Glossary of ad and AI video terms

This ad metrics glossary defines the numbers and terms used to judge paid social and AI video ads: cost metrics such as CPM and CPA, profit metrics such as ROAS and break-even ROAS, video metrics such as hook rate and hold rate, and creator terms such as whitelisting, usage rights and Spark Ads.
  • Ad angle

    The reason to buy an ad is built around; one angle, many hooks and formats.

  • Advantage+ creative

    Meta's AI tools that generate and adjust variations of your ad in Ads Manager.

  • AI UGC

    UGC-style ads generated with AI tools instead of filmed.

  • Andromeda

    Meta's ads retrieval system: the first stage that picks which ads get ranked.

  • Break-even ROAS

    1 divided by your contribution margin ratio: the ROAS where ads use up the whole margin.

  • CAC

    Total acquisition spend divided by new customers in the same period.

  • Contribution margin

    Price minus variable costs per order; the number behind break-even ROAS and CPA.

  • CPA

    Ad spend divided by conversions, judged against break-even CPA.

  • CPM

    Cost per 1,000 impressions: spend divided by impressions, times 1,000.

  • Creative fatigue

    Results fall as the same audience sees the same creative too often.

  • CTR

    Clicks divided by impressions: link CTR vs CTR (all), and why no universal good CTR exists.

  • Frequency

    Impressions divided by reach: how often, on average, each person saw the ad.

  • Hold rate

    How many 3-second viewers kept watching: ThruPlays (or 15-second plays) divided by 3-second plays.

  • Hook

    The opening seconds of an ad, built to stop the scroll; measured by hook rate.

  • Hook rate

    3-second video plays divided by impressions: did the opening stop the scroll?

  • LTV

    What a customer is worth over the relationship: order value × orders per year × years.

  • Partnership ads

    Meta ads run from a creator's handle, with both accounts in the header.

  • ROAS

    Return on ad spend: ad revenue divided by ad spend, read against break-even ROAS.

  • Safe zone

    The part of a 9:16 ad that buttons, captions and bars do not cover.

  • Spark Ads

    TikTok ads that promote an organic post, from the brand's or a creator's account.

  • ThruPlay

    Meta's count of plays to 15 seconds or near completion, and a performance goal.

  • Thumbstop ratio

    Another name for hook rate: 3-second video plays divided by impressions.

  • UGC

    User-generated content, and the paid creator videos made to look like it.

  • Usage rights

    Where, how long and how a brand may use a creator's content.

  • Whitelisting

    A brand runs paid ads from a creator's own account, with permission.

What does the glossary cover?

Each entry starts with a short definition that answers the question in its title. Entries for metrics then give the formula on its own line, a worked example with real numbers, and how the metric is read when testing AI and UGC ads.

The terms fall into four groups:

Group Entries
Cost and click metrics CPM, CTR, CPA, frequency
Profit metrics ROAS, break-even ROAS, contribution margin, LTV, CAC
Video and creative metrics hook rate, hold rate, thumbstop ratio, ThruPlay, creative fatigue
Creative and creator terms hook, ad angle, UGC, AI UGC, whitelisting, usage rights, Spark Ads, partnership ads, Advantage+ creative, Andromeda, safe zone

Every metric with a formula links to the free calculator that works it out. The worked examples in the glossary use the same numbers as the calculators, so the result you read in an entry is the result the tool shows for the same inputs. For example, spend of 2,500 and 200,000 impressions give a CPM of 12.50 in both the CPM entry and the CPM calculator.

The profit entries share one example product: a price of 150 with 90 in variable costs per order. That gives a contribution margin of 60, a break-even ROAS of 2.5 and a break-even CPA of 60, and the break-even ROAS calculator returns the same figures. The video entries share one ad with 100,000 impressions, 30,000 3-second plays and 6,000 ThruPlays, which the hook rate calculator uses too. All calculators are listed on the tools page.

Where do the definitions come from?

Platform terms such as ThruPlay, frequency, partnership ads and Spark Ads use the platform's own help pages, linked in each entry. Hook rate and hold rate are not defined by Meta or TikTok, so those entries name the practitioner sources and give both hold rate formulas. No entry gives a "good" benchmark without a source next to it. Where a good number depends on your margin, as with ROAS, the entry shows how to work out your own break-even point instead.

Who is the glossary for?

It is written for people who make and buy AI video ads: creators and editors reading their own results, and brands judging which versions to scale. Anglr pays AI creators, editors and agencies on performance to make every version of winning ads. See how it works for creators or for brands.