Pay per click advertising or PPC is a form of internet advertising that is used by search engines such as yahoo and Google etc, where a business looking to advertise pay by the click and only pay if someone clicks on their ads.
Pay per click advertising is a great way to generate traffic as well as sell services online. Since much of these pay per click adverts are targeted, and usually pop up if someone is searching using a specific term also known as a keyword, it's easier for businesses to get exactly the traffic they want. This is one of the best ways to advertise since almost anyone on this planet uses a search engine to find what they want online. If for instance, a person is looking for a business to design his or her website, they will type in a term similar to 'web design service' if you have purchased this keyword, your ad will popup right on top of the organic search results, and under the heading of 'sponsored links' or 'sponsored ads'.
The largest PPC providers are Yahoo!, Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter. The minimum price per click vary depending on the level of competition you face for a particular phrase of keyword, some are as low as US$.01. Terms that are popular can cost much more on search engines such as Google. However the PPC model of advertising is open to click fraud, competitors can click on your ad millions of times to drain your advertising budget. However search engines such as Google have automated systems that protect you from being charged for fraudulent clicks, by competitors.
There are two categories of Pay Per click advertising campaigns the first is called: sponsored or search match and the second is called Content match. Ads that popup on search engine's, search results pages are termed as sponsored match. Content match campaigns will display advertisements on websites, emails and newsletters, usually relating to the products you sell. For instance if you sell cars, your ads will appear on a blog or a newsletter that is about cars or racing.
Other types of Pay per click advertising may target products or services as well as websites that perform product comparisons. However Pay Per Click programs don't generate revenue from web traffic, or by displaying the advertisements themselves, they only make money off the clicks the ads on their websites receive.