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Metrics
CTR
The percentage of people who click an ad after seeing it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions times 100. A proxy for creative relevance and audience targeting accuracy. Meta feed ads average 0.9-1.5% CTR, Google Search ads average 3-6%, and display averages 0.3-0.5%. Declining CTR at stable frequency suggests creative fatigue. Declining CTR at rising frequency confirms it. A high CTR with low conversion rate points to a landing page or offer problem, not an ad problem.
Why it matters
It is the cheapest early read on whether the ad matches the audience, and it moves long before conversion data is significant.
In practice
Compare within a placement, never across. A feed CTR and a Stories CTR are different measurements wearing the same name.
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