Every metric Medialake reports for Meta Ads, and the Meta insights field it comes from.
Metrics are read per ad from Meta's Insights API. We capture them at a lifetime level — each sync records the ad's cumulative performance to date — and are beginning to capture daily buckets for richer trend insights over time. These metrics power the Performance dashboards and reports in Medialake.
Some Meta metrics arrive as a simple number (impressions), others as action breakdowns — lists of counts per action type (see Meta's Ads Action Stats reference). The table shows exactly which field and, where relevant, which action type each Medialake metric reads.
Metrics
All fields below are documented on Meta's Ad Insights reference (one shared page — Meta doesn't publish per-field pages); action types are documented in Ads Action Stats.
Medialake metric | Meta insights field | Notes |
Reach | Unique accounts that saw the ad at least once — estimated by Meta | |
Impressions | Times the ad was on screen | |
Views | 3-second video views (Meta's definition) | |
Video depth | Plays reaching 25% of the video's length, including skips to that point | |
Average watch time | Average play time including replays (stored in milliseconds) | |
Engagements | All post engagement | |
Comments | ||
Shares | ||
Conversions | Link clicks on the ad | |
Total spend | In your ad account's currency — Meta reports this as an estimate | |
Currency | The ad account's billing currency | |
Click-through rate | Based on all clicks, not just link clicks | |
Cost per click | Average cost per click (all clicks) | |
Cost per mille | Cost per 1,000 impressions | |
Return on ad spend | Purchase ROAS as reported by Meta | |
Frequency | Average times each person saw the ad | |
Reporting period | The window the numbers cover |
Currency conversion
Spend-based metrics (total spend, CPC, CPM, return on ad spend) are recorded in your ad account's native currency, and additionally converted to USD so spend can be compared across accounts and markets. Which exchange rate we use depends on the capture level:
Lifetime figures are converted using the monthly exchange rate for the month the ad started. For ads that run across many months, the whole lifetime spend is converted at that single rate, so USD figures are an approximation — the longer the ad runs, the more currency movement can drift from the actual billed amounts.
Daily buckets are converted using the daily exchange rate for that day, making them the more accurate view over time.
The exact rate applied and its date are stored alongside every record, so any converted number can be traced back to its native value.
Comparing with Ads Manager
Numbers can differ slightly from what you see in Meta Ads Manager. The usual reasons: Ads Manager defaults to a specific date range and attribution window while Medialake captures lifetime figures; Meta restates conversion data for up to 28 days as late conversions arrive; and time zones (we report in the ad account's time zone, as Meta does). If a number looks off, check the date range first.
Further reading (Meta documentation)
Insights API — how Meta reports ad performance
Ad Insights reference — the full fields table, ad level
Ads Action Stats — the action-breakdown format
Data Mapping — the objects these metrics attach to
Questions about a specific metric? Contact [email protected].