CPC

CPC, or cost per click, is a pricing model in which the advertiser pays each time a user clicks an ad, and also the name of the metric for average spend per click.

CPC is the standard price for search ads and for retail sponsored listings. In Google Ads CPC bidding, the advertiser sets a maximum cost per click, the most it is willing to pay for one click (Google Ads Help, accessed 9 November 2026). The price actually charged depends on the auction and is often below that maximum.

Retail media took the same model for onsite search. Sponsored product ads on retailer sites are usually sold per click. Because a click on a product listing lands on a product page one step from checkout, retail CPCs are judged against sales, with ROAS or cost per order, rather than against traffic.

CPC is easy to buy and hard to judge alone. Invalid and accidental clicks inflate it, and a cheap click that never converts is worth less than a costly one that does. Buyers usually pair CPC with conversion rate to get a CPA.

Example: A pet-food brand bids a $1.20 maximum CPC on the search term "grain-free dog food" in a retailer's sponsored listings auction. It wins 4,000 clicks at an average $0.95, spends $3,800 and records 320 orders, a cost per order of $11.88.

Related terms: sponsored products, CPA, eCPM, ROAS, onsite media.

Authoritative source: Google Ads Help, "Cost-per-click (CPC): Definition" (accessed 9 November 2026).