What are Impressions?

Impressions show how often your ad or organic listing has been shown to users, whether or not anyone clicked on it. They are the basis for calculating CTR and impression share, and an important volume signal in every campaign.

Impressions in Google Ads versus organic

In Google Ads, an impression counts as soon as an ad is visible on the screen. With the CPM model you pay per thousand impressions; with PPC impressions are free. In SEO you see impressions in Google Search Console: the number of times your page has been shown in the search results.

Analysing impressions

Always look at impressions together with CTR, CPC and conversions. Lots of impressions with a low CTR can point to a mismatch between ad and search query, or to a weak title and description.

Impressions and branding

In branding campaigns on the Display Network, impressions are the primary KPI. Combine this with remarketing for better brand recall among people who see your ad several times.

Is a high number of impressions always good?

Not necessarily. Always combine it with CTR and conversion data to judge the real value. Impressions without clicks do not bring in any direct revenue.

Why are my impressions suddenly dropping?

Possible causes are a lower budget, paused campaigns, lower bids or more competition in the auction.

How many impressions do I need for reliable data?

For CTR analyses, at least 1,000 impressions per variable is recommended. More at developers.google.com/search.