The number of paid search terms can be overwhelming for newcomers and, in an industry which is constantly changing and developing, can even escape from experienced professionals. This list of relevant terms, with easy to understand definitions, aims to make learning, or re-learning, the latest language of paid search that little bit easier.
Above the Fold: The viewable space on a webpage when it first loads.
Absolute Top Impression Share: Impressions you received in the absolute top location on the search results page divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive in the absolute top location. Eligibility here is based on your current ads targeting settings, approval statuses, bids and quality.
Ad Copy: This refers to the text within an ad.
Ad Extensions: A feature that shows extra business information with your ad, like an address, phone number, shop rating or more web page links.
Ad Group: A set of keywords, ads, bids, placements and targeting methods. Each AdWords campaign is made up of one or more ad groups.
Ad Rank: A value used to determine your ad position and whether your ads will show at all.
Ad Scheduling/Dayparting: A setting that allows you to control and specify which hours and days you want your ads to appear, targeting periods of time when you expect your ads to be more successful. It also allows you to adjust bids during specific time periods.
Ad Type/Format: Various types of ads that can be created to promote your products and services. These include expanded text ads (ETAs), responsive search ads (RSAs), image ads, app promotion ads, video ads and shopping ads.
Adwords: An online advertising platform developed by Google.
Affinity Audience: A group of people who visit similar websites and who have similar search/online behaviour.
Analytics: A web analytics service offered by Google that tracks are reports website traffic.
Assisted Conversions: Google’s measure of any other interaction, other than the final click, that led to a consumer converting on a website.
Attribution Window: The number of days after a click during which a conversion will be recorded.
Automatic Placements: The webpages, videos and apps on the Display Network where you ads will show automatically based on the targeting methods, such as keywords or topics, that you’ve selected.
Average Session Duration: The average length of a session.
Bid: The most you are willing to pay for a click on your ad.
Bid Strategy: A way of bidding that can be selected based on what network your campaign is targeting, and whether you want to focus on getting clicks, impressions, conversions or views.
Bounce Rate: The percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page without triggering any other requests to the analytics server during that session.
Broad Match: A keyword match type that displays your ad when a search term contains your keyword terms in any order, and possibly along with other terms. Your ads can also show for singular or plural forms, synonyms, misspellings, related searches, and other relevant variations.
Broad Match Modifier (BMM): A keyword match type that displays your ad when a search term contains close variants of your keywords in any order. Close variants include misspellings, singular/plural forms, abbreviations, and acronyms. Unlike Broad Match, it excludes synonyms or related searches.
Call Extension: An ad extension that shows your phone number with your ads. When searching on a mobile, users can click the extension to call your business directly.
Callout: An ad extension that allows you to add additional text so that you can show more detailed information about your business, products, and services.
Campaign: An AdWords campaign contains multiple ad groups which contain their own set of keywords.
Campaign Goals: What you want your campaign to achieve for your business. Goals include sales, lead generation, website traffic, product and brand consideration, brand awareness and reach and app promotion.
Clicks: Indicates the number of times a user clicks on your ad.
Conversion Path: The sequence of interactions (i.e., clicks/referrals from channels) that led to each conversion and transaction.
Conversion Value: Monetary Value assigned to a conversion.
Conversion/Acquisition: When someone clicks on your ad and completes a desired action on your website, such as a purchase or sign up.
Custom Affinity Audience: An affinity audience that is more refined and narrow. An affinity audience that is more refined and narrow.
Demographic Targeting : A setting that allows you to only show your ads to, or adjust bids for, users of a particular age range, gender, parental status or household income.
Display Network : A group of more than 2 million websites, videos and apps where your ads can appear.
Enhanced CPC : A bid strategy type that focusses on getting conversions and that works by automatically adjusting your manual bids for clicks that seem more or less likely to lead to a sale or conversion on your website.
Exact Match : A keyword match type that only displays ads when the keyword matches the search term exactly.
Frequency Capping : A feature that limits the number of times your ads appear to the same person.
Goal Value : Monetary value assigned to a goal.
Goals : Specific user interactions on your site e.g form submissions or button clicks.
Impression Share : Impressions you received on the Search Network divided by the number of impressions you were eligible to receive. Eligibility here is based on your current ads targeting settings, approval statuses, bids and quality.
Impressions : Each time your ad appears on Google or the Google Network, it’s counted as one impression.
In-Market Audience : People who are actively searching/researching for particular products.
Keyword : Words or phrases relevant to your business offering which you want your ads to appear for in the search results.
Keyword Match Type : Refers to the different ways of matching search terms to the keywords associated with your ads. The different match types are Broad Match, Broad Match Modifier, Phase Match, Exact Match.
Landing Page : The webpage that people are taken to after clicking on your ad.
Leads : Actions carried out by users intending to result in a conversion e.g email submissions, newsletter sign-ups and request forms filled.
Location Extension : An ad extension which shows your address, a map to your location or the distance to your business. People can click on the extension to get further details on the location page of your website.
Location/Geo/Geographic Targeting : A setting that allows you to only show your ads to, or adjust bids for, users within a certain geographical location range.
Long Tail keyword : Phrases containing three or more words which are very specific to your business offering.
Managed Placements : A targeting method you can use to specifically choose websites, videos and apps that are part of Googles Display Network, on which you’d like to show your ads.
Manual CPC : A bid strategy type that focusses on getting clicks and allows you to set a maximum price on the cost of someone clicking on your ad.
Maximise Clicks : A bid strategy type that focusses on getting clicks. It is an automated strategy that sets your bids to help get as many clicks as possible within your daily budget. You are not able to set CPCs but you can set a maximum CPC for a campaign.
Maximise Conversions : A bid strategy type that focusses on getting conversions and automatically sets bids to help get the most conversions for your campaign while spending your budget.
Message Extension : An ad extension that allows users on mobile devices to send you a text message right from your ad.
Metrics : Values used to measure and track performance of marketing campaigns.
Negative Keyword : A type of keyword that prevents your ad from being triggered by a certain word or phrase. Your ads aren’t shown to anyone who is searching for that phrase. This is also known as a negative match.
Negative Placements/Placement Exclusions : Specific pages, sites and videos you can exclude your ads from showing on.
Pages Per Session : The average number of pages viewed during a session. Repeated views of a single page are counted.
Paid Media : Refers to external marketing efforts that involve a paid placement. Paid media includes PPC/Paid Search, GDN and Paid Social/Social Media Marketing.
Phrase Match : A keyword match type that displays your ads when someone’s search includes the exact phrase of your keyword or close variations of the exact phrase of your keyword, with additional words before or after.
PPC/Paid Search : A form of digital marketing where search engines such as Google and Bing allow advertisers to show ads on their search engine results pages (SERP).
Price Extension : An ad extension that shows up as 8 cards showing different options and prices. Each listing has its own link so people can tap straight from your extension to what they want on your website.
Remarketing : Serving targeted ads to people who have already visited or taken an action on your website.
Remarketing List : A list of users who have visited your site and met certain rules and conditions you’ve set up.
Remarketing Tag : A block of code added to a website which adds website visitors to remarketing lists.
Search Network : Google’s search engine or Google search partner sites where your text ads can appear, most commonly above and below the search results.
Search Partners : Sites in the search network, such as YouTube, that partner with Google to show ads.
Search Query/Term : A word or phrase entered by a user into a web search engine.
Search Volume : The number of searches that are expected for a keyword within a certain period.
Seller Rating Extension : An ad extension that shows your seller rating. Google gathers seller ratings from reputable sources that aggregate business reviews.
Session : A group of interactions one user takes on your website within a given time frame. Google Analytics defaults this time frame to 30 minutes.
Short Tail Keyword : Phrases containing up to three words which are not highly specific to our business offering.
Similar Audience : A group of people who have similar search behaviour to your existing remarketing list members.
Site Link : An ad extension that allows you to add more links to your ads that take people to specific pages on your site.
Structured Snippet : An ad extension that allows you to highlight specific aspects of your products and services. It shows beneath your text ad in the form of a header and a list of values.
Target CPA : A bid strategy type that focusses on getting as many conversions as possible at, or below, a set cost per acquisition. Bids are automatically adjusted based on how likely a user is to convert.
Target Impression Share : A bid strategy type that focusses on getting impressions and driving brand awareness. Bids are automatically set to help achieve your impression share goal.
Target ROAS : A bid strategy type that focussed on getting conversions and sets bids to help you achieve a target return on ad spend when you value conversions differently.
Top Impression Share : Impressions you received in the top location on the search result page divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive in the top location. Top location is anywhere the ads appear above the organic search results. Eligibility here is based on your current ads targeting settings, approval statuses, bids and quality.
Traffic : Refers to web users who visit a website and is measured in visits, also known as sessions.
Transaction : A conversion that is an e-commerce purchase.
View Through Conversions : Conversions that are recorded when users view (but don’t interact with) an ad and then convert later. These conversions are counted based on a period of time called a view-through conversion window.
