Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a billing model in online advertising where the advertiser only pays when a user actually clicks the ad. Impressions alone are free.Open glossary entry → is a common billing model for online advertising, for example in search or display ads. Costs do not arise from showing the ad, but only when a user clicks.

Key characteristics are:

• the price per click (cost-per-click, CPC) often depends on competition and ad quality,
• budgets can be controlled per day and per campaign,
• success is easy to measure, since clicks and follow-up actions are tracked.

PPC is a core part of paid searchSearch Engine Advertising (SEA) means paid ads in the search results, usually billed on a pay-per-click basis.Open glossary entry → advertising within search engine marketing (SEM)Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the umbrella term for all marketing activities within search engines. It covers both paid search advertising and organic search engine optimisation.Open glossary entry →. Unlike search engine optimisationSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) covers all measures that help a website become more visible in unpaid (organic) search results.Open glossary entry →, PPC takes effect immediately but incurs ongoing costs: once the budget ends, so does the ad visibility. A clear call-to-action (CTA)A call-to-action (CTA) is a targeted prompt designed to move users towards a specific action. Examples are buttons or links such as "Start free trial" or "Get in touch".Open glossary entry → and a suitable landing page are crucial so that clicks are not wasted.