tech jargon defined
Pay Per Click (PPC)
This is a method of paying for online advertising when you place an ad through Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft AdCenter, Facebook, MySpace and others. The advertiser (that would be you) is charged for their online ad only when someone clicks on it. Same as Cost Per Click-Through (CPC).
Unlike an ad placed in a print magazine, you only get charged when someone has expressed enough interest in your ad to click on it. When placing your ad you can narrow the focus of who sees your ad in a myriad of different ways: geographically (by zip code, city, state, etc.), sex, age, interests (very useful for Facebook and MySpace), languages they speak and the list goes on. In addition, you can set a budget per click, per day or per month so that you won't get any surprises. For example, I placed an ad for When The Buddha Met Bubba Fan Club on Facebook (a popular social networking site). I have given them a $10/day limit that they can charge me. My per click budget then becomes .57 cents per click or an average of 17 people who click on the ad. If I upped my daily limit I would be allowed more clicks. Another great advantage is that you can change or stop the ad at any time. The important thing is to keep up with it and see if you are getting results. If you are not (I'd give it 1-2 weeks), then move on.
Less popular terms, but still used in online advertising, include:
- CPI - Cost per impression (an impression is a single appearance of an ad on a web page)
- CPL - Cost per lead (a lead is usually defined when a customer fills out a registration form on the advertiser's website)
- CPS - Cost per sale (advertiser only pays if a customer clicks on the ad and then buys something