Google Ads Glossary
Posted By: Mean Joe Advertising Categories: , , Posted: May 19, 2020

Google Ads Glossary

This is a guide for common words used within Google Ads/PPC

Click each term to get the definition

Ad Group -

An ad group contains one or more ads that share similar targets.

  • Each of your campaigns is made up of one or more ad groups.
  • Use ad groups to organize your ads by a common theme. For example, try separating ad groups into the different product or service types you offer. 

Average Daily Budget - 

An amount that you set for each ad campaign to specify how much, on average, you'd like to spend each day.

  • You set an average daily budget for each Google Ads campaign. On the days when your ad is more popular, Google Ads will allow up to twice your average daily budget so you won't miss out on those valuable clicks.
  • But, don't worry, over the course of a month, you won’t be charged more than your average daily budget times the average number of days in a month (30.4). For campaigns that are paused in the middle of the month or that otherwise don't run for the full month, you may see discrepancies between your average daily budgets and your total charges.

Campaign - 

A set of ad groups (ads, keywords, and bids) that share a budget, location targeting, and other settings. Campaigns are often used to organize categories of products or services that you offer.

  • Your Google Ads account can have one or many ad campaigns running.
  • Each campaign consists of one or more ad groups.
  • Settings that you can set at the campaign level include budget, language, location, distribution for the Google Network, and more.
  • You can create separate ad campaigns to run ads in different locations or using different budgets.

Click - 

When someone clicks your ad, like on the blue headline of a text ad, Google Ads counts that as a click.

  • A click is counted even if the person doesn't reach your website, maybe because it's temporarily unavailable. As a result, you might see a difference between the number of clicks on your ad and the number of visits to your website.
  • Clicks can help you understand how well your ad is appealing to people who see it. Relevant, highly-targeted ads are more likely to receive clicks.
  • In your account statistics, you'll see the click-through rate (CTR), which tells you how many people who’ve seen your ad end up clicking on it. This metric can help you gauge how enticing your ad is and how closely it matches your keywords and other targeting settings.
  • Note that a good CTR is relative to what you're advertising and on which networks. To help increase your clicks and CTR, start by creating great ad text and strong keywords to make ads that are highly relevant and very compelling to your customers.

Dashboard - 

A visual and customizable summary of your account’s performance data.

  • Dashboards are created by inserting scorecards, charts, tables, or notes on your performance data, into a customizable grid. You can place these cards on any square in the grid.
    • Scorecards: Show you the performance of key metrics.
    • Charts and tables: Let you insert visual data reports created in the Report Editor.
    • Notes: Give people you're collaborating with more context on your dashboard.

Default Values - 

Default values in ad customizers allow you to provide an alternative value for each piece of customized text in your ads. So even if you are not using a data feed, your ads will always show.

Destination URL - 

The URL address of the page in your website that people reach when they click your ad.

  • The domain of the destination URL needs to match the domain of your display URL.
  • The destination URL isn’t displayed on your ads (the URL shown is your display URL).

Display URL - 

The webpage address that appears with your ad, typically shown in green text.

Display URLs give people an idea of where they'll arrive after they click an ad. The landing page that you define with a final URL tends to be more specific. For example, if your display URL is www.example.com, your final URL might be example.com/sweaters.

Final URL - 

The URL address of the page in your website that people reach when they click your ad.

Google Account - 

A Google-wide username and password that can be used to access various products, including Google Ads.

  • Your Google Account also contains information that applies across products, such as your preferred language and some privacy settings.
  • If you created a Google Ads account or have signed in to access any Google product, then you've created a Google Account.

Google Ads - 

Google Ads is Google's online advertising program. Through Google Ads, you can create online ads to reach people exactly when they're interested in the products and services that you offer.

  • Google Ads is a product that you can use to promote your business, help sell products or services, raise awareness, and increase traffic to your website.
  • Google Ads accounts are managed online, so you can create and change your ad campaign at any time, including your ad text, settings, and budget.

Impressions - 

How often your ad is shown. An impression is counted each time your ad is shown on a search result page or other site on the Google Network.

  • Each time your ad appears on Google or the Google Network, it's counted as one impression.
  • In some cases, only a section of your ad may be shown. For example, in Google Maps, we may show only your business name and location or only your business name and the first line of your ad text.
  • You'll sometimes see the abbreviation "Impr" in your account showing the number of impressions for your ad.

Keyword Close Variants - 

Close variants allow keywords to match to searches that are similar, but not identical to the targeted keyword, and help you connect with people who are looking for your business—despite slight variations in the way they search—reducing the need to build out exhaustive keyword lists to reach these customers.

By default, all keyword match types are eligible to match to close variants. There is no way to opt out.

Keywords - 

Words or phrases describing your product or service that you choose to help determine when and where your ad can appear.

  • The keywords you choose are used to show your ads to people. Select high-quality, relevant keywords for your ad campaign to help you reach only the most interested people, who are more likely to become your customers.
  • When someone searches on Google, your ad could be eligible to appear based on the similarity of your keywords to the person's search terms, as well as your keyword match types. Keywords are also used to match your ad to sites in the Google Network that are related to your keywords and ads.

Landing Page - 

The webpage where people end up after they click your ad. The URL of this page is usually the same as your ad's final URL.

  • For each ad, you specify a final URL to determine the landing page where people are taken when they click your ad.
  • Google's policy is that your landing page and display URL (the webpage shown in your ad) must share the same domain.
  • Your landing page experience is one of several factors that helps determine a keyword's Quality Score. The experience of a landing page is represented by such things as the usefulness and relevance of information provided on the page, ease of navigation for the user, and how many links are on the page.

Maximum CPC Bid - 

A bid that you set to determine the highest amount that you're willing to pay for a click on your ad.

  • If someone clicks your ad, that click won't cost you more than the maximum cost-per-click bid (or "max. CPC") that you set. For example, if you set a $2 max. CPC bid, you'll never pay more than $2 for each click on your ad. The actual amount that you pay is called the actual CPC and is shown in your account's "Avg. CPC" column.
  • A higher bid generally helps your ad show in a higher ad position on the page.

Quality Score - 

Quality Score is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. Higher quality ads can lead to lower prices and better ad positions.

  • You can see your Quality Score by adding the Quality Score column to a report.
  • The Quality Score is reported on a 1-10 scale and includes expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience.
  • The more relevant your ads and landing pages are to the user, the more likely it is that you'll see higher Quality Scores.

Relevance - 

How closely the elements of your ad campaign match what a person seems to be looking for.

  • Your ads and keywords should directly relate to the content on your website, especially the ad's landing page. When people see your ad, they should be able to understand what kind of product, service, or other content they'll find on your site.
  • To encourage you to create relevant ad campaigns that accurately represent your products or services, the Google Ads pricing system is partly based on relevance. A highly relevant ad, keyword list, and landing page is generally rewarded with a higher position on the page for potentially less money.
  • Relevance is part of your Quality Score, a formula that Google uses to measure how useful your ad, keyword, and website are to a customer. Relevant ads tend to get higher Quality Scores.

 

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