Glossary
Paid Discovery, defined.
Plain-English definitions of the terms we use every day running Google, YouTube, Pinterest and ChatGPT ads.
- Paid Discovery
- Paid media on platforms built around search and discovery intent (Google, YouTube, Pinterest and ChatGPT), where people are actively looking for a solution or planning a purchase. Contrasted with paid social, which interrupts people mid-scroll.
- ROAS (return on ad spend)
- Revenue attributed to ads divided by ad spend. A 4× ROAS means $4 of revenue for every $1 spent.
- MER (marketing efficiency ratio)
- Total revenue divided by total marketing spend across all channels. Unlike ROAS, MER does not depend on platform attribution, which makes it a more honest measure of overall efficiency.
- CAC (customer acquisition cost)
- Total cost to acquire one new customer, including ad spend and often fees.
- CPA (cost per acquisition)
- Ad spend divided by the number of conversions, such as purchases or signups.
- CPL (cost per lead)
- Ad spend divided by the number of leads generated. Most useful when leads are verified in a CRM rather than counted by the ad platform.
- AOV (average order value)
- Average revenue per order. Higher AOV allows a higher CPA while staying profitable.
- Incrementality
- The share of results that would not have happened without the ads. Incremental spend creates new revenue instead of taking credit for sales that would have happened anyway.
- Performance Max (PMax)
- A Google Ads campaign type that uses automation to serve ads across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps from one campaign.
- Demand Gen
- A Google Ads campaign type for upper-funnel image and video ads across YouTube, Shorts, Discover and Gmail.
- AI Max
- A Google Ads setting that expands Search campaigns beyond chosen keywords using AI-driven matching and generated assets.
- Responsive search ad (RSA)
- A Google Search ad built from multiple headlines and descriptions that Google combines automatically.
- Negative keywords
- Search terms excluded from a campaign so ads do not show for irrelevant or low-value queries. Also used to keep brand searches out of non-brand campaigns.
- Brand vs. non-brand
- Brand campaigns target searches that include your company name. Non-brand campaigns target category searches from people who do not know you yet, the real measure of new-customer acquisition.
- Target CPA / Target ROAS
- Automated Google Ads bid strategies that aim for a set cost per acquisition or return on ad spend.
- GCLID
- Google Click Identifier, a parameter added to ad clicks. Capturing it in your CRM lets you send offline sales and qualified leads back to Google Ads.
- Offline conversion import
- Sending qualified leads or closed sales from a CRM back to the ad platform so bidding optimizes to real business outcomes.
- Enhanced conversions
- A Google Ads feature that uses hashed first-party data, such as email addresses, to improve conversion measurement accuracy.
- Conversion API (CAPI)
- Server-side tracking that sends conversion events directly from your server to an ad platform such as Pinterest, improving attribution when browser tracking is blocked.
- Attribution window
- The period after a click or view during which a conversion is credited to an ad. RevAmp recommends 7-day click and 1-day view for Pinterest.
- View-through conversion
- A conversion credited to an ad that was seen but not clicked, important for measuring YouTube and Pinterest.
- Catalog / Shopping ads
- Ads generated from a product feed, showing product images, prices and links on Google Shopping and Pinterest.
- ChatGPT ads
- Paid placements inside OpenAI’s ChatGPT, shown alongside answers when people research products and services.
- Upper funnel / lower funnel
- Upper-funnel ads create awareness and demand among people not yet shopping. Lower-funnel ads capture people ready to buy.
Next step
See what Paid Discovery can do for you.
Book a discovery call. We review your accounts before we talk, so you leave with a clear plan whether or not we work together.
For brands spending $10K+/month on ads · 3-month minimum, then month-to-month
