PPC Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield PPC facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. How does the Google Ads 'maximize clicks' strategy determine bids? → It sets bids automatically to get the most clicks possible within your budget
2. What is the primary goal of the Target ROAS (tROAS) smart bidding strategy? → Achieve a specific return on ad spend by adjusting bids per auction
3. Why might an advertiser use a bid cap with a Maximize Conversions strategy? → To prevent the algorithm from bidding excessively high amounts on individual auctions
4. Which of the following best describes the recommended approach to calls-to-action (CTAs) on a PPC landing page? → Use one primary CTA that repeats consistently and directs to a single goal
5. What is portfolio bid strategy in Google Ads? → An automated bid strategy applied across multiple campaigns, ad groups, or keywords
6. In PPC, what does 'marginal ROAS' refer to? → The incremental return generated by spending one additional dollar on ads
7. Which Smart Bidding strategy is most appropriate when the primary goal is to maximize total conversion value within a fixed budget? → Maximize Conversion Value
8. What is the top-down structure of an AdWords account? → Account, campaign, ad group, ad text and keywords and placements
9. Which Google Ads report is most useful for identifying new negative keyword opportunities? → Search Terms report
10. Which campaign setting allows Google Ads to show your ads to audiences slightly beyond your targeted keywords if it predicts a conversion? → Optimized targeting
11. What is the formula for calculating Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)? → Revenue / Ad Spend
12. In Google Ads, which landing page factor is evaluated as part of the Quality Score calculation? → Landing page experience
13. Which factor does NOT directly influence your Google Ads CPC in a search auction? → Your advertiser industry category
14. What is the recommended number of active ads per ad group for testing purposes? → 2 to 3 ads
15. Which PPC metric measures the percentage of people who clicked your ad after seeing it? → Click-through rate (CTR)
16. What does 'campaign priority' control in Google Shopping campaigns? → Which campaign serves an ad first when multiple campaigns could show for the same product
17. Which landing page element should be tested FIRST when starting a conversion rate optimization (CRO) program for a PPC campaign? → The main headline and primary call-to-action
18. What is the primary character limit for a single headline in a Google Ads Responsive Search Ad? → 30 characters
19. Which Google Ads feature allows you to automatically pause low-performing ads and promote higher-performing ones? → Ad rotation set to 'Optimize'
20. What does 'ad strength' indicate in a Responsive Search Ad? → How well the ad's headlines and descriptions are optimized for relevance and variety
21. Which bidding approach is best when conversion tracking is not yet set up? → Manual CPC or Maximize Clicks
22. What minimum amount of conversion data does Google recommend having before switching to a Target CPA bidding strategy? → 30 conversions in the last 30 days
23. Which Google Ads metric most directly reflects the quality of a landing page's user experience relative to the keyword and ad? → Landing page experience rating (Below Average / Average / Above Average)
24. What does the display URL in a Google Search ad communicate to the user? → The website domain and path where the user will land, giving context about the destination
25. What is dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) in Google Ads? → Inserting the user's search query into your ad text dynamically
26. What does Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) measure in PPC reporting? → The average cost to acquire one conversion or customer action
27. Which campaign type is best suited for reaching users actively searching for your product on Google Search? → Search campaign
28. What does 'ad fatigue' mean in PPC campaign management? → A decline in ad performance caused by audiences seeing the same ad repeatedly
29. What is the difference between a Search Network campaign and a Search Network with Display Select campaign? → Display Select also shows ads on relevant Display Network sites
30. What does 'campaign goal' selection affect when creating a new Google Ads campaign? → The recommended campaign types and bid strategies shown