view.
Read definitionMeta Audience Network
Meta Audience Network is a placement that extends Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns to thousands of third-party mobile apps, using the same targeting and measurement.
Read definitionMeta Awareness Campaigns
Awareness campaigns are the Meta Ads objective designed to show your ads to as many relevant people as possible and maximize how many remember them, optimizing for reach, impressions, ad recall lift, or video views.
Read definitionMeta Bid Strategies
Meta bid strategies determine how Meta bids in the ad auction on your behalf: highest volume (formerly lowest cost), cost per result goal (cost cap), ROAS goal (minimum ROAS), or bid cap.
Read definitionMeta Campaign Objectives
Meta campaign objectives are the six goals you choose when creating a Facebook or Instagram campaign — Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App promotion, and Sales — which determine how Meta optimizes delivery.
Read definitionMeta Engagement Campaigns
Engagement campaigns are the Meta Ads objective that optimizes for interactions — messages, video views, post engagement, follows, event responses, or calls — rather than website conversions.
Read definitionMeta Leads Campaigns
Leads campaigns are the Meta Ads objective for collecting contact information from potential customers — through Instant Forms, your website, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, or phone calls.
Read definitionMeta Pixel
The Meta Pixel, formerly the Facebook Pixel, is a piece of code on your website that tracks visitor actions — page views, leads, purchases — and sends them to Meta for ad measurement, optimization, and audience building.
Read definitionMeta Sales Campaigns
Sales campaigns are the Meta Ads objective for driving purchases or other high-value conversions on your website, in your app, by phone, or in messaging, optimized using your Pixel and Conversions API data.
Read definitionMeta Traffic Campaigns
Traffic campaigns are the Meta Ads objective that drives people to a destination — a website, app, Messenger, WhatsApp, or phone call — optimizing for link clicks or landing page views.
Read definitionPartnership Ads
Partnership ads, formerly branded content ads, are Meta ads that run with both a brand's and a creator's (or partner's) names and handles, using the creator's content and credibility.
Read definitionReach and Frequency Buying
Reach and frequency buying is a Meta reservation buying type that lets advertisers plan and book campaigns in advance with predictable reach, controlled frequency, and a fixed price, rather than bidding in the auction.
Read definitionReels Ads
Reels ads are full-screen, vertical (9:16) video ads that appear between organic Reels on Instagram and Facebook, built for short-form, sound-on viewing.
Read definitionSpecial Ad Categories
Special Ad Categories are Meta ad classifications — financial products and services, employment, housing, and social issues, elections or politics — that must be declared and come with targeting restrictions and extra rules.
Read definitionStories Ads
Stories ads are full-screen vertical (9:16) image or video ads that appear between people's Stories on Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.
Read definitionUGC Ads (User-Generated Content Ads)
UGC ads are advertisements built from user-generated content — authentic, often smartphone-shot videos and photos from customers or creators — rather than polished, studio-produced brand creative.
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