Digital Marketing Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising Syllabus

List two of the most common IAB standard display banner sizes.

Medium Rectangle ($300 \times 250$) and Leaderboard ($728 \times 90$); other common sizes include the Wide Skyscraper ($160 \times 600$).

Which pricing model is most commonly used to buy awareness-focused Display Ads?

CPM (cost per thousand impressions), because display campaigns are often optimized for reach and brand exposure rather than direct clicks.

Define a 'Video Ad' in PPC advertising.

An ad delivered in video format, shown before, during, or after streaming video content (e.g., on YouTube) or within the display network, charged on views, clicks, or impressions.

What is a 'skippable in-stream' YouTube video ad, and when is the advertiser charged?

An ad that plays before/during a video and can be skipped after $5$ seconds; under CPV bidding the advertiser is charged when a viewer watches $30$ seconds (or the whole ad if shorter) or interacts with it.

What does CPV stand for, and how is it calculated?

Cost Per View. $$CPV = \frac{\text{Total Cost}}{\text{Views}}$$ It is the standard pricing metric for video advertising.

What is a 'bumper ad' on YouTube?

A non-skippable video ad of up to $6$ seconds, designed for short, memorable reach and typically priced on a CPM basis.

What is a 'non-skippable in-stream' video ad and its typical length?

A video ad that must be watched in full before the content plays, usually $15$–$20$ seconds long, priced on CPM.

Define a 'Shopping Ad' (Product Listing Ad).

A retail ad that displays a product image, title, price, and store name directly on the SERP, pulled from a product data feed rather than keywords.

What data source powers Google Shopping Ads instead of keywords?

A product feed submitted through Google Merchant Center, containing product attributes (title, description, price, image, GTIN, availability, etc.).

Which two platforms must be linked to run Google Shopping Ads?

Google Merchant Center (product feed) and Google Ads (campaign management and bidding).

How does keyword targeting differ for Shopping Ads versus Search Ads?

Shopping Ads do not use advertiser-chosen keywords; Google matches products to queries automatically based on the product feed data, and advertisers control matching using negative keywords and product groups.

What is a 'product group' in a Shopping campaign?

A subdivision of inventory (by category, brand, product type, item ID, or custom label) used to organize bids and reporting for groups of products.

What are Performance Max (PMax) campaigns?

Goal-based Google Ads campaigns that use automation to serve ads across all Google inventory (Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping, Gmail, Discover) from a single campaign, driven by conversion goals and an asset group.

Define a 'Facebook Ad' within Meta's advertising ecosystem.

A paid placement shown across Meta's Facebook platform (Feed, Stories, Marketplace, Reels, right column) targeting users based on demographics, interests, and behaviors rather than search intent.

What are the three levels of the Meta Ads (Facebook Ads) campaign structure, from top to bottom?

1) Campaign (defines the objective), 2) Ad Set (defines audience, budget, schedule, and placements), 3) Ad (the creative shown to users).

What is the Meta Pixel and what is its purpose?

A piece of JavaScript code placed on a website that tracks visitor actions (page views, add-to-cart, purchases) to measure conversions, build audiences, and optimize Facebook/Instagram ad delivery.

What is a 'Custom Audience' in Meta Ads?

An audience built from your own data sources — customer lists, website traffic (via the Pixel), app activity, or engagement — to re-target people who already know your brand.

What is a 'Lookalike Audience' in Meta Ads?

An audience Meta generates by finding new users who share characteristics with an existing source (Custom) audience, used to scale prospecting to similar high-value people.

Define an 'Instagram Ad'.

A paid placement served within Instagram surfaces — Feed, Stories, Reels, Explore, and Shop — managed through Meta Ads Manager and often run alongside Facebook placements.

Which Instagram ad format appears full-screen between users' Stories and typically lasts up to 15 seconds?

The Instagram Stories ad — a vertical, full-screen ($9{:}16$) image or video placement shown between organic Stories.

What is the recommended aspect ratio for Instagram Feed image ads versus Stories/Reels ads?

Feed ads are commonly square ($1{:}1$) or portrait ($4{:}5$), while Stories and Reels ads use full-screen vertical $9{:}16$.

Because Facebook and Instagram share Meta Ads Manager, how can an advertiser run on both simultaneously?

By selecting Advantage+ placements (automatic placements) or manually choosing both Facebook and Instagram placements within a single ad set, using the same creative and budget.

Define a 'LinkedIn Ad'.

A paid placement on the LinkedIn platform targeting professionals by job title, company, industry, seniority, skills, and other career attributes — primarily used for B2B marketing and lead generation.

What is 'Sponsored Content' on LinkedIn?

Native ads (single image, video, carousel, or document) that appear directly in the LinkedIn feed, promoting content to a targeted professional audience.

What is a LinkedIn 'Message Ad' (formerly Sponsored InMail)?

An ad delivered directly to a member's LinkedIn inbox as a personalized message, charged per send (cost per send) rather than per click.

What professional targeting criteria make LinkedIn Ads especially suited to B2B?

Targeting by job title, job function, seniority, company name/size, industry, and member skills — attributes tied to professional identity that other social platforms lack.

Why do LinkedIn Ads typically have a higher CPC than Facebook or Google Search Ads?

Because LinkedIn reaches a premium, hard-to-access professional/B2B audience with high-value lead potential, so competition and value per click drive costs up.

Rank Search, Display, and Video ads by typical user intent from highest to lowest.

Search Ads (highest — active query intent) > Video Ads (mid — engaged but passive) > Display Ads (lowest — purely browsing/awareness).

What is the difference between CPC bidding and CPM bidding?

With CPC you pay per click (good for traffic/conversion goals); with CPM you pay per thousand impressions (good for reach/awareness goals) regardless of clicks.

What is 'impression share' in a PPC campaign?

$$\text{Impression Share} = \frac{\text{Impressions Received}}{\text{Total Eligible Impressions}} \times 100\%$$ It shows the percentage of possible impressions your ads actually earned.

How do you calculate the maximum profitable CPA given profit per conversion?

The break-even CPA equals the profit margin per conversion: $$\text{Max CPA} = \text{Profit per Conversion} = \text{Revenue per Conversion} - \text{Cost of Goods}$$ Bidding above this loses money on each acquisition.