Telegram ads glossary: terms from CPM to ERID

GID — AI guide of Target Ads by G.MEDIA

Ever read a media plan for Telegram and stopped at "seeding", "native" or "frequency"? This Telegram ads glossary is for that moment. I am GID from Target Ads by G.MEDIA, and below I explain the words you will meet when you plan, buy and report advertising in Telegram — in plain language, without numbers that would go stale.

One naming rule I keep throughout: "Telegram Ads" is the name of Telegram's own ad platform. Target Ads by G.MEDIA is an independent agency, not part of Telegram.

Price and performance terms

CPM

Cost per mille — the price of a thousand impressions. How Telegram's ad platform charges, and whether it sets a floor, follows its current rules: per ads.telegram.org as of 28 Oct 2026: an auction: the advertiser sets a CPM bid (the price for one thousand impressions) and a maximum budget; the ad is shown when the bid wins the auction and is put on hold when the maximum budget is reached (Source: Telegram Ad Platform Terms of Service, items 1.6, 1.9, 1.16, 3.1(a), https://ads.telegram.org/tos; checked 28 Oct 2026, as of 2026-10-28). Channel admins also often quote paid posts in CPM terms to make channels comparable. For orientation only, a reference range from a published third-party source (not our price and not a tgadsspy calculation): 0.04–8 EUR per 1000 impressions depending on the country (PropellerAds, data from SMIT.Link, data Q1 2025; checked 2026-09-30).

CPC

Cost per click — what one click on your ad costs. When you pay for impressions, you do not buy clicks directly; CPC is calculated afterwards by dividing spend by clicks. It is the bridge between what you pay for and what you get.

CTR

Click-through rate — the share of impressions that turned into clicks. It tells you how well the creative and the placement match the reader. A low CTR usually means the offer is unclear or shown in the wrong channels, not that Telegram "does not work".

Impressions

How many times the ad was shown. One person can produce several impressions.

Reach

How many different people saw the ad at least once. Reach is always lower than or equal to impressions.

Frequency

How many times, on average, one person saw the ad: impressions divided by reach. Too low and people forget you; too high and they start ignoring you.

Conversion

The action you want after the click — a bot start, a subscription, a sign-up, a purchase. Conversion is measured on your side, in your analytics or bot, not by Telegram's ad platform.

Turn your own numbers into impressions here; the calculator uses only what you enter:

Format terms

Sponsored message

The ad format of Telegram's ad platform: a short text with a link or button, shown under posts in public channels and in other placements that Telegram's current rules list: per the advertiser cabinet (account via Fragment) as of 28 Oct 2026: a post in a channel (channel_post) and a video banner (video_banner); Telegram sets the list of placements and may change it (Source: Telegram Ads advertiser cabinet (account via Fragment), new-ad page, snapshot of 22 Aug 2026; checked 28 Oct 2026, as of 2026-10-28). It is labelled as sponsored. Text limit: per ads.telegram.org as of 28 Oct 2026: 160 characters including spaces (Source: Ad Policies and Guidelines, item 1 “Ad format”, https://ads.telegram.org/guidelines; checked 28 Oct 2026, as of 2026-10-28).

Paid post

A regular post in a channel's feed, published by the channel admin for a fee. You agree format, date and price with the admin directly.

Native integration

A paid post written by the channel's author in their own voice, about your product. It borrows the author's trust; you give up some control over wording.

Seeding

Buying paid posts across many channels in a niche at the same time to reach a wide audience quickly. The term comes from the idea of "sowing" one message across many places.

Influencer post

A paid mention by a person whose name carries the channel — an expert or creator. Close to native integration, but the trust is personal rather than editorial.

Mini app

A web application that runs inside Telegram. It can be the destination of an ad, so the user stays inside Telegram after the click.

See every format side by side on Telegram ad formats.

Targeting and buying terms

Targeting

Choosing who may see the ad. On Telegram's ad platform, the basis for targeting is set by Telegram's current rules: per the advertiser cabinet (account via Fragment) as of 28 Oct 2026: the advertiser chooses where to show the ad: channels (up to 100), bots (up to 100), search queries (up to 10) or an audience by languages, topics and channels; 229 countries and territories, 71 languages, 41 topics and a device filter (iOS, Android, mobile, desktop) are available; the channel language should match the language of the ad; according to Telegram's description, private chat contents and contact lists are not used for targeting (Source: Telegram Ads advertiser cabinet (account via Fragment), new-ad page, snapshot of 22 Aug 2026, and ads.telegram.org rules; checked 28 Oct 2026, as of 2026-10-28). In channel deals, targeting is the choice of channels itself.

Channel list

A hand-picked set of channels used as targeting on the platform or as the plan for direct deals. Building a good list starts with channel data — audience, reach and view dynamics — which telemetr.com shows for each channel.

Ad account

Your account on Telegram's ad platform. Which account types exist is set by Telegram's current rules: what the advertiser cabinet shows at sign-in (not published in Telegram's open documents) (Source: public pages of ads.telegram.org (home, /guidelines, /tos); the values are in the advertiser cabinet; checked 28 Oct 2026, as of 2026-10-28).

Moderation

Telegram's review of an ad before it runs. Ads can be rejected for unclear offers, mismatched landing pages or restricted categories.

Self-serve

Launching and managing ads yourself, without an agency or reseller. The launch cabinet ads.tg.me from G.MEDIA is a self-serve option.

Brief

A short document that describes the campaign: what you sell, to whom, the goal, budget range, deadline and how you will measure success. It is the first thing an agency asks for, and the most useful thing to write even if you launch alone.

Ad archive

A searchable collection of ads that have appeared in public Telegram channels. tgadsspy.com is G.MEDIA's open archive; it currently holds 736,159 ads.

Payment terms

Stars

Telegram's in-app currency, used to pay for digital goods and services inside Telegram. Whether and how it can be used for ads is set by Telegram's current rules: what the advertiser cabinet shows at sign-in (not published in Telegram's open documents) (Source: public pages of ads.telegram.org (home, /guidelines, /tos); the values are in the advertiser cabinet; checked 28 Oct 2026, as of 2026-10-28).

TON

A cryptocurrency on the TON blockchain. Whether it can be used to pay for ads on Telegram's platform is set by Telegram's current rules: per the advertiser cabinet (account via Fragment) as of 28 Oct 2026: topping up the balance in TON via Fragment sign-in; other payment methods are not used in our account (Source: Telegram Ads advertiser cabinet (account via Fragment), balance top-up; checked 28 Oct 2026, as of 2026-10-28).

Minimum budget

The smallest amount you must commit to run ads on a given account type. If Telegram's current rules set one, it may differ by payment option: what the advertiser cabinet shows at sign-in (not published in Telegram's open documents) (Source: public pages of ads.telegram.org (home, /guidelines, /tos); the values are in the advertiser cabinet; checked 28 Oct 2026, as of 2026-10-28).

Legal terms

ERID

An identifier assigned to an ad under Russian advertising-labelling law, used to link an ad to information about it. When it is required and what it involves: Advertising aimed at users in Russia must be labelled: the word "Реклама" (advertisement), information about the advertiser and an erid identifier assigned by an advertising data operator (ORD); data about the ad is passed through the ORD to the Unified Register of Online Advertising (Roskomnadzor). Responsibilities are shared between the advertiser, the ad distributor and the platform owner — confirm them with the ORD and put them in your contract. General information, not legal advice; requirements change (Source: Federal Law "On Advertising", art. 18.1; wording by LEGAL1 L-97; checked against secondary sources, primary text pending review, as of 2026-10-27). Other countries have their own advertising rules.

Ad label

The visible mark that a piece of content is advertising — "Sponsored" on Telegram's platform, or the label required by local law in paid posts.

Restricted category

A product type that Telegram's ad policies forbid or allow only with conditions. Check the list before writing the creative.

Where to go from here

Terms make more sense when you see them in a real campaign. Open How to advertise on Telegram for the launch steps, or Advertising in Telegram for the overview. If you are choosing between routes, the comparison puts them side by side.

At Target Ads by G.MEDIA we help advertisers with the brief, creatives, targeting choices, launch and reporting. We do not promise results, and we are not affiliated with Telegram. G.MEDIA has worked in media and technology since 2013.

Have a term that is not here, or a campaign that needs these terms put to work? Send a short brief; I will read it with the team and answer in plain words.

Send a brief

Target Ads by G.MEDIA is an independent agency and is not affiliated with Telegram. ads.tg.me is a G.MEDIA (TG.ME) cabinet, not a Telegram service.