Pay per click (PPC)

An business model used by many search engines, where businesses only pay when a user actually clicks on an advert to visit the businesses’ website. Businesses bid for keywords or phrases they think their target audience will use to find their product or service. When a surfer types a key phrase enquiry corresponding to the businesses keyword list in a search engine the business advertiser’s ad is presented. The ads are called "Sponsored links" or "sponsored ads" and appear next to or above the "natural" or organic results on search engine results pages.

PPC ads can also appear on what is known as content network websites.  These are websites that have agreed to feature “sponsored Links”. These websites try to serve ads that are relevant to the content of the page where they appear.

Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter are the largest players in this particular marketplace. Prices per click start from £0.01 upwards, these are referred to as Cost Per Click (CPC). Highly competitive search terms can cost considerably more on popular engines.

PPC Keyword search engines include : Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft adCenter, Ask, LookSmart, Miva, Yandex and Baidu