What is PPC?
PPC stands for pay-per-click, paying per click for ads shown when someone searches. It is the core of SEM, search engine marketing, and works the same way in Google Ads and Bing. This guide explains how the auction sets the price, why relevance makes the click cheaper, and when paid search pays off better than waiting for SEO.
By Angelica Sandblom · Partner and specialist· Published · Updated Our view
Search advertising captures purchase intent that already exists, not just any intent. Pay for clicks you could not have won organically, not to rent what you could own. And measure against the business, not the cheapest click.
What PPC and SEM are.
PPC, pay-per-click, is a payment model: you only pay when someone clicks the ad, not for it to be shown. SEM, search engine marketing, is the discipline that uses that model to appear at the top of search results. In practice the terms are often used interchangeably, and the same logic applies regardless of platform:
- The ad appears when someone searches a term you chose. You decide which keywords trigger the ad, and pay per click, not per impression.
- The purchase intent is sharp. Unlike advertising on social media, where you interrupt a feed, the search ad meets someone actively looking. That is why search often converts best of all channels.
- Google Ads and Bing Ads are the big channels. The mechanics are the same: an auction decides who appears and what the click costs.
Search engine marketing↗ and pay-per-click↗ describe the same thing from two angles, the channel and the payment model. What makes search its own discipline is that you do not buy attention broadly, you buy specific moments of purchase intent. Which moments are worth paying for is the whole craft.
How the auction sets the price.
The price of a click is set not by Google but by an auction that runs every time someone searches. You and your competitors bid for the same spot, but the highest bidder does not win automatically. Relevance weighs as much as the bid:
- The bid is what you are willing to pay per click. It is the cap, not the price: you usually pay less than the bid.
- Quality Score is Google's rating of how relevant the ad and landing page are to the search. High relevance lowers the price, and a good ad can beat a competitor who bids more.
- Ad rank decides placement, a combination of bid and quality. That is why a sharp ad on the right keyword appears higher and cheaper than a blunt one with a bigger budget.
Google's documentation on bidding and Quality Score↗ covers the mechanics in detail. The point for you is simple: the auction rewards relevance, not wallet. Whoever writes ads and builds landing pages that actually match the search pays less per click and per conversion. Chasing the lowest click price without looking at what the click does afterward is optimizing the wrong end of the funnel.
How an account is structured.
A search advertising account is not a list of ads, it is a structure that governs what is shown to whom. Four levels carry it, and the order matters for both cost and control:
- 01Account. The top level, tied to you and your billing. The account is yours: change agency and history, keywords and data come with you.
- 02Campaign. This is where budget and targeting are set, often one campaign per business goal or product area. The budget is split between campaigns, so the structure decides where the money goes.
- 03Ad group. Gathers closely related keywords and the ads shown for them. Tight ad groups give higher relevance, and higher relevance gives a lower price.
- 04Keywords and match types. You choose not just words but how exactly they should match a search. Broad match reaches more but wastes more often, exact match is leaner but precise. Negative keywords shut out searches you do not want to pay for.
The structure is not admin, it is where the money is steered. A messy account pays for irrelevant clicks without anyone noticing, because the numbers look normal on the surface. You own the account and should be able to see down to the krona where the budget goes. An agency that does not show that, or builds the campaigns in its own account, makes you dependent for no reason.
PPC or SEO?
Search advertising and SEO compete for the same search results, but solve different problems. Choosing wrong costs either money or time:
- PPC gives visibility immediately. The ad is up the same day, which makes it right for launches, seasons or when you need volume now. The visibility stops the moment you stop paying.
- SEO builds visibility you own. It takes months, but a top position you ranked organically costs nothing per click. Paying for clicks on terms you already rank for is renting what you could have owned.
- They complement each other. PPC captures volume while SEO is built, and data from the search advertising shows which terms actually convert, which makes the SEO work more accurate.
- Intent decides. Some searches are so competitive organically that PPC is the only realistic way in short term, others are cheaper to own through SEO.
The dividing line is not a religion, it is an arithmetic exercise: what does the click cost in advertising, how long does it take to rank organically, and how long do you need to appear? Our SEO guide covers the organic side. Most often the answer is not either-or, but letting PPC and SEO work toward the same business goal, each where it is strongest.
When PPC pays off.
Paid search is a lever, not a default. It pays off in clear situations and wastes money in others:
- It pays off if: there is purchase intent to capture (people search for what you sell), the margin can bear a click cost, and you can measure what the click leads to.
- It rarely pays off if: no one searches for the category yet (then social and display create demand better), or the site converts so poorly that more traffic only makes the leak more expensive.
- It requires ongoing work. Keywords, bids, ads and negative keywords should be adjusted against what the data shows. An account on autopilot slowly drifts up in cost.
What we do is build and run the account toward your business, not leave a plan and an invoice: we bring it in. An experienced hand does in one hour what an inexperienced one does in four, which shows most in a search account where small adjustments compound. To find out whether the purchase intent exists and what it is worth paying for, see how Memorise works with advertising.
Get a free review of your search account.
Send your web address and what you want to sell more of, and we will look at the purchase intent in search: which terms are worth paying for, where the budget leaks, and whether PPC or SEO is the right path. You get a concrete picture.
Write to us →Frequently asked questions about PPC and search advertising
What does PPC mean?
PPC stands for pay-per-click, a payment model where the advertiser only pays when someone clicks the ad, not for it to be shown. The model is used mainly in search advertising (Google Ads, Bing Ads), but also exists in social media. In search it means you pay to capture someone in the moment they actively search for what you sell.
What is the difference between PPC and SEM?
SEM, search engine marketing, is the discipline of appearing in paid search results. PPC, pay-per-click, is the most common payment model within SEM. In practice the terms are often used interchangeably. Sometimes SEM is used more broadly to include organic search optimization, but in most contexts today SEM means paid search advertising.
What does PPC cost?
There is no fixed price. The cost per click is set in an auction that runs at every search, and is governed by the competition for the keyword and how relevant the ad is. Competitive terms can cost tens of kronor per click, niche terms a few öre. You control the budget (the cap per day or month), the market controls the click price. Relevant ads pay less per click thanks to Quality Score.
Is PPC better than SEO?
Neither is generally better, they solve different problems. PPC gives visibility immediately but stops when you stop paying. SEO takes months but gives visibility you own with no click cost. PPC suits when you need volume now or capture a season, SEO when you want to own demand long term. They usually work best together, where the search advertising data also makes the SEO work more accurate.
Do we own the search account if an agency runs it?
With us, yes. The Google Ads account, the keywords, the history and the data are yours. Change agency and it all comes with you. It is worth checking before you sign, since some agencies build campaigns in their own accounts and take everything with them if the cooperation ends. We also never promise a particular return in advance.