Ad creative glossary

A/B test

Also called Split test

An A/B test shows different versions of an ad strategy to separate, randomly split groups so nobody sees both, then picks a winner, usually the version with the lowest cost per result.

Ad creative

Also called Creative

Ad creative is what people actually see in an ad: the image or video, the text on and around it, and the call to action. On Meta it is chosen at the ad level, under the campaign and ad set.

Ad Library API

The Ad Library API is Meta's programmatic search of its Ad Library. It covers political and issue ads from the past 7 years and any ad delivered to the UK or EU in the past year.

Ad localization

Also called Localized ads, Multi-language ads

Ad localization is adapting an ad for another language and market: the copy, the text in the image, the layout for right-to-left scripts, and claims that local rules treat differently.

Ad relevance diagnostics

Ad relevance diagnostics are Meta's three rankings of an ad against ads competing for the same audience: quality, engagement rate and conversion rate. They diagnose, they don't score.

Ad review

Also called Ad approval

Ad review is Meta's check of a new or edited ad against its Advertising Standards before it runs. Most ads are reviewed within 24 hours, and any ad can be reviewed again later.

Ad set

Also called Adset

An ad set is the middle level of a Meta campaign: it holds the audience, budget, schedule and placements, and the ads inside it share them. Learning is measured here.

Advantage+ creative

Also called Creative enhancements

Advantage+ creative is Meta's set of automatic enhancements that can adjust your ad's images, video and text per viewer. Some are on by default, decided per ad, and you turn them off per ad.

AI info label

Also called AI info

The AI info label is the tag Meta adds to an ad made or significantly edited with generative AI. It usually sits in the ad's About this ad screen, not on the ad itself.

Aspect ratio

Aspect ratio is an ad's width compared with its height, written width:height. Meta recommends 4:5 for Facebook Feed, 9:16 for Stories and Reels, and 1:1 or 4:5 for carousels.

C2PA

Also called Content Credentials

C2PA is the open standard behind Content Credentials: a signed record inside a file of where an image, video or audio came from, how it was edited and whether AI was used.

Carousel ad

Also called Carousel

A carousel ad shows two or more images or videos in one ad, each card with its own headline, link and call to action. On Meta it holds up to 10 cards, usually square.

CPM

Also called Cost per mille, Cost per 1,000 impressions

CPM is the average cost of 1,000 ad impressions: amount spent divided by impressions, times 1,000. It measures what attention costs, not whether the ad worked.

Creative fatigue

Also called Ad fatigue

Creative fatigue is when people have seen the same ad image or video so often that they engage less and cost per result rises. Meta flags it from repeated exposure, graded against your past ads.

Creative testing

Also called Creative test

Creative testing is running new ad images, videos or copy against each other to find what performs. Meta's creative test does it inside a live campaign, with up to 7 variants.

Flexible ads

Also called Flexible ad format, Flexible format

Flexible is a Meta ad format: you add up to 10 images and videos to one ad, and Meta picks which media and format, such as single image, video or carousel, each person sees.

Frequency

Also called Ad frequency

Frequency is the average number of times each person saw your ad: impressions divided by reach. Meta treats a high or rising number as a reason to look, never as a fixed limit.

Hook rate

Also called Thumbstop rate

Hook rate is the share of a video ad's impressions that became 3-second plays: how often the opening stopped the scroll. Meta now reports it, with hold rate, as an in-development metric.

Learning phase

The learning phase is the period after a new ad set or a significant edit when Meta's delivery is still unstable. It usually ends after about 50 optimization events in a week.

Meta Ad Library

Also called Facebook Ad Library

The Meta Ad Library is Meta's free public search of ads running on Facebook, Instagram and its other apps, with longer history for political ads and ads shown in the UK or EU.

Placement

Also called Ad placement

A placement is a place an ad can appear, such as Facebook Feed, Instagram Stories or Reels. Each has its own shape, specs and interface, so one ad rarely fits them all unchanged.

Reels ads

Also called Reels ad

Reels ads are full-screen vertical ads that play between reels on Instagram and Facebook. They run at 9:16, up to 15 minutes, with the app's buttons and caption over the bottom of the frame.

Safe zone

Also called Safe area

A safe zone is the part of an ad's frame the app's own buttons and captions don't cover. On Meta's Stories and Reels it is everything inside the top 14%, bottom 35% and 6% each side.

Static ad

Also called Image ad, Static image ad

A static ad is a single still image with its text, used as an ad. Meta calls the format an image ad: one photo or graphic, recommended at 4:5 in Facebook Feed and 9:16 in Stories.

ThruPlay

A ThruPlay is Meta's count of a video ad watched to the end or for at least 15 seconds. It is also a performance goal, now offered at 6 or 15 seconds, and a way to be billed.

UGC ad

Also called User-generated content ad, UGC-style ad

A UGC ad is a paid ad made to look like content from an ordinary customer or creator: phone-shot video, a person talking to camera, a review. Disclosure rules follow who made it and why.