Legend

The terms from your reporting, explained.

Impressions, CTR, ROAS, page_view — every report contains metrics and event names you need to know in order to read it. Here they all are, each explained in one sentence, with a note where Google Ads and Meta differ.

KPIs – Google Ads and Meta

The metrics that appear in every reporting — what they measure, why they matter and where Google Ads and Meta differ.

Impressions

What is it?: The number of times an ad was shown to a user.
Why does it matter?: Impressions show how often an ad was visible in total. The higher the impressions, the more people potentially noticed the advertising. However, more impressions are not automatically better: fewer impressions that reach the right users and lead to conversions are more valuable.
Google Ads and Meta compared: With Google Ads, impressions occur when an ad appears in search results or in the Display Network. With Meta, an impression is counted as soon as an ad appears on a user's screen – even if it is visible only for a moment.

Clicks

What is it?: The number of clicks on an ad.
Why does it matter?: Clicks show how many users actively expressed interest in an ad and clicked through to the website. Many clicks combined with few conversions can indicate a weak landing page or the wrong target audience.
Google Ads and Meta compared: With Google Ads, a click is generally a direct click on the ad. With Meta, a click can also include interactions (e.g. clicks on "See more" or on the page name) – depending on the click-type setting in reporting.

Avg. CPC (Cost-per-Click)

What is it?: The average amount paid per click on an ad.
Why does it matter?: CPC shows how cost-efficiently traffic is bought for the website. A high CPC is not necessarily bad – if the quality of the traffic is high and conversions follow, it can still be worthwhile. A low CPC with many clicks but few bookings, on the other hand, is problematic.
Google Ads and Meta compared: With Google Ads, CPC is determined by an auction system – the more competitors bid on the same keyword, the higher the CPC. With Meta, it is often lower, since Meta ads are based on interest and behaviour targeting rather than search intent.

Reach

What is it?: The number of individual (unique) people to whom an ad was shown at least once.
Why does it matter?: Reach measures how many different people actually come into contact with a campaign. Unlike impressions, each person is counted only once – regardless of how often they saw the ad. High reach is especially important for branding campaigns.

CTR (Click-Through-Rate)

What is it?: The ratio of clicks to impressions – in other words, what percentage of the people who saw the ad also clicked on it.
Formula: CTR = clicks ÷ impressions × 100
Why does it matter?: A high CTR shows that an ad is relevant and appealing. A low CTR can mean that the creative, the text or the target audience are not optimally aligned.
Google Ads and Meta compared: With Google Search Ads, CTRs of 3–10% are considered good, since users are actively searching for something. With Meta, CTRs of 0.5–2% are already in the usual range, because ads are embedded in a feed and do not respond to a direct search query.

Conversions

What is it?: A conversion is a desired action that a user carries out on the website – e.g. a booking, an inquiry or a purchase.
Why does it matter?: Conversions are the heart of every campaign. They show whether the advertising measures actually lead to measurable results. What counts as a conversion is defined in advance in tracking (e.g. completed booking = conversion).

Conversion Value / Revenue

What is it?: The monetary value generated by the measured conversions – in the hotel industry, typically the booking revenue.
Why does it matter?: The conversion value shows how much revenue can be directly attributed to a campaign. It is the basis for calculating ROAS and thus a key indicator for the profitability of a campaign.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

What is it?: The ratio of revenue generated to advertising budget invested.
Formula: ROAS = conversion value ÷ costs × 100 (in %)
Example: CHF 10'000 revenue with CHF 1'000 advertising budget = ROAS 1000 %
Why does it matter?: ROAS is the most important metric for assessing the profitability of a campaign. It shows how many francs of revenue are generated per franc of advertising budget invested.
Google Ads and Meta compared: The ROAS value is often higher with Google Ads, since search ads target active purchase intent. With Meta, it is usually lower, as the platform tends to operate in the upper part of the funnel (awareness, interest). Both values complement each other and should be considered together.

CPA (Cost-per-Acquisition)

What is it?: The average costs incurred to achieve a conversion.
Formula: CPA = costs ÷ number of conversions
Why does it matter?: CPA shows how expensive a single desired action (e.g. a booking or inquiry) is. A low CPA combined with a high conversion value is the goal. If the CPA is too high, either the targeting, the ad or the landing page is not working.

Cost

What is it?: The total amount invested for a campaign or a specific period.
Why does it matter?: Costs are the starting point for all further calculations (ROAS, CPA, CPC). They show how much budget has gone into a campaign. Costs are only meaningful in relation to clicks, conversions and revenue.
Google Ads and Meta compared: With Google Ads, costs are usually billed per click (CPC). With Meta, CPM (cost-per-1'000-impressions) is the standard model – meaning you pay for reach, not necessarily for clicks.

Frequency

What is it?: The average number of times a single person has seen an ad.
Formula: frequency = impressions ÷ reach
Why does it matter?: Too high a frequency can lead to "ad blindness" or even rejection – users see the same ad so often that they ignore it or feel disturbed. If a critical value is exceeded, new creatives or target groups should be used.
Google Ads and Meta compared: Frequency is primarily a Meta metric, since Meta is based on a fixed user base (logged-in accounts). With Google Ads in the Display/YouTube network, there are also frequency-capping options, but frequency is reported less prominently.

Landing Page Views

What is it?: The number of views of the target page after a user has clicked on an ad.
Why does it matter?: Landing page views can differ from the number of clicks – for example, if users abort the loading process after clicking or if a faulty page appears. A large difference between clicks and landing page views indicates technical problems or a loading time that is too slow.

Initiated Checkouts (Meta)

What is it?: The number of users who have initiated a purchase process – for example, clicked "book" in the hotel booking system or filled in the first form field.
Why does it matter?: Initiated purchase processes show interest in a booking, even if it was not completed. They help analyse the booking funnel: many initiated but few completed purchase processes indicate obstacles in the booking process. Platform: this metric is specific to Meta and corresponds to the event "InitiateCheckout" in the Meta Pixel. With Google Ads, there is no directly identical term – similar events are recorded there, for example, as "begin_checkout" in GA4.

Go to Search (Meta)

What is it?: A Meta-specific conversion that measures how many users search for the brand on Google, Bing, etc. at a later point after clicking on an ad.
Why does it matter?: Go to Search is an important micro-conversion step in the funnel, as it shows concrete purchase interest. This metric helps to better understand the path to booking.

Google Analytics 4 — Channels

GA4 defines «channels» as the origin of traffic on a website. Each channel describes the path a user took to reach the site.

Direct

What is it?: What is it? Users who accessed the website directly – e.g. by entering the URL in the browser or via a saved bookmark. Why is it important? Direct Traffic can also result from missing or incorrect UTM tracking parameters. A high share often indicates well-known brands or repeat guests – but can also point to tracking gaps.

Organic Search

What is it?: What is it? Visitors who reached the website via an unpaid search results listing (e.g. Google, Bing). Why is it important? Organic Search Traffic shows the website's visibility in search engines without advertising spend. A high share is a sign of good SEO performance.

Paid Search

What is it?: What is it? Visitors who reached the website via a paid search ad (e.g. Google Ads Search campaign). Why is it important? Paid Search Traffic is directly linked to advertising spend. It shows how much traffic is generated through Search campaigns – and, combined with conversion data, how efficiently this budget is being used.

Cross-Network

What is it?: What is it? Visitors who came via campaigns that use multiple advertising networks simultaneously – typically Google Performance Max (PMax) campaigns. Why is it important? Since PMax campaigns automatically serve across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail and Maps, GA4 assigns this traffic to the «Cross-Network» channel.

Referral

What is it?: What is it? Visitors who reached the site via a link on another website – e.g. through a blog article, a partner website or a directory. Why is it important? Referral Traffic shows which external websites are sending visitors to your own site. This can provide valuable insights into partnership potential or relevant linking sources.

Unassigned

What is it?: What is it? Traffic that could not be assigned to a known channel – e.g. because UTM parameters are missing, incorrect, or tracking is not fully implemented. Why is it important? A high share of «Unassigned» traffic is a warning sign for tracking gaps. It means that part of the marketing measures is not being measured correctly and the channel data may be distorted.

AI Assistant

What is it?: What is it? Visitors who reached the website via an AI-powered assistant (e.g. ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity or Copilot) – because the assistant recommended a link to the site or linked to it directly. Why is it important? This channel is becoming increasingly important, as more and more users start their search via AI assistants instead of classic search engines.

Google Analytics 4 — Metrics

Two figures that are often confused.

Sessions

What is it?: A session comprises all interactions of a user with the website within a defined period. A new session begins when a user visits the website and ends after 30 minutes of inactivity.
Why does it matter?: Sessions show how often the website was actively visited in a given period. A single user can generate multiple sessions – e.g. a research visit in the morning and another visit in the evening. Sessions are a key indicator of overall activity on the website.

Visitors (Users)

What is it?: The number of individual people (unique users) who visited the website in a defined period. GA4 distinguishes between «Active Users» (triggered at least one interaction) and «Total Users».
Why does it matter?: The number of visitors shows the reach of the website. Compared to sessions, it indicates how many people visit the site (visitors) vs. how often it is visited in total (sessions). If the number of sessions is significantly higher than the number of visitors, this points to many returning visitors – a positive signal.

E-commerce events

Events along the booking and purchase journey. In Google Analytics 4 they are named exactly as written here — the name in the report is the name in the code.

view_item_list

What is it?: A user views a list of items or offers.

view_item

What is it?: A user views an item.

add_to_wishlist

What is it?: A user adds items to their wish list.

add_to_cart

What is it?: A user adds items to the shopping cart.

remove_from_cart

What is it?: A user removes items from the shopping cart.

view_cart

What is it?: A user views their shopping cart.

begin_checkout

What is it?: A user starts the checkout process.

add_shipping_info

What is it?: A user submits their shipping information.

add_payment_info

What is it?: A user submits their payment information.

purchase

What is it?: A user completes a purchase.

Automatically collected events

Google Analytics 4 records these events without any action on your part, as soon as measurement is set up.

user_engagement

What is it?: The app runs in the foreground, or the website is in focus for at least one second.

video_complete

What is it?: Number of videos watched to completion.

video_start

What is it?: Number of video plays started

scroll

What is it?: A user reaches the bottom of the page for the first time, i.e. a vertical depth of 90 % becomes visible.

session_start

What is it?: A user interacts with the app or website.

video_progress

What is it?: Length of video playback in percent: 10 %, 25 %, 50 % and 75 %.

click

What is it?: Every time a user clicks a link to another domain.

page_view

What is it?: page_view; Every time the page is loaded or the browser history status changes from the active website.

The marketing funnel: Why ROAS is not the same for all campaigns

Different campaigns pursue different goals – and must therefore be evaluated differently. The marketing funnel helps to understand the context:

Awareness

Build reach, address new people

Consideration

Generate interest, enable comparisons

Conversion

Trigger booking, achieve direct action

Campaigns at the top of the funnel (Awareness, e.g. Meta branding campaigns, Display) typically have a lower ROAS – they are designed to reach new audiences, not to convert immediately. Their value only becomes visible later in the funnel.

Campaigns at the bottom of the funnel (Conversion, e.g. Google Search, Retargeting) usually have a higher ROAS, as they address users who are already ready to buy.

Important: ROAS always also depends on external factors

Website performance: Slow loading times or a complicated booking process lower the ROAS, regardless of ad quality.
Economic factors: Purchasing power, seasonality, booking behaviour (last-minute vs. early booking) influence the result.
Destination and awareness: Well-known brands or destinations convert better than new or unknown ones.
Occupancy: If a booking cannot be made because the hotel is already fully booked on the desired dates, the ROAS falls.

ROAS benchmarks for hospitality and tourism

The following figures are based on Tourismusconsult's experience from daily work with Swiss hotel businesses and holiday regions. They serve as a guide – individual factors (website, booking system, seasonality, brand awareness) can influence the figures.

Area	Platform	Reference value
Holiday region / Holiday hotel	Google Ads	approx. 1000 %
Holiday region / Holiday hotel	Meta	approx. 800 %
City hotels	Google Ads	Lower than holiday hotels (stronger competition, more OTA competition)
City hotels	Meta	Lower than holiday hotels

A ROAS of 1000 % means that for every CHF 1.– in advertising spend, CHF 10.– in revenue is generated. In the holiday hotel sector, this value is readily achievable because booking values (room rate × length of stay) are high. In the city hotel sector, competition is more intense and booking attribution through OTAs (booking.com, Expedia) is more difficult – the ROAS therefore often comes out lower.

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