Google Ads has its own language. Campaign, ad group, CPC, CTR, Ad Rank, conversion. Every report uses these words, and every agency uses them in conversation, usually without explaining them. If you do not know what they mean, you cannot tell whether a number is good, and you cannot ask a useful question.
This post is a Google Ads glossary in plain English, written for people who run or pay for Google ads and want to read a Google Ads account without guessing. It covers 20 terms, grouped by what they help you understand: how an account is built, what you see and pay, what counts as a result, and how Google decides whose ad shows. Each term is based on Google’s own definition, which we re-read on 11 October 2026 in the Google Ads Help glossary. Where we add our own explanation or a made-up example, we say so.
Quick summary, if you’re short on time:
- An account is built like a tree: campaigns hold ad groups, and ad groups hold ads and keywords.
- CTR is clicks divided by impressions. Conversion rate is conversions divided by interactions. Cost per conversion is cost divided by conversions.
- Your maximum CPC is the most you will pay for a click. What you pay is usually less.
- Your average daily budget is an average. Google says on some days you may spend less and on others more, up to twice the daily budget for most campaigns.
- Quality Score is a diagnostic. Google says it is not an input in the ad auction.
Jump to a section:
- How an account is built (6 terms)
- What you see and pay (6 terms)
- What counts as a result (4 terms)
- How Google decides whose ad shows (4 terms)
- Ad types and places you will see in reports
- The terms in one worked example
- Terms people mix up
- A prompt to check your own numbers
- Questions about Google Ads terms
How an account is built (6 terms)
Everything in Google Ads sits inside a structure. Learn this first and the rest is easier.
- Campaign. Google defines it as a set of ad groups, with ads, keywords and bids, that share a budget, location targeting and other settings. Think of it as the top-level folder. If you want to run ads in two cities with two budgets, you would normally use two campaigns.
- Ad group. It holds one or more ads that share similar targets, and each campaign has one or more of them. Google suggests organising ad groups by a common theme, for example one per type of product or service you offer.
- Keyword. Words or phrases you choose that help decide when and where your ad can appear. Google says your ad could be eligible to show based on how similar your keyword is to the person’s search term, and on your match types.
- Match type. A setting on each keyword that controls how closely a search has to match it. There are three: broad, phrase (written in quotes) and exact (written in square brackets). Google says broad match is the default, so a keyword you add without any marks is broad match.
- Negative keyword. A word that stops your ad showing for any search that contains it. Google’s own example is adding “free” so that your ad does not show for searches containing that word. Our post on building a negative keyword list covers how to do this before you launch.
- Search terms report. A list of the searches that led to your ad being shown. Google says the terms can differ from your keyword list, depending on the match types you use. This is where you find searches you do not want, and add them as negative keywords.
What you see and pay (6 terms)
- Impression. Counted each time your ad is shown on a search results page or another site on the Google Network. It does not mean anyone read it. Google notes that in some cases only part of the ad may be shown.
- Click. Counted when someone clicks your ad, for example on the blue headline or a phone number. Google says a click is counted even if the person does not reach your website, perhaps because it was temporarily unavailable. So clicks in Google Ads and visits in your website analytics can differ.
- CTR (clickthrough rate). Clicks divided by impressions. Google’s example: 5 clicks from 100 impressions is a 5% CTR. A high CTR suggests people find your ad relevant, but Google also says a good CTR depends on what you advertise and where.
- CPC (cost per click). What you pay when someone clicks. Two numbers matter. Your maximum CPC is the most you are willing to pay for a click. Your average CPC is your total cost divided by your total clicks. Google says you will often pay less than your maximum, and sometimes much less.
- Average daily budget. The average amount you are comfortable spending per campaign each day. Google says you will never pay more than twice the average daily budget on any one day, or 30.4 times it in a month, for most campaigns. If you think in monthly terms, Google’s budget page says to divide your monthly figure by 30.4.
- Impression share. Impressions divided by total eligible impressions, which Google estimates from targeting settings, approval statuses and quality. Google says it is a good way to understand whether your ads might reach more people if you increase your bid or budget.
What counts as a result (4 terms)
- Conversion. An action you decided is worth counting. Google counts it after someone interacts with your ad. Google’s examples are an online purchase or a phone call to your business. Nothing is a conversion until you set it up. If conversion tracking is not set up, the account cannot tell you what worked.
- Conversion rate. Conversions divided by the ad interactions that can be tracked to a conversion. Google’s example: 50 conversions from 1,000 interactions is 5%. Google also notes the rate can pass 100% if you count every conversion and one person converts more than once.
- Cost per conversion (CPA). Your total cost divided by your number of conversions. Google’s example: two conversions costing $2 and $4 give an average CPA of $3. Google calls this average CPA, and a bidding strategy called Target CPA lets you set the figure you want.
- ROI (return on investment). How much profit your ads made compared with what they cost. Google’s page says you need conversion tracking to measure it. One limit is worth knowing: Google’s formula subtracts your cost of goods, which is a figure you supply. Profit is a number you work out yourself, not one a report hands you.
How Google decides whose ad shows (4 terms)
- Auction. The process that runs on each search to decide which ads show and in what order, or whether any show at all. Google says ads that are not eligible are dropped first, and of the rest only those with a high enough Ad Rank may show.
- Ad Rank. The value Google uses to decide whether an ad shows and where. Google lists the factors: your bid, the quality of your ads and landing page, the Ad Rank thresholds, how competitive the auction is, the context of the search (location, device, time) and the expected impact of assets. Bid alone does not decide it.
- Quality Score. A score from 1 to 10 at keyword level, built from expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience. Google’s page is blunt about its role: it says Quality Score is a diagnostic tool, it should not be optimised or added up with the rest of your data, and it is not an input in the ad auction. Use it to find where an ad, page or keyword could improve. Our post on what Quality Score is and what it does goes deeper.
- Landing page. The page people reach after clicking your ad, usually the same as your ad’s final URL. Google says the usefulness and relevance of the page, ease of navigation and what the person expected from the ad feed into landing page experience.
One bonus term belongs with these, because it changes how several of the others behave.
Smart Bidding is Google’s name for bid strategies that use Google AI to set bids at auction time to optimise for conversions or conversion value. Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize conversions and Maximize conversion value are all Smart Bidding strategies, per Google. It depends on your conversion tracking, which is why conversion sits in the results section above.
Ad types and places you will see in reports
Reports also use words for the kind of ad and where it showed. These are the ones you will meet most, again from Google’s definitions.
- Search ad and text ad. A text ad is a form of marketing communication used to promote a product or service on the Google Network. Google says text ads can appear on Google results pages and across the Google Network, and that they often carry language labelling them as advertisements.
- Display ad and image ad. An image ad is an ad with a graphic you provide. Google says image ads can appear on webpages and other places in the Google Display Network, and that people who click anywhere on the ad go to your website.
- Google Display Network. Google describes it as a group of more than 2 million websites, videos and apps where your ads can appear.
- Search Network. The group of search-related sites where you can show your ads, and where your ad can appear next to search results and on sites like Maps and Shopping.
- Video ad. An ad that is itself a video. Google splits video lengths into shortform (under 10 minutes) and longform (over 10 minutes), and says your ad may appear in either, depending on the format you choose.
- Shopping ad. An ad that features detailed information about specific products you sell. Google says you set up your product information in Google Merchant Center and create Performance Max or Shopping campaigns in Google Ads.
Check which network a campaign uses before you read its numbers. Search campaigns show ads next to search results, so the search queries people type are what you read in the search terms report. Display ads are shown on sites, apps and videos in the Display Network.
The terms in one worked example
These numbers are made up, to show how the terms connect. They are not a benchmark.
Say a campaign for a Bangalore dentist ran for a month, and the report showed this:
| Number in the report | Value |
|---|---|
| Impressions | 4,000 |
| Clicks | 160 |
| Cost | ₹8,000 |
| Conversions (calls and forms) | 8 |
From those four numbers, using Google’s formulas:
- CTR = 160 ÷ 4,000 = 4%
- Average CPC = ₹8,000 ÷ 160 = ₹50
- Conversion rate = 8 ÷ 160 = 5%
- Cost per conversion = ₹8,000 ÷ 8 = ₹1,000
Whether ₹1,000 per enquiry is good depends on what an enquiry is worth to the business. That is where ROI comes in, and it is the number the account cannot work out for you.
Terms people mix up
| Often confused | The difference |
|---|---|
| Maximum CPC and average CPC | Maximum is your ceiling for one click. Average is what you were really charged, across all clicks. |
| Impressions and clicks | An impression is your ad being shown. A click is someone choosing it. |
| Keyword and search term | A keyword is what you choose to target. A search term is what the person typed. |
| Clicks and conversions | A click is a visit. A conversion is the action you wanted after it. |
| CTR and conversion rate | CTR is about the ad. Conversion rate is about what happens after the click. |
| Quality Score and Ad Rank | Quality Score is a 1 to 10 diagnostic. Ad Rank decides whether and where the ad shows, and Google says Quality Score is not an input in the auction. |
A small habit helps: when you see a number you do not trust, write the formula next to it. Most reporting arguments come from two people using one word for two different numbers.
A prompt to check your own numbers
An AI tool can do the sums and flag where you are reading a term wrongly. It cannot see your account, so give it the figures.
Act as a careful Google Ads analyst. Help me understand my own account numbers using the standard Google Ads definitions.
My numbers for one campaign over one period:
– Impressions: [number]
– Clicks: [number]
– Cost: [amount in rupees]
– Conversions: [number], and what counts as a conversion: [calls, forms, purchases]
– My maximum CPC bid, if I set one: [amount]
– What one enquiry or sale is worth to me: [amount]Please do the following:
1. Work out CTR, average CPC, conversion rate and cost per conversion. Show each sum.
2. Tell me whether my average CPC is well below, close to or above my maximum CPC bid, and what that suggests.
3. Using only the value I gave, say whether each conversion cost less than it was worth.
4. List the terms I should ask my agency to explain if they used them in a report without saying what they meant.Rules:
– Use only my numbers. Do not invent benchmarks or “good” CTR figures.
– If a number I gave is missing or looks wrong, say so before calculating.
– Write in plain, simple English.
Check the sums yourself on at least one line. If the answer does not match the formula in this post, trust the formula.
Questions about Google Ads terms
What is the difference between a campaign and an ad group?
A campaign holds the settings that apply to everything inside it, such as budget, location and language. An ad group sits inside a campaign and holds ads and keywords that share a theme.
What is a good CTR in Google Ads?
Google says a good CTR is relative to what you advertise and on which networks, so there is no single number. Compare your own ads against each other, and against your own past results.
Why is my cost per click lower than my maximum CPC?
Your maximum CPC is the most you are willing to pay, not the price. Google says you will often be charged less, and sometimes much less, because the final amount is your actual CPC.
Is a click the same as a visit to my website?
No. Google counts a click even if the person never reaches your site, for example when it is temporarily unavailable. That is one reason Google Ads and your website analytics can show different numbers.
Why did Google spend more than my daily budget?
The daily budget is an average. Google says that on some days you might exceed it, up to two times for most campaigns, and on other days you will spend less. Over a month you will not pay more than 30.4 times the daily budget.
Does Quality Score decide whether my ad shows?
Google says Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction. It is a diagnostic. Ad Rank decides whether your ad shows and where, using your bid, ad and page quality, and the context of the search.
What is a conversion if I run a service business?
Whatever action means a real enquiry to you, such as a phone call, a form submission or a booked appointment. You have to set it up, because Google Ads only counts the actions you define.
Where this matters
The 20 terms above cover almost every number in a Google Ads report. Learn the formulas for CTR, conversion rate and cost per conversion first, because they let you check any report yourself. Then ask for a definition whenever a term does not match the number.
If a report from your agency uses a word you cannot explain, send it to us and we will tell you what each number means.
