Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
TL;DR
An online advertising model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks their ad, most commonly on Google Ads or Meta Ads.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a digital advertising pricing model in which advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It is the dominant model for search advertising (Google Ads, Microsoft Ads) and is also central to social media advertising (Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads) — though social often uses CPM (cost per thousand impressions) as an alternative.
In search PPC, advertisers bid on keywords relevant to their business. Ad positions are determined by an auction system incorporating bid amount and Quality Score (a Google metric reflecting ad relevance, expected CTR, and landing page experience). Google Ads operates on a second-price auction — you pay slightly more than the second-highest bidder, not your actual maximum bid.
Key PPC metrics include: Cost Per Click (CPC), Click-Through Rate (CTR), Conversion Rate, Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Effective PPC management involves continuous keyword refinement, negative keyword management, audience segmentation, ad copy testing, bid strategy optimisation, and landing page alignment.
Examples in Practice
Google Search ad for 'digital marketing agency London' appearing above organic results. Meta carousel ad retargeting visitors who viewed your pricing page.