Definition
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is an advertising model where advertisers pay a fee only when someone clicks their ad, rather than paying a flat amount just for it being shown. It powers platforms such as Google Ads and Meta Ads, and is billed to advertisers using the CPC metric.
In Plain Terms
PPC is the business model behind the ad, not the ad itself — it’s the agreement that you only pay when someone actually engages, rather than paying just to be seen. Google Ads and Meta Ads are two different shops running on that same PPC model.
How It Works
- Advertisers bid on keywords (search) or audiences (social) in a real-time auction
- Actual cost per click is set by combining bid amount with an ad-quality/relevance score
- Scales instantly — pause the campaign and spend (and clicks) stop immediately, unlike SEO
Examples
- A Google Ads search campaign billed per click on “digital marketing course Nepal”
- A Meta Ads campaign targeting people interested in career change, billed per click to the landing page
- Comparing PPC spend against SEO investment when planning next quarter’s marketing budget
Commonly Confused With
- PPC vs SEO — PPC buys visibility per click; SEO earns it for free but takes months to build
- PPC vs CPC — PPC is the advertising model as a whole; CPC is the specific price metric that model is billed on
