Ads Manager can show you dozens of metrics for a single ad, and Meta renames them every now and then. We've picked ten terms worth knowing if you work in digital marketing or social media and checked them against the current definitions in the Meta Business Help Center. We wrote this article in 2019 and updated it in October 2026.
012-second continuous video plays
This counts how many times your video played for at least 2 seconds without a break. The person doesn't have to stop scrolling: if your video is on their screen while they scroll or comment on another post, the play can count.
- What it measures
- Plays of at least 2 continuous seconds. Most have at least 50% of the video’s pixels on screen and are accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC).
- Where you find it
- As a performance goal and a billing option in campaigns with the Awareness or Engagement objective.
- When it matters
- When you want as many short views as possible, for awareness for instance. It doesn't tell you whether the message was watched to the end.
0210-second video views (retired)
This counted views of at least 10 consecutive seconds and, for videos shorter than 10 seconds, the views that got past 97% of their length. Meta removed it in 2019, after ThruPlay had become the default optimisation for video views campaigns.
- Status
- It no longer exists in Ads Manager. You will only see it in old reports.
- What to use instead
- ThruPlays, explained at the end of this article.
03Clicks (All)
Every click, tap and swipe on the ad, not just the ones that lead somewhere. That is why this figure is almost always higher than Link Clicks.
- What it includes
- Link clicks, clicks on the Page's name or profile picture, reactions, comments and shares, expanding an image to full screen, and actions tied to the campaign objective, such as liking the Page.
- When it matters
- As a general sign of interest in the ad. For traffic to your website, look at Link Clicks.
04Link Clicks
This counts clicks, taps or swipes on links in the ad that lead to the destination you chose, on or off Meta technologies, such as the Call to Action button. A click to enlarge the image only counts towards Clicks (All).
Since March 2026, Meta credits website and in-store conversions through click-through attribution only when they follow a link click. Likes, shares and saves have moved to a separate category, “engage-through attribution”, so that the figures sit closer to Google Analytics.
- What it measures
- The interest your ad generates. It is also the basis for click-through attribution.
- Possible destinations
- A website, an app store, a map, an Instant Experience (formerly Canvas), an instant form.
- Don't confuse it with
- Landing Page Views: a click doesn't guarantee the page actually loaded.
05Landing Page Views
This counts how many times a click on the ad led to the destination loading: your website, your mobile app or your shop on Facebook or Instagram. Compared with Link Clicks, it shows how many people left before the page loaded.
- How it is counted
- Through the Meta Pixel (formerly the Facebook Pixel) on your website or through the in-app browser on Meta's apps. Where data is missing, Meta may estimate some visits with statistical modelling.
- Why it differs from Link Clicks
- The page didn't fully load, the app didn't open, or the ad has several destinations and not all of them lead to the landing page.
- When it matters
- When you want quality traffic and want to see how many people you lose to a slow website.
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06Lead Generation
Lead generation means gathering people who are interested in a product or service. In Ads Manager you do it with the Leads objective, which took over the old Lead Generation objective. People who leave their details agree to be contacted, so you can then tell them about your offers.
- Instant form
- People fill in a form right inside the ad. Leads is the only objective that allows instant forms.
- Call
- The ad prompts people to call your business, so schedule it for hours when someone can answer.
- Messages
- A direct conversation with your business in Instagram Direct, Messenger or WhatsApp.
- On your website
- You can also track leads from the forms on your website with the Meta Pixel.
07Lookalike Audiences
A lookalike audience reaches new people who resemble your existing customers. You start from a source audience, usually a Custom Audience, and Meta looks for people with similar demographics, interests and behaviour. Meta's guide walks you through creating one.
- Source
- At least 100 people, and Meta recommends 1,000 to 5,000. A source made of your best customers usually works better than one with all of them.
- Size
- You choose a percentage of the location's population: a small percentage means a closer match, a large one a broader audience.
- Advantage+ lookalike
- Switched on automatically for new campaigns using lookalikes built from app, website or customer list audiences. Meta may deliver outside the audience if it expects better results.
- Limits
- Restricted or unavailable for ads about financial services, employment or housing.
08Mobile App Retention (D2 and D7)
Retention metrics tell you how many of the people who installed your app came back to it after a given number of days. D2 refers to the second day, meaning people who open it 24 to 48 hours after installing, and D7 to the seventh day. They count people, not the number of times the app is opened.
- What you find today
- The Meta Business Help Center now documents “Unique mobile app D7 retention”: the number of Meta accounts that came back to the app on day 7.
- When it matters
- When you want to optimise install campaigns for people who actually use the app, not just download it.
09Estimated audience size (formerly Potential Reach)
This is Meta's estimate, before your campaign starts, of how many Meta accounts match the targeting you've chosen. Since 5 October 2021 it has been called Estimated audience size instead of Potential Reach, and it is shown as a range rather than an exact figure.
- What it measures
- How many Meta accounts match your location, audience, placement and brand suitability settings. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp profiles added to the same Meta account count once.
- What it doesn't tell you
- How many people will actually see the ad: that depends on your budget and on how the campaign performs.
- Watch out
- When the audience is expanded through Advantage+, the estimate no longer reflects every account that matches the criteria.
10ThruPlays
A ThruPlay counts when someone watches the video for at least 15 seconds or, if the video is shorter, to 97% of its length. Meta treats 97% as a full view because people often drop off when the credits roll or the picture fades out at the end.
- Versions
- 15-second ThruPlays, the standard one, and 6-second ThruPlays, for shorter attention.
- Where you find it
- As a performance goal in Awareness and Engagement campaigns. The 15-second version can be billed on CPM or per ThruPlay, the 6-second one on CPM only.
- What doesn't count
- Replays of the same video within a single impression.
- Don't confuse it with
- Engaged view, used for attribution: since March 2026 its threshold has dropped from 10 to 5 seconds.
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