Knowing AdWords Terminology – Attribution Specifically

Overall, there’s a lot of great data and information to glean from your AdWords account. Because it might take some time to remember all of it, use the list below as a cheat sheet on the terms that are most important.

• Ad clicks per conversion: The total number of ad clicks on conversion paths divided by the number of conversions.

• Ad impressions per conversion: The total number of ad impressions on conversion paths divided by the number of conversions.

• Assisted conversions: The number of conversions that were assisted by a particular campaign, ad group, or keyword. Assisted conversions don’t include last click conversions.

• Attribution: Assigning value to the different interactions on a customer’s conversion path.

• Last clicks: Any search ad click that happened just before a conversion.

• Last click conversions: The number of conversions that had a particular campaign, ad group, or keyword as the immediately preceding search ad click.

• Path length (impressions): The total number of search ad impressions that preceded a conversion. These could’ve been clicked or not clicked.

• Path length (clicks): The total number of search ad clicks, including the “last click,” that preceded a conversion.

• Time lag (from first impression): The total amount of time from when the viewer first sees one of your search ads (clicked or un-clicked) until conversion.

• Time lag (from first click): The total amount of time from when the user first clicks on one of your search ads until conversion.

• Time lag (from last click): The total amount of time from when the “last click” happened, until conversion. There can be significant lag from last click, as AdWords will count a conversion happening after the last click within your conversion window.

• Top paths (clicks): Describes the sequence of search ad clicks leading up to conversion. Can be at the keyword, ad group, and campaign level.

• Top paths (impressions): Describes the sequence of search ad impressions leading up to conversion. Can be at the keyword, ad group, and campaign level.

• Top paths (clicks, transition only): Collapses consecutive “repeat clicks” on a conversion path.

• Top paths (impressions, transition only): Collapses consecutive “repeat impressions” on a conversion path.