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<!-- SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2025-2026 Marcus Quinn -->

# Meta Ads Glossary

**A/B Testing (Split Testing)** — Two ad versions shown to split audiences to measure which performs better.
**ABO (Ad Set Budget Optimization)** — Budget per ad set; each spends exactly its allocation. Use for even creative testing.
**Account** — Top-level Meta Ads container for campaigns, payment methods, and access.
**Ad** — Creative (image/video/carousel), copy, and destination users see. Lives inside ad sets.
**Ad Account ID** — Unique account identifier in Business Manager. Required for API integrations.
**Ad Quality Ranking** — Perceived quality vs. competitors. Tiers: Above Average, Average, Bottom 35%, Bottom 20%.
**Ad Recall Lift** — Estimated people likely to remember your ad within 2 days. Awareness campaigns.
**Ad Relevance Diagnostics** — Three metrics: Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, Conversion Rate Ranking.
**Ad Set** — Middle campaign tier. Contains targeting, budget (ABO), schedule, placements. Parent: campaign; child: ads.
**Advantage+ Audience** — AI-driven expansion beyond targeting suggestions to find additional converters.
**Advantage+ Creative** — Auto-generates creative variations (crops, brightness, etc.) for best performers.
**Advantage+ Placements** — Auto-distributes ads across all placements to maximize results.
**Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC)** — Fully automated ecommerce campaign; handles targeting, placements, creative.
**AEM (Aggregated Event Measurement)** — iOS privacy framework limiting tracking to 8 prioritized events per domain.
**Attribution Window** — Period after ad interaction during which conversions credit. Default: 7-day click, 1-day view.
**Audience Network** — Meta's third-party app/website network for ad delivery.
**Automated Rules** — Conditions that auto-adjust campaigns (e.g., "Pause if CPA > $50").
**Bid** — Amount you'll pay per result (click, conversion, impression).
**Bid Cap** — Manual strategy setting maximum bid per auction.
**Bid Strategy** — How Meta bids for you. Options: Lowest Cost, Cost Cap, Bid Cap, ROAS Target.
**Breakdown** — Segment data by dimension (age, gender, placement, device) for analysis.
**Broad Targeting** — Minimal/no interest targeting; lets Meta's algorithm find ideal customers.
**Business Manager** — Meta's platform for managing business assets, ad accounts, pages, and team access.
**Campaign** — Top ad structure tier. Contains objective, budget (CBO), and ad sets. One campaign = one objective.
**Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO)** — Budget at campaign level; Meta auto-distributes across ad sets by performance.
**CAPI (Conversion API)** — Server-side tracking sending conversion data directly to Meta, bypassing browser limits.
**Carousel** — Ad format: 2–10 scrollable cards, each with image/video, headline, and link.
**Click-Through Rate (CTR)** — `CTR = Clicks / Impressions × 100`
**Collection** — Mobile-optimized ad combining cover image/video with catalog products.
**Confidence Interval** — Statistical range for a metric's likely true value. Wider = less certainty.
**Conversion** — Completed valuable action (purchase, lead, signup).
**Conversion Rate (CVR)** — `CVR = Conversions / Clicks × 100`
**Conversion Rate Ranking** — Your ad's conversion rate vs. same-goal ads targeting the same audience.
**Cost Cap** — Bid strategy keeping average cost per result at or below your cap.
**Cost Per Action (CPA)** — `CPA = Spend / Actions`
**Cost Per Click (CPC)** — `CPC = Spend / Clicks`
**Cost Per Mille (CPM)** — `CPM = Spend / Impressions × 1000`
**CPL (Cost Per Lead)** — `CPL = Spend / Leads`
**Creative** — Visual and text elements of an ad (image, video, copy, headline).
**Creative Fatigue** — Performance decline when audience sees the ad too often.
**Custom Audience** — Audience from your data: website visitors, customer lists, app users, or engagement.
**Custom Conversion** — Conversion defined by URL rules or standard events with specific parameters.
**Daily Budget** — Maximum spend per day for an ad set or campaign.
**Delivery** — How Meta shows ads to your target audience.
**Delivery Insights** — Detail on why an ad is or isn't spending.
**Dynamic Ads** — Auto-show relevant catalog products to people who've shown interest.
**Dynamic Creative** — Auto-tests combinations of creative assets (images, headlines, CTAs) for best performers.
**Engagement** — Ad interactions: likes, comments, shares, saves, clicks.
**Engagement Rate Ranking** — Expected engagement rate vs. competing ads for the same audience.
**Estimated Action Rate** — Meta's prediction of how likely someone is to take your desired action.
**Event** — Action tracked by Pixel or CAPI (PageView, Purchase, Lead, etc.).
**Existing Customer Budget Cap (ASC)** — In Advantage+ Shopping, max budget percentage for existing customers.
**Facebook Pixel** — JavaScript on your site tracking user actions and sending data to Meta.
**Frequency** — `Frequency = Impressions / Reach`
**Frequency Cap** — Max times a person sees your ad in a given period.
**Funnel Stage** — Journey position: TOFU (awareness), MOFU (consideration), BOFU (decision).
**Hold Rate** — Percentage of video viewers who watched past a set point (e.g., 15 seconds).
**Hook** — First seconds of video or first text line that captures attention.
**Hook Rate** — `Hook Rate = 3-Second Views / Impressions × 100`
**Impression** — One instance of your ad being displayed.
**Incrementality** — Conversions that would NOT have happened without the ad (true net-new business).
**Instant Experience** — Full-screen mobile experience opening when someone taps your ad.
**Instant Form (Lead Form)** — In-platform form pre-filled with user info.
**Interest Targeting** — Targeting based on interests inferred from Facebook/Instagram behavior.
**Landing Page** — Webpage users reach after clicking your ad.
**Landing Page Views** — Times landing page loaded after ad click (more accurate than link clicks).
**Lead** — Person who submitted information expressing interest.
**Learning Limited** — Ad set not getting enough conversions to optimize (<50/week).
**Learning Phase** — Initial period for Meta's algorithm to gather optimization data (~50 conversions).
**Lifetime Budget** — Total spend over the campaign's entire duration.
**Link Click** — Click leading to a destination (website, app, etc.).
**Lookalike Audience** — People similar to an existing audience. Range: 1% (most similar) to 10%.
**Lowest Cost** — Default bid strategy; Meta gets the most results for your budget.
**Matched Audience** — Percentage of uploaded customer list matched to Facebook users.
**MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio)** — `MER = Total Revenue / Total Marketing Spend`
**Messenger Ads** — Ads appearing in Messenger or driving conversations to Messenger.
**Negative Feedback** — Users hide, report, or indicate they don't want your ad.
**Objective** — Campaign goal: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotion, Sales.
**Optimization Event** — Action Meta optimizes for (purchases, leads, landing page views).
**Outbound Clicks** — Clicks leading away from Facebook/Instagram.
**Page** — Your Facebook Page, required to run ads.
**Placement** — Where your ad appears: Feed, Stories, Reels, Explore, Messenger, Audience Network, etc.
**Post Engagement** — Likes, comments, shares, and clicks on a post-style ad.
**Primary Text** — Main body copy above the image/video.
**Prospecting** — Targeting new potential customers (cold audience).
**Purchase** — Standard event for completed transactions.
**Quality Ranking** — Perceived quality vs. competing ads for the same audience.
**Reach** — Unique people who saw your ad at least once.
**Relevance Score** — (Deprecated) Combined engagement/quality/conversion metric. Replaced by Ad Relevance Diagnostics.
**Retargeting** — Ads shown to people who've already interacted with your brand.
**ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)** — `ROAS = Revenue / Ad Spend` (e.g., $300/$100 = 3x)
**ROAS Target** — Bid strategy setting minimum return on ad spend.
**Scale** — Increasing spend on winning campaigns while maintaining performance.
**Schedule** — When ads run: always-on, specific dates, or specific hours/days.
**Signal** — Data helping Meta understand who converts (pixel events, CAPI, engagement).
**Special Ad Category** — Restricted categories: Credit, Employment, Housing, Social Issues/Elections/Politics.
**Split Test** — A/B test at campaign level to compare variables.
**Standard Events** — Pre-defined conversion events Meta recognizes (PageView, Purchase, Lead, etc.).
**Targeting** — Defining who sees your ads: demographics, interests, behaviors, or custom audiences.
**ThruPlay** — Video view of at least 15 seconds (or full completion if shorter).
**TOFU/MOFU/BOFU** — Top/Middle/Bottom of Funnel. Customer journey stages.
**UGC (User-Generated Content)** — Content created by customers/creators, often testimonial-style.
**UTM Parameters** — URL tags tracking traffic source in analytics. Example: `?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=name`
**Value-Based Lookalike** — Lookalike weighted by customer LTV to find people similar to best customers.
**Video Views** — Times video was watched (thresholds: 3s, 10s, ThruPlay).
**View Content** — Standard event when someone views a key page (product, article).
**View-Through Conversion** — Conversion after someone saw (but didn't click) your ad.
**Warm Audience** — People who've interacted with your brand but haven't converted.
**Website Conversion** — Conversion on your website, tracked by Pixel/CAPI.

*Back to: [meta-ads.md](meta-ads.md)*
