Pay Per Click
By admin | November 7, 2007
Pay per click (PPC) is an advertising model where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on an ad to visit the advertiser’s website. This advertising model is primarily found on search engines, but it also used on advertising networks, content websites and blogs
Advertisers bid on key words they believe their target market would type in the search bar when they are looking for the advertiser’s product or service. When a user enters a query matching the advertiser’s key word list, or views a web page with relevant content, the advertiser’s ad may be shown. Ads are generally shown in order, from the highest bidder to lowest bidder.
These ads appear in both search results when someone searches for certain key words, and on content pages which are deemed to be relevant to certain key words. The search result ads are called a "Sponsored link" or "sponsored ads" and appear next to, and sometimes, above the natural or organic results on search engine results pages. The content page ads appear anywhere a webmaster chooses to place them.
While many companies provide PPC advertising, Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter are the largest network operators as of 2007. Depending on the search engine, minimum prices per click start at US$0.01 (up to US$0.50). Very popular search terms can cost much more on popular engines.
Arguably, this advertising model may be open to abuse through click fraud, although Google and other search engines have implemented automated systems to guard against this.
Topics: Online Marketing Articles |