← Answers·general·informational

    What is impression share in Google Ads?

    Reviewed by Taylor Moses, Co-Founder, Strategy & Web·

    Direct Answer

    Impression share (IS) is the percentage of times your ad showed when it was eligible to show. 100% means your ad shows every time it could; 50% means you missed half the eligible auctions. The two reasons IS drops: budget (rank IS lost to budget) and ad rank (lost to rank). Both are diagnosable in the Google Ads console.

    Voice answer (≤30 words)

    “Impression share is the percentage of times your ad showed when eligible. Below one hundred percent you are losing impressions to budget or ad rank.”

    Budget loss = raise budget or pause low performers. Ad rank loss = improve quality score, ad relevance, or bid.

    Brand campaigns should run at 95%+ IS — anyone competing on your brand name is stealing high-intent traffic.

    Related answers

    Keep going from here.

    Answer

    What is the difference between SEO and Google Ads?

    SEO is the long-term practice of earning organic ranking through content, schema, and links — results compound over 4–12 months but stop cos…

    Read →

    Answer

    What is the buyer journey for a service-business customer?

    The service-business buyer journey is typically three stages: Awareness (researching the problem), Consideration (comparing providers and pr…

    Read →

    Article

    How to Get Cited by Google AI Overviews (2025 Strategy)

    Google AI Overviews cite a handful of sources per query. Here is the practical strategy for being one of them — schema, direct answers, llms.txt, and topical depth.

    Read →

    Glossary

    Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

    Answer Engine Optimization is the practice of structuring content so it can be lifted directly as the answer in AI assistants, voice search, and featured snippets.

    Read →