PPC(Pay-per-click)
Advertising
Advertising
PPC (pay-per-click) is the pricing model where you pay only when someone clicks your ad, not when it is shown.
You set what a click may cost you at most, and the auction — together with your ad and landing page quality — decides whether you appear and where. Google search ads work this way, as do most social and marketplace ads.
PPC is often used as a synonym for search advertising, but strictly it is a pricing model. The alternatives are paying per thousand impressions (CPM) or per result, such as per lead or sale.
The click is not the goal. Work through to cost per enquiry or per sale: a cheap click that returns nothing costs more than an expensive one that converts.
In practice
Steering on click price. A lower cost per click with a weaker landing page nets less — look at cost per customer.
Related terms
- CPCCPC is the price you pay per click on your ad. Your average CPC is ad spend divided by clicks.
- SEASEA is advertising in search engines: you pay to appear for queries, usually per click.
- CPACPA is ad cost per conversion: total spend divided by conversions, such as enquiries or purchases.
- Quality scoreQuality score is Google's 1–10 estimate of how relevant your keyword, ad and landing page are. A higher score lowers your cost per click.