A free tool which Google provide to give an indication of the likely traffic levels of selected keywords. It provides a visual indication of the search volume, estimated average cost per click and estimated clicks per day. To obtain more accurate data use the version of the tool available via Adwords when you are in the Adgroup which you would like to add the keyword to.

Quality Score is a metric applied by Google Adwords to assist ranking their paid search ads. See http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=10215

Phrase match is one of the keyword matching options available on Google to target your ads to users’ search phrases. Phrase match keywords are entered between quotation marks, for example “football boots” – Your ads will appear for any searches containing the phrase “football boots”, with any additional words before or after the phrase in quotations.

See Also: Broad Match, Exact Match, Negative Match, Keyword Match

Often referred to as sponsored listings, paid search is a method of advertising whereby you bid on relevant keywords / phrases which users type into search engines, which you would like your ads to appear. Paid ads within the search engine results pages appear above and to the right of the natural or organic results.

See Paid Search

Originally branded as GoTo.com, they rebranded themselves as Overture Services Inc in Oct 2001. They were the first company to successfully provide paid search placement. They worked with MSN and Yahoo! and went on to acquire AltaVista and AllTheWeb. In 2003 Overture was purchased by Yahoo!

In Paid Search you can add negative keywords to prevent your ads from displaying for certain searches. For example, if you sell bathrooms, you might consider using  as a negative keyword so that your ads do not show for searches for ‘how to build fitted wardrobes’.

See Also: Broad Match, Exact Match, Phrase Match,  Keyword Matching

The page a visitor arrives on (or lands on) after clicking on an advertisement or link.

Keyword popularity refers to how frequently searches are conducted on a given keyword or phrase. For example ‘car insurance’ is more popular than ‘insurance for mini cooper’.

Refers to the options which paid search advertisers can elect to ‘match’ the keyword terms which they are bidding on. Match types include broad, phrase, exact and negative.

See Also: Broad Match, Phrase Match, Exact Match, Negative Match

A word or group of words which are entered into a search engine to form a search query.

A spammy, keyword stuffed page which has been created specifically for the purpose of generating revenue from contextual search ads such as AdSense.

A free tool which Google provide to assist advertisers to decide which keywords they should utilise within paid search campaigns. In addition to providing keyword suggestions, the tool offers an indication of cost per click and search volume for specific keywords. See https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

An individual who has passed the Google Advertising Professional exam. The exam and syllabus is designed and run by Google to help provide training for those who manage paid search campaigns.

A term often coined in direct mail, email and advertising; geo-targeting refers to the process of targeting your messages based on where your desired audience is located. Currently Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft AdCenter allow you to demographically target paid search ads.

See Also: Demographic Targeting

Refers to Google Adwords paid search matching options. As exact match suggests, when you bid on this type of matching term, your ad will only appear when a user types in that exact keyword into the search box. For further details see http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6100

See Also: Keyword Matching, Phrase Match, Broad Match, Negative Match

Often used in paid search advertising in order to make ads appear more relevant to searchers. Utilising a small amount of code, the keyword which the search engine user has typed into the search box is automatically inserted into the ad.

Commonly used in paid search campaigns, dayparting is the process of turning ad campaigns on or off based around either your business needs, or your users behaviour. For example if you only man your phone lines from 9am-5.30pm and you are running a paid search campaign which generates calls, then it makes sense to only run paid search ads between the hours of 9am-5.30pm.

Refers to a user’s interaction with an ad. If they click through they are redirected to a new page pertaining directly to the advert which they have clicked on.

See Also: Click Through Rate, Pay Per Click

One of the keyword matching options available via Google Adwords. As the name suggests this option if selected, will display your ads when the broad matched keyword appears anywhere within a given search query. It will also show for common misspellings and for synonyms.

See Also: Keyword Matching, Phrase Match, Exact Match, Negative Match

This refers to any keywords which contain a brand e.g. ‘Cheap iPod’. When building a paid search campaign many advertisers elect to bid on a variety of generic and branded terms.

Within an auction environment participants place bids (essentially state how much they are willing to pay for a given item). With reference to paid search advertisers bid (i.e. state the maximum they are willing to pay) on a per click basis for someone who is searching for a particular keyword or search term.

As paid search campaigns become increasingly complex, some advertisers elect to utilise bid management tools to assist them in managing their spend. These tools integrate with analytics packages – to amend bids according to conversion rates and ROI; and / or stock control systems (in the case of e-tailers) to ensure clients are not bidding on terms pertaining to items which are out of stock.

Within Google’s Adwords programme an Adgroup is a group of keywords which all show the same advert / variety of adverts. It is important to create tightly targeted Adgroups, so that you can then created targeted ads which will appeal to users who are searching for the keywords / phrases which you are bidding on.

See also: Adwords