Glossary

Seen a term you do not recognise? It is explained here.

what every word on this site actually means · Reference

Live data

Every term, in plain words

21 terms used across the console

Nothing here assumes you work in media. Each entry says what the number is, how it is worked out where that helps, and what a high or low reading tends to mean.

Bounce rate

The share of visits where someone arrived, did nothing, and left.

High usually means the page did not match what the person expected.

Clicks

The number of times someone tapped or clicked the ad.

Completion rate

The share of people who started the video and watched all of it.

Views to 100% ÷ total video views

High means the full message landed, not just the first frame.

Cost per thousand times shown

What it cost, on average, to put the ad in front of screens one thousand times.

Investment ÷ times shown × 1,000

Lower means the exposure was cheaper to buy. Very cheap exposure is often in lower-quality placements, so it is not automatically better.

CPC (cost per click)

What we paid, on average, for each click.

Cost ÷ clicks

Lower means each visit cost less to buy.

CPM (cost per thousand views)

What it cost to show the ad one thousand times.

Cost ÷ impressions × 1,000

Lower is cheaper exposure, but very cheap views are often lower quality.

CTR (click-through rate)

Out of everyone who saw the ad, the share who clicked it.

Clicks ÷ impressions

Higher means the ad persuaded more of the people who saw it to act.

Engagement rate

The share of people shown a post who reacted to it in some way — a like, share, comment or click.

Higher means the content prompted people to do something, not just look.

Frequency

How many times, on average, one person saw the ad.

Impressions ÷ reach

Very high frequency usually means people are getting tired of the ad.

Hold rate

Of the people who got a quarter of the way in, the share who watched to the end.

Views to 100% ÷ views to 25%

High means the middle of the video keeps people. Low means they drop off after the opening.

Hook rate

The share of people who stayed long enough to watch the first quarter of the video.

Views to 25% ÷ impressions

High means the opening seconds stopped the scroll. Low means the start is weak.

Impression share

Out of all the times our ad could have appeared for a search, the share of times it actually did.

Times shown ÷ times eligible to be shown

Below 100% means we missed chances to appear, usually on budget or ad rank.

Impressions

The number of times an ad was shown on someone's screen.

The same person can be counted more than once if they saw the ad twice.

Investment

The money spent running this group of ads over the period shown.

Read it beside the results: a large investment with few results is the thing to question.

Lost to ad rank

The share of missed appearances caused by the ad not being competitive enough, rather than by budget.

High means rivals outbid or out-ranked us for those searches.

Quality score

A 1–10 rating from Google of how relevant the ad and landing page are to what people searched for.

Higher usually means cheaper clicks and better placement.

Reach

The number of different people who saw the ad at least once.

Always lower than impressions, because one person can see an ad many times.

Sessions

Visits to the website. One person browsing for a while counts as one session.

Share of voice

How much of the total conversation about a topic is about Sharjah rather than rivals.

Higher means Sharjah is more present in the conversation than the places it competes with.

Spend

Money paid to the platforms to run the ads over the period shown.

VTR (view-through rate)

The share of people shown a video ad who watched it.

Video views ÷ impressions

Higher means the video held people rather than being scrolled past.