Skip to content
Ads Lighthouse

Glossary

Observed visibility

A plain definition, the context behind it, what Ads Lighthouse can and cannot observe, and the official sources.

Definition
Observed visibility is the share of monitored searches in which a domain showed an ad.

It is a sample measure: the numerator is the number of observations where the domain appeared, and the denominator is the number of observations in your selection of keywords, locations, devices and dates.

It is not Google impression share, which is calculated from an advertiser's own auctions. The two numbers answer different questions and should be labeled separately in reports.

How Ads Lighthouse observes it

The Visibility column in Paid results and the advertiser reports uses this definition, and it follows your filters and date range, including in exports.

Official sources

Sources checked on .

Related help articles

All terms

See these terms in your own brand searches

Monitor Google and Bing by keyword, location and device, and review each observation with its full context.

Your privacy choices

We use storage needed for sign-in and your workspace. With your permission, optional analytics and marketing tags can help us understand visits and measure campaigns. Read our Cookies & browser storage notice.