# Video ad glossary

> 42 short-form video ad terms in plain English, with formulas and examples.

Canonical: https://use-addy.site/glossary
Last updated: 2026-10-26

- [Ad library](https://use-addy.site/glossary/ad-library): An ad library is a public database of ads currently running on a platform, such as the Meta Ad Library, used to research competitors' creative.
- [Ad set](https://use-addy.site/glossary/ad-set): An ad set is the middle layer of a Meta campaign, where budget, audience, placements and schedule are set for the ads inside it.
- [Advantage+](https://use-addy.site/glossary/advantage-plus): Advantage+ is Meta's family of automated ad features that let its system choose audiences, placements and creative tweaks for you.
- [AI actor](https://use-addy.site/glossary/ai-actor): An AI actor is a generated person who appears and speaks in a video ad, used in place of a filmed creator.
- [AI disclosure label](https://use-addy.site/glossary/disclosure-label): An AI disclosure label is a notice that an ad or post contains AI-generated people, voices or scenes.
- [AI UGC](https://use-addy.site/glossary/ai-ugc): AI UGC is a UGC-style video ad where the person on camera, the voice or both are generated by AI instead of filmed with a real creator.
- [AOV (average order value)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/aov): AOV is the average amount a customer spends per order.
- [Aspect ratio (9:16)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/aspect-ratio): Aspect ratio is a video's width compared to its height; 9:16 is full-screen vertical video, 1080 pixels wide by 1920 tall.
- [B-roll](https://use-addy.site/glossary/b-roll): B-roll is supporting footage that plays over or between the main shot, such as product close-ups, hands using the product or scenery.
- [Broad targeting](https://use-addy.site/glossary/broad-targeting): Broad targeting means running ads with few or no interest or lookalike filters and letting the platform's algorithm find buyers.
- [Burned-in captions](https://use-addy.site/glossary/captions): Burned-in captions are subtitles rendered into the video pixels, so they show on every platform without the viewer turning them on.
- [Completion rate](https://use-addy.site/glossary/completion-rate): Completion rate is the share of video plays that reached the end of the video.
- [CPA (cost per acquisition)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/cpa): CPA is what you spend on ads, on average, to get one conversion such as a purchase, signup or install.
- [CPC (cost per click)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/cpc): CPC is the average amount you pay for each click on your ad.
- [CPM (cost per mille)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/cpm): CPM is what you pay for 1,000 ad impressions.
- [CPV (cost per view)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/cpv): CPV is the average price you pay for one counted video view.
- [Creative fatigue](https://use-addy.site/glossary/creative-fatigue): Creative fatigue is when an ad's results decline because the audience has seen it too many times.
- [Creative testing](https://use-addy.site/glossary/creative-testing): Creative testing is running several versions of an ad with the same budget and audience to find which one performs best.
- [CTA (call to action)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/cta): A CTA is the instruction that tells the viewer what to do next, such as "Shop now" or "Try it free".
- [CTR (click-through rate)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/ctr): CTR is the percentage of ad impressions that led to a click.
- [Dynamic creative](https://use-addy.site/glossary/dynamic-creative): Dynamic creative is a Meta ads option where you upload several videos, headlines and texts and the platform mixes them to find the best combinations.
- [Frequency](https://use-addy.site/glossary/frequency): Frequency is the average number of times each person saw your ad in a period.
- [Hold rate](https://use-addy.site/glossary/hold-rate): Hold rate is the share of people who kept watching after the hook, usually measured as ThruPlays or 15-second views divided by 3-second views.
- [Hook](https://use-addy.site/glossary/hook): A hook is the first one to three seconds of a video ad: the line, image or movement meant to stop someone from scrolling past.
- [Hook rate](https://use-addy.site/glossary/hook-rate): Hook rate is the share of ad impressions that turn into a 3-second view, and it measures how well the opening stops the scroll.
- [Lookalike audience](https://use-addy.site/glossary/lookalike-audience): A lookalike audience is a group of new people a platform finds because they resemble a source list such as your customers.
- [MER (marketing efficiency ratio)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/mer): MER is total revenue divided by total marketing spend across every channel, also called blended ROAS.
- [On-screen text](https://use-addy.site/glossary/on-screen-text): On-screen text is any written text placed on the video, such as a headline hook, labels or a price, separate from the captions.
- [Partnership ads](https://use-addy.site/glossary/partnership-ads): Partnership ads are Meta ads that run under both the brand's and a creator's name, using the creator's handle and often their post.
- [Reach](https://use-addy.site/glossary/reach): Reach is the number of unique people who saw your ad at least once.
- [Retargeting](https://use-addy.site/glossary/retargeting): Retargeting is showing ads to people who already interacted with your brand, such as site visitors or people who watched a previous video.
- [ROAS (return on ad spend)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/roas): ROAS is the revenue your ads brought in divided by what you spent on them.
- [Safe zone](https://use-addy.site/glossary/safe-zone): The safe zone is the area of a vertical video that is not covered by the app's buttons, captions and profile info, where text and faces should stay.
- [Spark Ads](https://use-addy.site/glossary/spark-ads): Spark Ads are TikTok ads that boost an existing organic post, from your account or a creator's with their permission, keeping its likes and comments.
- [Talking head](https://use-addy.site/glossary/talking-head): A talking head ad is a video where one person speaks straight to the camera, usually filmed selfie-style on a phone.
- [Thumb-stop ratio](https://use-addy.site/glossary/thumb-stop-ratio): Thumb-stop ratio is another name for hook rate: the percentage of people who stop scrolling to watch the first few seconds of a video ad.
- [UGC (user-generated content)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/ugc): UGC is content made by customers or creators rather than the brand, and a UGC ad is a paid ad shot in that casual, phone-filmed style.
- [Usage rights](https://use-addy.site/glossary/usage-rights): Usage rights are the permissions that say where, how and for how long a brand may use a creator's video, especially in paid ads.
- [View-through rate (VTR)](https://use-addy.site/glossary/view-through-rate): View-through rate is the percentage of impressions where the viewer watched the video to a set point, often the end or a fixed number of seconds.
- [Voiceover](https://use-addy.site/glossary/voiceover): A voiceover is narration recorded separately and laid over the video, rather than spoken on camera.
- [Whitelisting](https://use-addy.site/glossary/whitelisting): Whitelisting is when a creator gives a brand permission to run paid ads from the creator's own social account.
- [Winner variation](https://use-addy.site/glossary/winner-variation): A winner variation is a new ad built from a proven winner, keeping what worked and changing one element such as the hook, actor or format.