Glossary
The words behind the ads.
The metrics, formats and measurement terms that come up when ads are made and judged on real results. Each one with a plain definition, the formula where there is one, and what it tells you.
- CPI (cost per install) In mobile app advertising, CPI (cost per install) is what you pay, on average, for each app install your ads drive: campaign spend divided by installs.
- CPM (cost per mille) CPM (cost per mille) is the price an advertiser pays for 1,000 impressions of an ad.
- Creative fatigue Creative fatigue is the drop in an ad's results after its audience has seen the same creative too many times, which shows up as a rising cost per result.
- Creative strategy Creative strategy is the repeatable process for deciding which ads to make next, from performance data and the category, and for turning every test into a lesson the next brief can use.
- CTR (click-through rate) CTR (click-through rate) is the share of ad impressions that result in a click: clicks divided by impressions.
- CTV (connected TV) In advertising, CTV (connected TV) is a television screen connected to the internet, directly as a smart TV or through a console or streaming device, and CTV ads are video ads bought to run on that big screen.
- eCPM (effective cost per mille) eCPM (effective cost per mille) is the revenue a publisher earns for every 1,000 ad impressions shown, across all the advertisers on its inventory.
- End card An end card is the screen shown after a video ad finishes, carrying the app or product details and a call to action; it can be a static image or an interactive playable.
- Hook rate Hook rate is the share of a video ad's impressions in which the viewer kept watching past the first few seconds, most often calculated as 3-second video plays divided by impressions.
- Incrementality Incrementality is the part of your conversions that happened because of your ads and would not have happened without them, measured by comparing an exposed group to a holdout.
- Interstitial ad An interstitial ad is a full-screen ad that covers an app's interface until the user closes it, shown at a natural break such as between levels of a game.
- IPM (installs per mille) In mobile app advertising, IPM (installs per mille) is the number of app installs you get for every 1,000 ad impressions.
- LTV (lifetime value) LTV (lifetime value) is an estimate of the average revenue a user or customer will generate over the whole time they use your product.
- MMP (mobile measurement partner) An MMP (mobile measurement partner) is a third-party platform that attributes app installs and in-app events to the ad networks, campaigns and creatives that drove them.
- Playable ad A playable ad is a short interactive demo that runs inside the ad unit, letting someone try the core of a game or app before installing it.
- ROAS (return on ad spend) ROAS (return on ad spend) is the revenue a campaign generates divided by what the campaign cost, expressed as a ratio or a percentage.
- SKAdNetwork (SKAN) SKAdNetwork (SKAN) is Apple's framework for attributing iOS app installs to ads without user- or device-specific data: the ad network signs the ad, and the device later sends a delayed, privacy-thresholded postback.
- UGC (user-generated content) In advertising, UGC (user-generated content) is ad creative that looks and sounds like it was made by a real person rather than a brand, usually someone talking to camera on a phone.