Cost per click (CPC)
Cost per click (CPC) is the amount an advertiser pays for each click on an ad. Average CPC is the total cost divided by the number of clicks.
What is cost per click (CPC)?
Cost per click (CPC) is the price an advertiser pays each time someone clicks on their ad. It is the standard billing model in search engine advertising and is also common on social media and display networks.
It helps to distinguish between two values:
- Maximum CPC: The highest amount you are willing to pay for a click, set manually or by an automated bidding strategy.
- Actual CPC: What you really pay. In Google Ads, this is often less than your maximum, because you only pay what is needed to beat the ad ranked below you.
Average CPC is calculated as total cost ÷ number of clicks. For example, €500 in ad spend and 250 clicks results in an average CPC of €2.
CPCs are driven by competition for a keyword and by ad quality: a strong Quality Score can lower what you pay for the same position. CPCs vary widely between industries and between countries – the same keyword can cost several times more in the US or Germany than in smaller or less competitive markets. That is why international budgets should be planned per market. A low CPC alone is not the goal, though: what counts is the cost per conversion and the return on ad spend.