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Glossary · A to Z

Affiliate programmes and Google Ads each have their own vocabulary, and the two meet on your brand's searches. Each term here has a one-line answer and a page on how it shows up in practice.

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A to Z

Every term, with its one-line answer.

Open a term for how it shows up in your reports, what to check, and the guides and lessons that use it.

  1. A

    1. About this advertiserThe panel behind an ad's three-dot or info icon on Google, naming the advertiser behind the ad and the country it's based in.
    2. Actual CPCWhat an advertiser pays for one click on its ad: the least needed to hold its position, often below its maximum bid. Also called actual cost per click.
    3. Ad preview and diagnosisA Google Ads tool that shows a search results page for a location, language and device you choose, without adding impressions to anyone's ads. Also called Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool.
    4. Ad RankGoogle's score for an ad in one auction. It decides whether the ad can show at all, and where it sits against the others.
    5. Ad scheduleA Google Ads campaign setting that limits ads to chosen days and hours, or changes bids by time of day. Also called ad scheduling, dayparting.
    6. Ads Transparency CenterGoogle's public, searchable library of ads and the advertisers behind them, by name or by web address, with no account needed. Also called Ads Transparency Centre.
    7. Advertiser verificationGoogle's check of who an advertiser is, as a company or a person, which supplies the name and country its ads disclose.
    8. Affiliate networkThe business that runs a brand's affiliate programme: it holds the terms, tracks clicks and sales, invoices the brand and pays publishers.
    9. Auction insightsA Google Ads report comparing you with the other advertisers in the auctions you entered, one row per display domain.
    10. Average CPCThe total cost of an ad's clicks divided by the number of clicks over a period: the Avg. CPC column in Google Ads. Also called Avg. CPC, average cost per click, cost per click.
    11. Average order valueA shop's revenue from orders divided by the number of orders over a period: what a typical order is worth. Also called AOV, average basket.

  2. B

    1. Brand biddingBidding on searches for a brand's own name, by the brand itself or by anyone else: resellers, competitors and affiliates.
    2. Brand campaignA brand's own Google Ads campaign on searches for its name, usually kept apart so its cheap, high-converting clicks don't mix with the rest.
    3. Brand exclusionsA Google Ads setting that stops a Search or Performance Max campaign serving on searches Google associates with chosen brands.

  3. C

    1. Circumventing systemsGoogle's policy against getting round its ad review and enforcement, such as returning with a new account after a Google suspension.
    2. Close variantsSearches Google matches to a keyword though they're worded differently: misspellings, plurals, reordered words, synonyms and the same intent.
    3. CommissionWhat a brand pays a publisher for a sale credited to it, usually a percentage of the order value, often with a network fee on top.
    4. Conversion rateThe share of ad clicks, or visits, that end in a conversion such as an order: in Google Ads, conversions divided by ad interactions. Also called Conv. rate.
    5. Cookie windowHow long after a publisher's click a sale can still be credited to it. The programme's terms set it, usually in days. Also called Cookie period, Cookie duration.
    6. Coupon extensionA browser add-on that finds and offers discount codes when a shopper reaches a checkout, often earning affiliate commission on the sale. Also called Shopping extension.

  4. D

    1. Deep linkA link to a particular page on a site, such as a product or a sale, rather than its home page.
    2. Destination requirementsGoogle's rules for where an ad leads: the display domain must match the final URL, and the click must reach that same site.
    3. Direct linkingA paid-search ad whose click goes straight to the brand's site, through the affiliate's tracking, instead of to a page of the publisher's own.
    4. Display URLThe web address shown on a search ad. Its domain comes from the ad's final URL, and only the path after it is free text.

  5. F

    1. Final URLThe page a Google ad's click lands on, after any tracking. Its domain is the one the ad shows as its display URL.
    2. Final URL suffixParameters Google Ads adds to the end of an ad's final URL when it's clicked, so the landing page receives tracking values.

  6. G

    1. gclidThe Google Click Identifier that auto-tagging adds to a landing page's address when someone clicks a Google ad. Also called Google Click Identifier.
    2. Geo experimentA test that switches ads off, or on, in some regions and not others, then compares all sales between the two groups. Also called Geo test, Geo holdout.

  7. I

    1. Impression shareThe impressions an ad received divided by the impressions Google estimates it was eligible for. Also called IS, Search impr. share.
    2. IncrementalityThe share of an ad's results that wouldn't have happened without it: for a brand ad, the clicks and orders that wouldn't have come anyway. Also called Incremental lift.

  8. K

    1. Keyword PlannerA free tool inside Google Ads that suggests keywords and gives each one's average monthly searches and forecasts. Also called Google Keyword Planner.

  9. L

    1. Last clickAn attribution rule that gives all the credit for a sale to the last eligible click before it. Many affiliate programmes use it. Also called Last-click attribution.
    2. Location targetingThe Google Ads setting for where a campaign's ads may show: countries, regions, cities, postcode districts or a radius, with exclusions.

  10. M

    1. Match typesGoogle Ads' three settings for how closely a search must fit a keyword: broad, phrase and exact, each also reaching close variants. Also called keyword match types.

  11. N

    1. Negative keywordsKeywords that stop an ad showing on a search. They come in broad, phrase and exact match, and they don't reach close variants.

  12. P

    1. Parallel trackingHow Google Ads handles a click: the browser goes straight to the final URL while tracking addresses load in the background.
    2. PPC affiliateA publisher that earns commission by running its own paid-search ads, on generic searches or, where the terms allow, on a brand's own. Also called Paid-search affiliate.
    3. Programme termsThe rules a brand sets for publishers in its affiliate programme: what they may promote, where, with which codes, and what follows if not. Also called Programme rules, Affiliate terms.
    4. PublisherAnyone who sends shoppers to a brand through an affiliate programme for commission: content sites, voucher sites, creators, extensions. Also called Affiliate, Partner.

  13. R

    1. RedirectA step that sends the browser from one address to the next: an HTTP status code, a meta refresh tag or a script.

  14. S

    1. Search ConsoleGoogle's free tool for site owners: how often a site appeared in Google's search results, for which searches, and how often it was clicked. Also called Google Search Console.
    2. Search lost IS (budget)The share of eligible Search impressions a campaign's ads missed because its budget ran short. Also called lost impression share due to budget.
    3. Search lost IS (rank)The share of eligible Search impressions an ad missed because its Ad Rank was too low. Also called lost impression share due to rank.
    4. Search terms reportThe Google Ads report of the actual searches that showed your ads, as opposed to the keywords you chose.
    5. Sub IDFree text a publisher adds to its own tracking link, such as a page or a placement. It describes a click, not who ran an ad. Also called Click reference, Click ref.
    6. Sub-networkA business that joins a brand's programme as one publisher and offers it on to its own members, its sub-publishers. Also called Sub-affiliate network.

  15. T

    1. Third-party cookieA cookie belonging to a different site from the page you're on. Safari and Firefox keep them from following you between sites; Chrome allows them.
    2. Top impression shareHow often an ad was among the ads at the top of the page, or the very first, out of the times Google estimates it was eligible to be. Also called Search top IS, Search abs. top IS, absolute top impression share.
    3. Tracking templateA Google Ads field for the tracking address called when an ad is clicked, with {lpurl} standing in for the final URL.
    4. Trademarks policyGoogle's policy on trade marks in ads. It never restricts keywords, and a complaint can only restrict a mark in the text of named advertisers' ads.

  16. U

    1. Unfair advantageGoogle's policy against more than one ad for the same business in one ad location, which also lists affiliates advertising against their programme's rules.

  17. V

    1. Validation windowHow long a brand has to validate or decline a pending affiliate sale before it's approved or locked and the commission is due. Also called Recall period, Lock period.
    2. ValueTrack parametersPlaceholders in braces that Google Ads fills in when an ad is clicked, such as {lpurl} for the final URL and {keyword} for the keyword.
    3. Voucher siteA site that lists discount codes for many stores, usually as a publisher earning commission on the sales its links send. Also called Voucher code site, Coupon site.