Cost per click (CPC)
Cost per click is what you pay Google each time someone clicks your ad.
You're charged per click, never for being shown, so appearing in the results costs nothing on its own.
The price is set by an auction against everyone else bidding on that search, adjusted by Quality Score.
In Adelaide, trades searches commonly sit somewhere between $4 and $15 a click, and legal, medical and finance run well above that.
Your maximum bid is a ceiling rather than a price, and the actual cost is usually lower.
The figure that matters more is cost per lead, because a $15 click that converts beats a $4 click that doesn't.
What this means for you
CPC tells you what the auction costs to enter. It's a budgeting number, not a scorecard, and judging an account by it alone leads to bidding on cheap searches nobody buys from.
This one sits under Google Ads management.
Related terms
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