← DictionaryPay Per Click
also called paid search ads
An advertising model where the advertiser pays for each click.
You pay when someone clicks.
What It Is
Pay Per Click is a Marketing item, filed under Paid. The working definition is simple: an advertising model where the advertiser pays for each click.
It is a route to an audience, so its worth depends entirely on who is actually on the other end of it. That definition is deliberately narrow — the narrowness is what makes it usable.
How It's Used
Pay Per Click comes up in campaign planning, channel choices and the reporting that follows them. It rarely travels alone — expect it next to Cost Per Click, Search Engine Marketing and Paid Media. The practical test is whether the right people are reachable there at a cost that makes sense.
Why It Matters
Getting Pay Per Click wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, spend keeps moving but nobody can say what it bought. The businesses that treat it seriously spend less time redoing work.
It is a door into a room full of people. You pay when someone clicks.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
In agency and in-house rooms, Pay Per Click means exactly an advertising model where the advertiser pays for each click.
In plain conversation it comes out as you pay when someone clicks.
The Bottom Line
Pay Per Click pays off when it is specific and costs you when it is not. You pay when someone clicks.