PPC Glossary

Modified on Mon, 13 Oct at 3:00 PM

When it comes to running paid ads (PPC), there’s no shortage of industry terms, acronyms, and metrics to keep track of. To help cut through the jargon, we’ve created this glossary of common terms. It’s a quick reference you can use when reviewing reports, discussing strategy with our team, or simply wanting a clearer picture of how paid search supports your business goals.

Core PPC Terms

PPC (Pay-Per-Click): An online advertising model where advertisers pay only when a user clicks on their ad.

CPC (Cost Per Click): The actual amount paid for a single click on an ad.

Paid Ad Spend: The amount paid directly to Google for your Ads Campaign, not including Cybernautic management fee.

Campaign & Ad Structure

Campaign: The top-level structure in Google Ads where budget, targeting, and overall goals are set.

Ad Group: A subset within a campaign that contains closely related keywords, ads, and landing pages.

Keywords: The search terms you bid on, triggering your ads when users search.

Negative Keywords: Terms that prevent ads from showing on irrelevant searches (e.g., adding “free” as a negative keyword if you don’t offer free services).

Performance Metrics

Conversions: The amount of business-value-driven actions generated from your ads (Phone calls, Form Submits, etc.).

Conversion Rate: The number of website conversions divided by the number of total ad interactions.

Clicks: The number of times your ads have been clicked.

Impressions: The number of times your ad has been seen by a user on Google.

CTR (Click-Through-Rate): The % of users who saw your ad and clicked.

Cost-Per-Conversion Analysis:A comparison of paid ad spend to the resulting conversions per day.

Types of Google Ads

Search Ads: These are the text ads that appear on Google’s search results pages when someone searches for specific keywords. They are intent-driven, meaning they reach users actively looking for products or services like yours. This is the most common type of ad used by Cybernautic clients.

Display Ads: These are visual ads (images, banners, or rich media) shown across Google’s Display Network, which includes millions of websites, apps, and YouTube. They are great for building brand awareness and reaching potential customers while they browse online.

Remarketing (or Retargeting) Ads: These ads target people who have already visited your website or engaged with your brand. By showing them ads as they browse other sites, you can encourage return visits and conversions.

Shopping Ads: These are product-based ads that appear in Google Shopping or at the top of search results, typically including product images, prices, and merchant information. They’re ideal for e-commerce businesses wanting to showcase products directly in search results.