Cost per Click (CPC) is the price an advertiser pays each time a user clicks on their ad. Platforms like Google Ads price in CPC natively; platforms like Meta often optimize for other goals but report CPC as a diagnostic.
Context
Google Search CPCs vary enormously by industry: legal services can exceed $50 CPC for head terms; consumer retail can be under $0.50. The primary driver is auction competition, not intrinsic query value.
Meta average CPCs sit around $1 for most consumer categories, $2.50+ for B2B, and up to $5+ for highly competitive professional services. LinkedIn CPCs commonly run $5–$15.
WordStream's 2024 industry benchmarks show average Google Search CPC of $4.22 in B2B, $2.69 in ecommerce, $5.60 in legal, and $1.40 in real estate.
CPC as a primary optimization target is usually wrong. Clicks don't pay the bills; conversions do. Optimize toward cost per lead or cost per SQL, not CPC, unless you're running a traffic-only brand campaign.
Related terms
Services that apply this
More Paid Media terms
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
Revenue divided by ad spend — the most reported and most misleading paid metric.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
The fully-loaded cost of acquiring a new paying customer.
CAC Payback Window
The number of months until a new customer's contribution margin equals the cost to acquire them.
LTV:CAC Ratio
Customer lifetime value divided by customer acquisition cost.