Glossary

Short definitions of the terms used in this course. In the lessons, hover over or tap a dotted-underlined term to see its definition without leaving the page.

At a glance

Hover over or tap a dotted-underlined term in any lesson to see its short definition. Terms people mix up most: Presence vs Presence or interest, Smart Bidding vs Manual CPC, conversion vs qualified lead.

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Ad group A set of closely related keywords that share the same ads and landing page. Keep each ad group to one theme. Ad Rank The score Google uses to order ads in each auction. It combines your bid, ad quality, expected impact of assets and the context of the search. AI Max for Search An optional setting on Search campaigns that expands matching beyond your keywords, rewrites ad text and can pick landing pages. Treat it as an experiment once you have reliable conversion data. Asset Extra pieces Google can show with your ad: sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, images and more. Formerly called extensions. Attribution model The rule for dividing credit for a conversion across the clicks and touches that led to it. Google Ads now offers data-driven and last click. Auction The instant contest that runs on every search. Google picks which eligible ads show and in what order based on Ad Rank. Bid adjustment A percentage increase or decrease applied to bids for a location, device, schedule or audience. Most are ignored by Smart Bidding; device -100% still works. Broad match The loosest keyword match type. Your ad can show for searches related to the meaning of the keyword, including ones that share no words with it. CMP Consent management platform: the cookie banner tool that records a visitor’s consent choices and passes them to tags, including Google Consent Mode. Consent Mode v2 Google’s way for tags to adjust behaviour based on consent. It uses four signals (ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization) and is required for EEA, UK and Swiss traffic. Conversion An action you count as valuable, such as a trial sign-up, demo request or a CRM stage like “qualified lead”. Conversion rate Conversions divided by clicks (or interactions). Use it with deal value to work out what a click is worth. Conversion value rules Rules that raise or lower the value of conversions by location, device or audience, so value-based bidding pays more where conversions are worth more. CPA Cost per acquisition: spend divided by conversions. Target CPA is the bid strategy that aims for an average cost per conversion. CPC Cost per click: what you pay when someone clicks. You never pay more than your max CPC, and usually less. CTR Click-through rate: clicks divided by impressions. A quick read on how relevant your ad is to the search. Demand Gen A campaign type that runs on YouTube, Discover, Gmail and the Display Network. It replaced Video action campaigns and is how most YouTube conversion campaigns run now. Display Network Millions of websites and apps that show Google ads. Search campaigns can opt in; for B2B lead gen you usually turn it off. Enhanced conversions Sends hashed first-party data (such as email) with a conversion so Google can match it to a signed-in user. Enhanced conversions for leads lets you later upload CRM outcomes matched on that data. Exact match The tightest match type. Your ad shows for searches with the same meaning or intent as the keyword. GA4 Google Analytics 4, Google’s free analytics product. It records visits and events and can share conversions with Google Ads. GCLID Google Click ID: a unique value Google adds to your landing page URL on each ad click. Save it with the lead so you can send CRM outcomes back later. Geo bid calculator The tool in the Geographic targeting lesson that turns per-region cost, clicks, conversions and deal value into value per click and bid suggestions. Google tag The single tag (gtag.js) that sends data to Google Ads and GA4. You add it once to every page of the site. Impression share The share of eligible impressions you actually got. Lost impression share tells you whether budget or rank is holding you back. Invalid traffic Clicks Google judges not to be from genuine interested users, such as bots or accidental and repeated clicks. Google filters and credits much of it automatically. Keyword A word or phrase you bid on. Google matches it to searches according to its match type. Location targeting The countries, regions or cities where your ads can show, plus the setting that decides whether “being there” or “being interested in there” counts. Manual CPC A bid strategy where you set maximum CPC bids yourself. Location, device and schedule bid adjustments work with it. Match type The setting that controls how closely a search must relate to your keyword: broad, phrase or exact. Maximize conversions A Smart Bidding strategy that tries to get the most conversions for your budget. Add a target CPA once you have steady data. MQL / SQL Marketing-qualified lead and sales-qualified lead: CRM stages that say a lead fits your criteria (MQL) and sales has accepted it as a real opportunity (SQL). Negative keyword A word or phrase that stops your ad showing for searches containing it. Your main tool against wasted spend. Offline conversion import Uploading outcomes that happen after the click, such as SQLs or closed deals from your CRM, back into Google Ads so bidding can learn from them. Performance Max A campaign type that runs across Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps from one set of assets, with Google deciding where to spend. Phrase match A middle match type. Your ad shows for searches that include the meaning of the keyword, possibly with extra words before or after. Pipeline The value of open sales opportunities. In B2B ads it is the outcome that matters more than form fills. Presence Location option that shows ads only to people who are, or regularly are, in your targeted locations. Use this for B2B software. Presence or interest The default location option. It also shows ads to people outside your targeted locations who seem interested in them, which leaks spend to countries you never chose. Quality Score A 1 to 10 diagnostic for each keyword based on expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience. It hints at problems; it is not a goal in itself. Responsive search ad The standard Search ad format. You give up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions and Google tests combinations. ROAS Return on ad spend: conversion value divided by cost. Target ROAS bidding aims for that ratio. Search Partners Non-Google sites that show Search ads, such as other search engines and site search boxes. Quality varies; start with it off. Search terms report The list of real searches that triggered your ads. Read it weekly to find negatives and new keywords. Smart Bidding Google’s automated bid strategies that set a bid for every auction to hit a conversion or value goal: Maximize conversions, Target CPA, Maximize conversion value, Target ROAS. UTM parameters Tags added to a URL (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign and so on) so analytics and your CRM know where a visit came from. Value per click What a click is worth on average: conversion rate × value per conversion. Compare it with CPC to decide where to bid more.