pay-per-click

American  

[pey-per-klik] / ˈpeɪ pərˈklɪk /

noun

1. a system used to set prices for online advertisements on a search engine or other website, by which the advertiser pays a small fee to the website publisher each time a user clicks on the advertisement.

---

adjective

1. noting or relating to such a system: PPC

   pay-per-click ads to reach your target customers.

pay-per-click British  

noun

1. a system of payment used on the internet in which an advertiser on a website pays the website owner according to the number of people who visit the advertiser's website via the hyperlinked advert on the owner's website

---

Etymology

Origin of pay-per-click

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pay-per-click

Charity Anastasio, practice and ethics counsel for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the ads are often pay-per-click and targeted at Spanish-speaking users.

From Salon ● May 2, 2026

“The pay-per-click environment remains challenging, reducing gross margin, albeit the group’s strong cost reduction focus saw adjusted Ebitda margin grow in period,” Broadfoot says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

The pay-per-click advertisement shows civil unrest, talks about how Alaska is different and features Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who makes an appeal for people to come to Alaska to become a trooper.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2020

Mr. Harford, however, gives no context for how the pay-per-click advertising lifeline represented by the auction-based AdWords product came to be.

From New York Times ● Aug. 29, 2017

Again let's look at the independent rankings of the most expensive keywords, those that can bring $50 per click to Google – through its opaque pay-per-click bidding system.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 5, 2012