Reference
Ad-ops & AI glossary: ROAS, CPA, MCC, PMax, GAQL, MCP and more
TL;DR
A quick-reference glossary of the ad-operations and AI terms used throughout these guides and the product — from ROAS and CPA to GAQL, PMax, MCP and approval gates.
Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) | Revenue generated per dollar of ad spend — ad revenue ÷ ad cost (e.g. $4 per $1 = 4:1). |
| CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) | The average cost of one conversion — total cost ÷ number of conversions. |
| MCC / Manager account | A Google Ads umbrella account that manages multiple individual accounts from one dashboard and sign-in. |
| RSA (Responsive Search Ad) | A search ad where you supply multiple headlines and descriptions and Google tests combinations. |
| PMax (Performance Max) | A goal-based, AI-driven campaign that serves across Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Display and Discover from one campaign. |
| GAQL (Google Ads Query Language) | The SQL-like query language used by the Google Ads API to retrieve reporting data and resource metadata. |
| MCP (Model Context Protocol) | An open standard (Anthropic, Nov 2024) that lets AI models connect to external tools and data via tools, resources and prompts. |
| AI Gateway | A control layer that routes and governs calls to many AI models behind one interface, so each agent can use a different model. |
| Approval gate | A control point where an AI's proposed action pauses for human review and sign-off before it executes. |
| Human-in-the-loop (HITL) | An AI design where people review, correct or approve AI outputs at defined decision points rather than letting it act unattended. |
| BigQuery Data Transfer Service | A Google Cloud service that schedules automatic transfers of Google Ads (and other) data into BigQuery for SQL analysis. |