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Glossary.
Plain-English definitions of the advertising, tracking and search terms we use with clients.
- ROASReturn on ad spend
ROAS is revenue from ads divided by ad spend. A 5x ROAS means £5 of revenue for every £1 spent.
It ignores product costs, so a high ROAS can still lose money. Compare it with your break-even ROAS.
- POASProfit on ad spend
POAS is gross profit from ads divided by ad spend. A POAS above 1.0 means each pound of advertising returns more than a pound of profit.
It accounts for product cost, fees and delivery, which makes it a better guide to profitability than ROAS. Calculate your POAS.
- Break-even ROASCalculation
Break-even ROAS is the ROAS at which profit after advertising is zero. It equals 1 divided by your gross margin.
At a 40% margin, break-even ROAS is 2.5x. Anything below it loses money on every sale.
- Target ROAS (tROAS)Google Ads bid strategy
Target ROAS is a Google Ads Smart Bidding strategy that sets bids to achieve an average return on ad spend you choose.
It works best when conversion values are accurate and the target is set from your margins rather than a guess.
- Performance MaxGoogle Ads campaign type
Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that uses one budget to serve ads across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps.
It relies heavily on the conversion data and product feed you give it, so tracking and exclusions matter.
- Search terms reportGoogle Ads report
The search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, as opposed to the keywords you chose.
It is the main source for finding irrelevant searches to add as negative keywords.
- Search term wasteMetric
Search term waste is ad spend on searches that are irrelevant to what you sell and never convert.
In accounts that aren’t reviewed regularly it is often 10 to 20% of search spend. Estimate yours.
- Negative keywordGoogle Ads setting
A negative keyword stops your ads showing for searches that contain it.
Negative keyword scripts can add them automatically when a search term spends past a threshold without converting.
- Enhanced conversionsGoogle Ads tracking feature
Enhanced conversions send hashed first-party data, such as an email address, with each conversion so Google can match more sales to ads.
It recovers conversions that cookies miss and improves Smart Bidding.
- Conversions APIMeta tracking feature
The Meta Conversions API sends purchase and lead events from your server to Meta, alongside the browser pixel.
It recovers conversions lost to browser privacy settings and ad blockers.
- Consent Mode v2Google consent framework
Consent Mode v2 tells Google tags whether a visitor has agreed to cookies for advertising and analytics, and adjusts how tags behave.
It is needed to keep Google measurement and remarketing working for UK and EEA audiences.
- Google Tag ManagerTool
Google Tag Manager is a free tool for adding and managing tracking tags on a website without editing its code each time.
It is where GA4, Google Ads and Meta tracking are usually configured. Our setup service.
- AEOAnswer engine optimisation
Answer engine optimisation is structuring content so search engines use it as a direct answer, in AI Overviews, featured snippets and voice results.
It relies on question-led headings, concise answers and structured data. Our AEO service.
- GEOGenerative engine optimisation
Generative engine optimisation is improving how often and how accurately AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity mention and recommend a brand.
It depends on citable content and consistent brand information across many sources. Our GEO service.