Metrics Glossary

Your complete reference for understanding every Google Ads metric in PerfoAds. Each entry includes definition, calculation formula, what it means, and how to interpret it.

How to Use This Glossary

Alphabetical listing: Metrics organized A-Z for easy reference

Each entry includes:

Quick find: Use Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to search

A

Average Cost

Definition: Average amount spent per interaction (click, view, engagement)

Formula: Total Cost ÷ Total Interactions

Example:

Cost: $1,000
Clicks: 200
Average Cost: $1,000 ÷ 200 = $5.00

Why it matters: Shows efficiency of spend across all interactions

Benchmark: Varies by industry, compare to historical average

Where: Campaign tab, Ad Group tab

Average CPC (Cost Per Click)

Definition: Average amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad

Formula: Total Cost ÷ Total Clicks

Example:

Cost: $500
Clicks: 100
Average CPC: $500 ÷ 100 = $5.00

Why it matters:

Good benchmark:

Where: Overview tab, Campaign tab, Keyword tab

Average CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions)

Definition: Average cost to show your ad 1,000 times

Formula: (Total Cost ÷ Impressions) × 1,000

Example:

Cost: $100
Impressions: 50,000
CPM: ($100 ÷ 50,000) × 1,000 = $2.00

Why it matters:

Good benchmark:

Where: Campaign tab (Display/Video campaigns only)

Average CPV (Cost Per View)

Definition: Average cost each time someone views your video ad

Formula: Total Cost ÷ Total Views

Example:

Cost: $200
Views: 1,000
CPV: $200 ÷ 1,000 = $0.20

Why it matters: Measures efficiency of video advertising

Good benchmark:

Where: Campaign tab (Video campaigns only)

B

Budget

Definition: Daily or campaign-level spending limit

Types:

Why it matters: Controls spend and prevents overages

Where: Campaign tab, Budget tracking widget

C

Clicks

Definition: Number of times users clicked your ad

Formula: Direct count from Google Ads

Why it matters:

What's counted:

Where: Overview tab (protected metric), all data tables

Conversions

Definition: Actions users take that you've defined as valuable (purchases, sign-ups, calls)

Formula: Count of completed conversion actions

Types:

Why it matters: Measures business outcomes, not just traffic

Conversion window: Default is 30 days (user can convert up to 30 days after click)

Where: Overview tab (protected metric), Conversion breakdown table

Conversion Rate

Definition: Percentage of clicks that result in conversions

Formula: (Conversions ÷ Clicks) × 100%

Example:

Conversions: 50
Clicks: 1,000
Conversion Rate: (50 ÷ 1,000) × 100% = 5%

Why it matters:

Good benchmark:

Where: Overview tab, Campaign tab, Keyword tab

Conversion Value

Definition: Total monetary value of all conversions

Formula: Sum of all conversion values

Example:

Sale 1: $100
Sale 2: $50
Sale 3: $200
Conversion Value: $350

Why it matters: Shows revenue generated from ads

Where: Conversion breakdown table

Cost

Definition: Total amount spent on ads

Formula: Sum of all costs in date range

Why it matters:

Where: Overview tab (protected metric), Budget tracking, all tables

Cost Per Conversion

Definition: Average cost to generate one conversion

Formula: Total Cost ÷ Conversions

Example:

Cost: $1,000
Conversions: 20
Cost Per Conversion: $1,000 ÷ 20 = $50

Why it matters:

Good benchmark: Should be <30% of customer lifetime value

Where: Overview tab, Campaign tab, Keyword tab

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

Definition: Percentage of impressions that resulted in clicks

Formula: (Clicks ÷ Impressions) × 100%

Example:

Clicks: 100
Impressions: 10,000
CTR: (100 ÷ 10,000) × 100% = 1%

Why it matters:

Good benchmark:

Where: Overview tab, all data tables

E

Engagement Rate

Definition: Percentage of impressions that resulted in engagement (clicks, likes, shares, comments)

Formula: (Engagements ÷ Impressions) × 100%

Example:

Engagements: 500
Impressions: 50,000
Engagement Rate: (500 ÷ 50,000) × 100% = 1%

Why it matters: Measures user interaction beyond clicks

Where: Campaign tab (Display/Video campaigns)

Engagements

Definition: Total user interactions with your ad

Includes:

Where: Campaign tab (Video/App campaigns)

I

Impressions

Definition: Number of times your ad was shown

Formula: Direct count from Google Ads

Why it matters:

What's counted:

Where: Overview tab (protected metric), all data tables

Impression Share (IS)

Definition: Percentage of times your ad showed vs. total eligible opportunities

Formula: (Impressions ÷ Total Eligible Impressions) × 100%

Example:

Your Impressions: 10,000
Total Eligible: 50,000
Impression Share: (10,000 ÷ 50,000) × 100% = 20%

Why it matters:

Types:

Where: Campaign tab

Impression Share Lost (Budget)

Definition: Percentage of impressions lost due to budget constraints

Formula: Calculated by Google Ads based on budget pacing

Example: 15% means you'd get 15% more impressions with higher budget

Why it matters: Identifies if budget is limiting reach

Action: Increase budget if this is high (>20%)

Where: Campaign tab

Impression Share Lost (Rank)

Definition: Percentage of impressions lost due to low ad rank

Formula: Calculated by Google Ads based on Quality Score and bids

Example: 25% means you'd get 25% more impressions with better rank

Why it matters: Identifies if bids/quality need improvement

Action:

Where: Campaign tab

Interactions

Definition: Main action counted by your bidding strategy

Varies by campaign type:

Why it matters: Universal metric across campaign types

Where: Campaign tab

Interaction Rate

Definition: Percentage of impressions that resulted in interaction

Formula: (Interactions ÷ Impressions) × 100%

Why it matters: Similar to CTR but works across all campaign types

Where: Campaign tab

Q

Quality Score

Definition: Google's rating (1-10) of your keyword's quality and relevance

Components:

Scale:

Why it matters:

Example impact:

Keyword A: QS 10, CPC $2.00
Keyword B: QS 5, CPC $4.00 (same bid, worse QS = 2x higher CPC)

Where: Keyword tab

R

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Definition: Revenue generated for every dollar spent on ads

Formula: Conversion Value ÷ Cost

Example:

Conversion Value: $5,000
Cost: $1,000
ROAS: $5,000 ÷ $1,000 = 5.0 (or 500%)

Interpretation:

Good benchmark:

Where: Calculated from Conversion Value and Cost

S

Search Impression Share

Definition: Percentage of impressions on Search Network vs. eligible opportunities

Formula: (Search Impressions ÷ Total Eligible Search Impressions) × 100%

Why it matters: Shows if you're dominating search results

Goal: 80%+ for branded terms, 50%+ for competitive terms

Where: Campaign tab (Search campaigns only)

T

Top Impression Share

Definition: Percentage of impressions where ad appeared in top positions (above organic results)

Formula: (Top Impressions ÷ Total Impressions) × 100%

Why it matters: Top positions get most clicks

Good benchmark: 70%+ for important keywords

Where: Campaign tab

V

Value Per Click

Definition: Average conversion value generated per click

Formula: Conversion Value ÷ Clicks

Example:

Conversion Value: $5,000
Clicks: 1,000
Value Per Click: $5,000 ÷ 1,000 = $5.00

Why it matters: Shows profitability per click

Where: Calculated from Conversion Value and Clicks

Value Per Conversion

Definition: Average value of each conversion

Formula: Conversion Value ÷ Conversions

Example:

Conversion Value: $5,000
Conversions: 100
Value Per Conversion: $5,000 ÷ 100 = $50

Why it matters: Average order value or lead value

Where: Conversion breakdown table

Video View Rate

Definition: Percentage of video ad impressions that resulted in views

Formula: (Video Views ÷ Video Impressions) × 100%

Example:

Views: 1,000
Impressions: 10,000
View Rate: (1,000 ÷ 10,000) × 100% = 10%

Good benchmark: 15-30% is healthy

Where: Campaign tab (Video campaigns only)

Views

Definition: Number of times your video ad was viewed

What counts as a view:

Where: Campaign tab (Video campaigns only)

Protected Metrics

These four metrics cannot be removed from the Overview tab:

1. Clicks: Core traffic metric 2. Cost: Essential for budget tracking 3. Impressions: Reach measurement 4. Conversions: Business outcome

Why protected: Foundation metrics for all analysis

Metric Categories

Volume Metrics

Track amounts and counts:

Rate Metrics

Show percentages and efficiency:

Cost Metrics

Measure spend and efficiency:

Value Metrics

Show revenue and return:

Quality Metrics

Assess ad quality:

How Metrics Are Calculated

Aggregation Methods

Sum (add all values):

Average (weighted by impressions):

Example:

Campaign A: 100 clicks, 10,000 impressions, CTR 1%
Campaign B: 50 clicks, 5,000 impressions, CTR 1%

Combined CTR:
(150 clicks ÷ 15,000 impressions) × 100% = 1%

NOT (1% + 1%) ÷ 2 = 1% (this would be wrong for different impression counts)

Date Range Impact

Important: Metrics change based on selected date range

Example:

Last 7 days:
- Clicks: 100
- CTR: 2%

Last 30 days:
- Clicks: 500
- CTR: 2.5%

Why different: Performance fluctuates over time

Best practice: Compare same time periods (week-over-week, month-over-month)

Currency Handling

All cost metrics in account currency:

Conversion:

Missing or N/A Metrics

Why metrics show "N/A":

Quality Score: Not available for:

Impression Share: Not available for:

Video metrics: Only for Video campaigns

This is normal - Google Ads doesn't provide all metrics for all scenarios

Tips for Using Metrics

Focus on What Matters

For e-commerce:

For lead generation:

For brand awareness:

Compare Metrics Together

Example analysis:

High CTR + Low Conversion Rate =
  → Ad is attractive but landing page is weak
  → Fix: Improve landing page

Low CTR + High Cost =
  → Ad not relevant, paying too much
  → Fix: Improve ad copy, lower bids

High Impression Share Lost (Budget) + Good ROAS =
  → Profitable but budget-limited
  → Fix: Increase budget

Set Up Conversion Tracking

Without conversions:

With conversions:

Action: Set up conversion tracking ASAP

Common Questions

Q: Why is my CTR higher in PerfoAds than Google Ads? A: Check the date range - they should match. If ranges match and still different, wait 24 hours for data to sync.

Q: Can I create custom metrics? A: Not currently. You can export data and calculate custom metrics in Excel.

Q: Why is my Cost Per Conversion $0? A: You have conversions but haven't assigned values to them in Google Ads. This is normal for lead generation.

Q: What's the difference between Conversions and Conversion Value? A: Conversions is the count. Conversion Value is the total monetary value. If you sell products, this is revenue.

Q: Why don't I see video metrics? A: You need Video campaigns. Video metrics don't apply to Search or Shopping campaigns.

Q: Can I see metrics by device (mobile, desktop, tablet)? A: Not directly in PerfoAds UI yet. Export campaign data and analyze in Google Ads.

Next Steps

Use metrics effectively with these guides:

Want to customize displayed metrics? Go to Client Details → Overview → Customize Metrics

Need to understand a specific metric? Use Ctrl+F to search this glossary

Last Updated: October 4, 2025