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PPC & Google Ads Glossary

PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, means you pay only when someone clicks your ad. This glossary explains more than 95 PPC and Google Ads terms from A to Z in plain language, each tagged Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced, from quality score and ROAS to Performance Max.

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PPC and Google Ads terms from A to Z

ATerms starting with A

Account Structure
How campaigns, ad groups and keywords are organized in a Google Ads account. A clear structure improves relevance and Quality Score.
Ad Copy
The written text of an ad, including headlines and descriptions, written to earn clicks and match search intent.
Ad Extension (Asset)
Extra information, such as sitelinks, call buttons or prices, attached to an ad to improve visibility and click-through rate. Google Ads now calls these assets.
Ad Group
A set of closely related keywords and ads within a campaign, built around one theme.
Ad Rank
The value Google calculates in each auction to decide whether and where an ad shows. It draws on your bid, ad and landing page quality, the expected impact of assets, and the search context.
Ad Scheduling (Dayparting)
Choosing the days and hours when ads may run, to focus spend on high-converting periods.
AI Max for Search
A set of AI-powered options for Search campaigns that can reach relevant searches beyond your keywords and tailor ad text and landing pages to each search.
Audience Targeting
Showing ads to people based on demographics, interests or past behavior, not only keywords.
Automated Bidding
Bid strategies where Google’s algorithms set bids automatically to hit a goal, such as Target CPA or Maximize Conversions.
Average CPC
The average amount actually paid per click, calculated as total cost divided by total clicks.

BTerms starting with B

Bid Adjustment
A percentage increase or decrease applied to bids based on device, location, time or audience.
Bidding Strategy
The method used to set bids in the ad auction, from manual control to fully automated, goal-based bidding.
Brand Bidding
Bidding on your own or a competitor’s brand name as a keyword, often to protect visibility or capture comparison searches.
Broad Match
A keyword match type that shows ads for searches related to a keyword’s meaning. It gives the widest reach and the least control, and works best with Smart Bidding.
Budget Pacing
How evenly a campaign’s daily budget is spent through the day, which affects how consistently ads show.

CTerms starting with C

Call-Only Ads
An ad format designed to drive phone calls directly, showing a phone number instead of a link to a website.
Campaign
The top-level structure in Google Ads that holds one or more ad groups, defined by a shared budget, goal and targeting settings.
Click Share
The percentage of the total available clicks in the auction that your ads actually received.
Consent Mode
A Google feature that adjusts how tags behave based on the choices visitors make in a cookie consent banner, helping keep measurement privacy-compliant.
Conversion Action
A specific action, such as a purchase, form fill or call, defined in Google Ads as valuable and used to measure and optimize performance.
Conversion Tracking
The system that records when a click leads to a valuable action. It is essential for measuring and optimizing campaign return.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
The average amount spent to generate one conversion, such as a sale or a lead.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
The amount an advertiser pays each time someone clicks an ad. It is set by the auction, and is often lower than your maximum bid.
Cost Per Mille (CPM)
The cost per 1,000 ad impressions, used mainly for awareness-focused Display and Video campaigns.
Custom Intent Audience (Custom Segment)
An audience built from people who are actively researching topics related to keywords or URLs you define.
Customer Match
A targeting feature that lets advertisers upload their own customer data, such as email lists, to reach or exclude those people.

DTerms starting with D

Daily Budget
The average amount an advertiser is willing to spend on a campaign each day.
Demand Gen
A Google Ads campaign type for creating demand with visual, video and image ads across YouTube, Discover, Gmail and other Google surfaces.
Demographic Targeting
Showing ads based on characteristics such as age, gender, household income or parental status.
Device Bid Adjustment
A setting that raises or lowers bids depending on whether someone is on desktop, mobile or tablet.
Display Network
Google’s network of millions of websites, apps and videos where image and banner ads can appear.
Dynamic Search Ads (DSA)
An ad format that generates headlines and landing pages automatically from a website’s content, targeting relevant searches without manual keywords.

ETerms starting with E

Enhanced CPC
A semi-automated bidding option that adjusts manual bids up or down based on the likelihood of a conversion. Google has been phasing it out for Search and Display campaigns.
Enhanced Conversions
A feature that sends hashed first-party customer data, such as an email address, to Google to improve the accuracy of conversion measurement.
Exact Match
A keyword match type that shows ads only for searches with the same meaning or intent as the keyword.
Expanded Text Ad
A legacy text ad format with several headline and description fields. Google no longer lets advertisers create or edit them, and Responsive Search Ads replaced them.
Experiments (Drafts and Experiments)
A Google Ads feature that lets advertisers test campaign changes against a live control group before rolling them out fully.

FTerms starting with F

Feed (Shopping Feed)
A structured file of product data, such as price, availability and images, submitted to Google Merchant Center to power Shopping ads.
Frequency Cap
A limit on how many times one person can be shown the same ad in a given period.

GTerms starting with G

Geo-Targeting
Showing ads to people based on their physical location, from whole countries down to a specific radius.
Google Ads Editor
A free desktop application for making bulk changes to campaigns offline before uploading them.
Google Merchant Center
The platform where retailers upload their product feed so it is eligible for Shopping ads and free listings.
Google Tag Manager
A free tool for managing tracking tags and pixels on a website without editing code directly.

HTerms starting with H

Headline (RSA Headline)
One of several short text options submitted for a Responsive Search Ad, which Google mixes and tests automatically.
Household Income Targeting
A demographic option that shows ads based on the estimated income bracket of a person’s household.

ITerms starting with I

Impression Share
The percentage of impressions your ads received out of the total they were eligible to receive.
In-Market Audience
A pre-built Google audience of people who are actively researching or comparing products and services in a category.
Invalid Clicks
Clicks Google identifies as fraudulent or accidental. They are filtered out and not billed.
IP Exclusion
Blocking specific IP addresses, such as your own office, from seeing or clicking your ads.

JTerms starting with J

JSON Feed (Product Feed Format)
A structured data format sometimes used to submit or manage product feed information for Shopping campaigns.

KTerms starting with K

Keyword Insertion
A dynamic feature that automatically inserts the searcher’s matched keyword into an ad’s headline or description.
Keyword Match Type
The setting, broad, phrase or exact, that controls how closely a search must match a keyword to trigger an ad.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A specific, measurable metric, such as CPA or ROAS, used to judge whether a campaign is meeting its goals.

LTerms starting with L

Landing Page Experience
One of the three components of Quality Score. It measures how relevant, useful and easy to navigate a landing page is.
Lead Form Extension
An ad asset that lets people submit their contact details inside the ad, without visiting a website.
Life Event Targeting
An audience option that reaches people around major milestones, such as moving home or getting married.
Location Extension
An ad asset that shows a business’s address, useful for driving visits to a physical location.

MTerms starting with M

Manual CPC
A bidding strategy where the advertiser sets bids for keywords or ad groups themselves, rather than letting an algorithm decide.
Maximize Conversion Value
An automated bidding strategy that aims for the highest total conversion value, rather than the highest number of conversions.
Maximize Conversions
An automated bidding strategy that sets bids to get the most conversions possible within your budget.
Merchant Center
See Google Merchant Center.
Multi-Channel Funnels
A reporting view that shows all the touchpoints and channels that contributed to a conversion, not just the last click.

NTerms starting with N

N-gram Analysis
Breaking search term reports into recurring word combinations to spot patterns for new keywords or negatives.
Negative Keyword
A search term you exclude from a campaign so your ads do not show for irrelevant queries.
Network (Search and Display)
The surfaces where ads can appear: the Search Network, which covers Google search results, or the Display Network, which covers websites and apps.

OTerms starting with O

Optimization Score
A percentage in Google Ads that estimates how well a campaign is set up to perform, with suggested improvements. Treat the suggestions as ideas, not orders.
Organic vs. Paid
The difference between unpaid search results (organic) and results that appear because of a paid ad.
Outstream Ads
Video ads that play on partner websites and apps outside YouTube, usually muted until a user interacts.

PTerms starting with P

Performance Max
A goal-based campaign type that uses automation to show ads across all of Google’s channels, including Search, Display, YouTube and Shopping, from a single campaign.
Phrase Match
A keyword match type that shows ads for searches that include the meaning of your keyword phrase, in a similar order.
Pixel (Conversion Tracking Pixel)
A small snippet of code on a website that reports back to an ad platform when a visitor completes a tracked action.
Placement Targeting
Choosing the websites, apps or videos on the Display or YouTube networks where your ads should, or should not, appear.
Price Extension
An ad asset that shows a scrollable list of products or services with their prices inside the ad.
Product Listing Ad (PLA)
See Shopping Campaign.

QTerms starting with Q

Query (Search Term)
The exact word or phrase someone typed into Google before an ad was shown, visible in the search terms report.
Quality Score
Google’s diagnostic rating from 1 to 10 of the quality of a keyword, its ads and its landing page. Improving its components tends to lower costs and raise ad position.

RTerms starting with R

Reach and Frequency
A planning tool for video and Display campaigns that predicts how many people ads will reach and how often.
Remarketing List
A saved audience of people who previously visited a website or app, used to show ads specifically to them.
Responsive Search Ad (RSA)
An ad format where you submit several headlines and descriptions, and Google tests combinations automatically to find the best performers.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
The revenue generated for every unit of currency spent on advertising, calculated as conversion value divided by cost. It is a core measure of profitability.

STerms starting with S

Search Term Report
A report of the actual queries that triggered your ads, used to find new keywords and negative keyword opportunities.
Shopping Campaign
A campaign type that shows product images, prices and store names directly in search results, powered by a product feed.
Sitelink Extension
An ad asset that adds extra clickable links under an ad, sending people to specific pages such as Pricing or Contact.
Smart Bidding
A group of automated bidding strategies that use machine learning to optimize for conversions or conversion value in real time.
Smart Campaign
A simplified, largely automated campaign type for small businesses that need minimal setup and ongoing management.
Split Testing (A/B Testing)
Running two or more versions of an ad, landing page or bidding strategy to compare performance and find the winner.

TTerms starting with T

Target CPA
An automated bidding strategy that sets bids to get as many conversions as possible at or below a target cost per acquisition.
Target ROAS
An automated bidding strategy that sets bids to reach a target return on ad spend across a campaign.
Targeting Method
Any setting that defines who sees an ad, including keywords, audiences, demographics and placements.
Third-Party Cookie
A tracking file set by a domain other than the one a person is visiting, long used for ad targeting. Safari and Firefox block them by default, so privacy-safe measurement matters.
Top of Page Bid
An estimate of the bid needed for an ad to show at the top of the first page of results for a keyword.

UTerms starting with U

UAC (Universal App Campaign)
The former name of App campaigns, which promote an app across Search, Display, YouTube and Google Play using automated targeting and creative.
URL Parameter
Extra text added to a landing page URL to pass tracking information, such as which ad or keyword drove the click.
User List
See Remarketing List.

VTerms starting with V

Video Action Campaign
A former YouTube campaign type built to drive conversions. Google has been moving these campaigns into Demand Gen.
View-Through Conversion
A conversion counted when someone sees an ad without clicking, then converts later. It is typically tracked for Display and Video.
Viewable CPM (vCPM)
A bidding option where you pay per 1,000 viewable impressions, rather than for every impression served.

WTerms starting with W

Website Call Conversions
A conversion tracked when someone calls a phone number on a website after clicking through from an ad.

XTerms starting with X

XML Feed
A structured product or content feed format, sometimes used alongside or instead of standard CSV feeds for Shopping campaigns.

YTerms starting with Y

Year-over-Year (YoY) Performance
Comparing a campaign’s metrics with the same period a year earlier, to account for seasonality in reporting.

ZTerms starting with Z

Zip Code Targeting
A geo-targeting method that shows ads only to people within specific postal code areas.

What is PPC, and how do you use this glossary?

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is a model where you pay an ad platform only when someone clicks your ad. Google Ads is the most widely used PPC platform. Ads compete in an auction, and your bid, ad quality and landing page decide whether and where your ad appears.

Start with the Beginner terms, such as campaign, ad group, keyword match type, CPC and Quality Score. Move to Intermediate terms as you manage live campaigns, and use the Advanced terms for automation, measurement and privacy.

Search by term or filter by level above. Related terms link to each other, so you can follow an idea from one concept to the next.

Core PPC formulas

  • CTRClicks ÷ impressions
  • CPCTotal cost ÷ clicks
  • Conversion rateConversions ÷ clicks
  • CPATotal cost ÷ conversions
  • ROASConversion value ÷ total cost

What are the main Google Ads campaign types?

Each campaign type shows ads in different places and suits a different goal. Most accounts combine several.

Available types and options change over time, so check Google Ads for what is offered to your account.
Campaign typeWhere ads appearBest for
SearchGoogle search results, as text adsCapturing people already looking for what you sell
ShoppingSearch results and the Shopping tab, with product images and pricesOnline stores with a product feed
DisplayWebsites, apps and videos across the Display NetworkAwareness and remarketing
VideoYouTube and partner sitesBrand awareness and consideration
Performance MaxAll Google channels from one campaignConversion goals with a strong feed or creative
Demand GenYouTube, Discover, Gmail and more, with visual formatsCreating demand before people search
AppSearch, Google Play, YouTube and partner appsApp installs and in-app actions
SmartSearch and Display, largely automatedSmall businesses that want minimal setup

PPC and Google Ads questions, answered

Quick answers to the most searched PPC basics.

What is PPC?

PPC stands for pay-per-click. It is an advertising model in which you pay the platform only when someone clicks your ad. Search ads on Google are the best-known form, and the same model is used on Bing, YouTube and social platforms.

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is Google’s advertising platform. It lets businesses show ads on Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, the Display Network and other Google surfaces, and pay for results such as clicks or conversions.

How does Google Ads pricing work?

You set a budget and bids, and ads compete in an auction. You pay when someone clicks, and the actual cost per click is decided by the auction, so it is often lower than your maximum bid. Competition, ad quality and your goals all affect cost.

What is the difference between PPC and SEO?

PPC buys visibility that stops when your budget stops. SEO earns organic visibility that keeps working but takes longer to build. Many businesses use PPC for fast results while SEO grows, then balance both.

What is Quality Score?

Quality Score is Google’s diagnostic rating from 1 to 10 of a keyword’s expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Improving those parts tends to lower your costs and improve your ad position.

What is ROAS and how is it calculated?

ROAS, or return on ad spend, is the revenue earned for every unit of currency spent on ads. Divide conversion value by ad cost. For example, 5,000 in sales from 1,000 in spend is a ROAS of 5, or 500%.

What are keyword match types?

Match types control how closely a search must match your keyword. Broad match reaches related searches, phrase match includes the meaning of your phrase, and exact match targets the same meaning or intent. Narrower types give more control, broader types give more reach.

What is Performance Max?

Performance Max is a goal-based Google Ads campaign type that runs ads across all of Google’s channels from one campaign. You provide assets, goals and audience signals, and Google’s automation decides where and how to show them.

What are negative keywords?

Negative keywords are search terms you exclude so your ads do not show for irrelevant queries. Reviewing the search terms report and adding negatives regularly is one of the simplest ways to cut wasted spend.

Is this PPC glossary free?

Yes. It is completely free to read, with no sign-up. You can search it, filter it by level and jump to any letter.

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