22.08.2025

Paid Media Jargon Buster: Key Terms You Need to Know

Nathan Evans
ppc jargon buster
ppc jargon buster

PPC jargon can feel like it’s designed to keep you out of the club. CPC, CTR, CPM, ROAS, ECPC, GTM – all manner of combinations of letters that swirl around in your head like a language you’ve never heard before. It’s enough to make your head swell, but not with this comprehensive dictionary of all the PPC terms you’ll hear from your resident expert for Google Ads, the more social media-focused Meta Ads or B2B-oriented Microsoft Ads. And at Brave, that’s exactly the kind of clarity we believe every brand deserves.

1. Performance Metrics

CPC (Cost Per Click)

The amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad.

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)

The average cost of securing one desired action, such as a sale or sign-up.

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

The percentage of people who saw your ad and clicked on it.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

The revenue generated for every pound spent on advertising.

POAS (Profit on Ad Spend)

The profit earned for every pound spent on advertising – essentially the ROAS minus costs.

ROI (Return on Investment)

The overall profitability of a campaign after deducting all costs.

CPM (Cost Per Mille)

The cost of showing your ad one thousand times.

Quality Score

A Google Ads metric that scores ad relevance, click-through rate and landing page experience.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who take your desired action after clicking your ad.

Impression Share

The percentage of times your ad is shown compared to the total amount of impressions possible, according to the ad platform.

View-Through Conversions

Conversions that happen after someone sees – but doesn’t click – your ad, then later converts.

2. Budgeting & Bidding

Bid

The maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click or conversion. Just like an auction.

Budget

The total amount you allocate to spend on a campaign within a set period.

Ad Rank

Your ad’s position on the search results page, based on bid, quality, and other factors.

Max CPC (Maximum Cost Per Click)

The highest you’re willing to pay for a single click.

ECPC (Enhanced Cost Per Click)

An automated bidding option that adjusts your bid to increase the chance of conversion.

tCPA (Target Cost Per Acquisition)

In automated bidding, a strategy aiming to achieve a set average CPA.

tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend)

In automated bidding, a strategy aiming to achieve a set ROAS.

3. Campaign Structure & Targeting

Campaign

A plan set out to achieve a particular paid media goal, defining overall budget, settings and targeting.

Ad Group

A collection of ads and keywords within a campaign, grouped by theme or product.

Keyword

A search term you want your ads to appear for.

Broad Match

The widest keyword match type, allowing you to trigger ads for related searches and variations on a keyword.

Phrase Match

Shows ads for searches containing your keyword phrase in the same order, with possible extra words.

Exact Match

Shows ads only for searches that match your keyword exactly or very closely.

Negative Keywords

Words or phrases that prevent your ad from showing for irrelevant searches.

Display Network

An enormous group made for Google Ads, of websites, apps and videos where ads can appear.

Discovery

Google’s ad format for reaching people across YouTube, Gmail and the Google app. They are primed to appeal to top-of-funnel audiences and generate brand awareness.

Remarketing

Targeting people who have previously visited your site or interacted with your ads in order to move them from the top of the conversion funnel down towards the conversion stage.

4. Ad Creatives & Landing Pages

Landing Page

A web page users see after clicking your ad, designed to convert them.

Ad Copy

The written content of your ad, designed to attract clicks and conversions.

Headline

The attention-grabbing title of your ad.

Primary Text

The main body of text in an ad, typically in social media formats.

CTA (Call to Action)

A prompt encouraging the user to take the next step, such as “Buy Now” or “Sign Up”. Find out what makes a good call to action in our blog on the subject.

Extensions

Additional ad features, such as sitelinks, callouts and structured snippets, that give users more reason to click on your ad.

Responsive Search Ads (RSA)

Ads that automatically test and combine multiple headlines and descriptions.

5. Testing & Optimisation

A/B Testing

A test to compare two versions of an ad or page to see which performs better. For more information, read our guide to A/B testing.

Split Testing

A test similar to A/B testing, but can involve more than two variations of an ad.

Ad Rotation

The way a paid media provider (Google cycles through your ads within an ad group.

Bid Adjustments

Increasing or decreasing bids based on device, location, time or audience.

Campaign Experiments

Controlled tests in Google Ads to trial changes without affecting the main campaign.

6. Tracking & Measurement

Conversion

A completed action you want from a user, such as a purchase or lead form submission. Read our top tips for increasing conversion rates to find out more.

Conversion Tracking

The process of recording when a conversion occurs, often using tags or scripts.

Attribution Model

The rules that determine how credit for conversions is assigned across touchpoints.

Pixel

A small piece of code placed on your website to track user actions.

UTM Parameter

A tracking tag added to a URL to measure campaign performance in analytics tools.

GTM (Google Tag Manager)

Google’s tool for managing and deploying tracking codes without changing the website code completely.

How We Can Help Bolster Your PPC Campaign

PPC doesn’t have to feel like a foreign language. At Brave, we slice through the noise and make paid media simple, effective and powerful for your brand. We’ve been in the throes of digital marketing for over 20 years, building campaigns that don’t just chase clicks, but deliver real business results and a customer experience that your buyers will want to return to.

Contact us today and let’s start bolstering your brand. When you partner with Brave, you get a close ally who is obsessed with your success and unafraid to do things differently to achieve it. Your customers deserve the best, and so do you. Let’s make every conversion count.

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