PPC
Search Engine Land is your source for PPC news, trends and content. You’ll find a range of up-to-date and authoritative resources to help you work smarter and make better decisions. What is PPC? Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a digital marketing model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. This fundamental concept is crucial to understanding the world of online advertising. For an effective strategy, it’s important to understand how PPC and SEO can work together to improve your overall marketing efforts.
Our coverage
We provide the latest news in the PPC industry, keeping you informed about changes, updates, and emerging trends that can impact your campaigns. For example, leveraging AI-driven search advertising can be a game-changer for campaign success. You can also explore the best practices in paid search strategy to refine your campaigns. Check out our recent articles on topics like making display campaigns profitable and managing paid media budget allocation. Our content spans from beginner-friendly introductions to advanced strategies, ensuring we cater to all levels of PPC expertise.
Expert insights
What you read here is written by our experienced in-house team and subject matter experts from leading brands and agencies. This diverse group of contributors ensures you get well-rounded, expert perspectives on PPC topics. Explore our latest job opportunities in search marketing if you’re looking to take your career to the next level. Our experts cover a wide range of subjects, from PPC competitor analysis to winning video advertising creative. We pride ourselves on providing authoritative information to guide your PPC decisions and strategy.
Practical tips and strategies
Our content includes tactic-rich tutorials designed to help you work smarter and make better decisions in your PPC efforts. Whether you’re looking to optimize your campaigns or explore new strategies, you’ll find valuable guidance here. For example, our Google Analytics 4 guide for PPC dives deep into how data can drive better campaign performance. We dive deep into important issues like the high cost of PPC efficiency and provide insights on ad platform updates for B2B in 2024.
Data-driven decision making
We offer the latest data to support your PPC initiatives. Our content is designed to provide you with the information you need to make informed choices and improve your campaign performance. Leveraging Google Analytics 4 will help you navigate the evolving landscape of PPC measurement and optimization. 
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Dig deeper into PPC:
Your competitors’ negative reviews could improve your PPC ads
What customers complain about can reveal what they value. Use those insights to find stronger PPC messages to test.
Matt Van Wagner shares what’s changed, what disappeared and what PPC still gets wrong
Paid search veteran Matt Van Wagner reflects on 20 years of Google Ads, lost PPC tactics, rising automation and more
Google Ads AI needs guardrails, not blind trust ft Mike Ryan
Mike Ryan shares lessons from AI Max mistakes, campaign over-segmentation and advertiser overreactions to Google Ads changes.
Google Chrome launches new metrics to measure ad-heavy websites
Chrome’s new ad metrics give advertisers more visibility into ad clutter, page quality and inventory value.
What happens before search strongly shapes the decision
Search can confirm a decision that was shaped before the query. Here’s where that influence comes from and what you can do.
AI Overviews and paid search: When to fight, influence, or generate demand
Classify queries by intent and AI visibility to decide where to bid, influence the answer, or shift budget to demand generation.
3 ways to make AI safer in a live ad account
Automation layering techniques can be deployed to successfully make AI-driven PPC safer.
Microsoft Advertising sets rules for AI-generated ads
Microsoft is tightening AI ad transparency, requiring advertisers to disclose synthetic content, and preserve provenance data
Why ChatGPT Ads deserve a place in your 2027 media plan
Cheap inventory and low competition make ChatGPT Ads worth testing. But Google’s distribution advantage may make it short-lived.
The latest jobs in search marketing
Land your next job in SEO or PPC. These brands and agencies are hiring to fill open search marketing positions right now.
Advertisers report Google Ads credits being revoked after spending
Advertisers report Google Ads promotional credits being invalidated after they’ve already spent budget to qualify for them.
TikTok rejects Meta ads pushing rivals to join child safety settlement
TikTok rejected Meta ads urging it and YouTube to join Meta’s multibillion-dollar child safety settlement with U.S. states.
Google Ads data shows query length shift post-AI Mode
Longer, more specific searches are gaining impression and conversion share, while short queries continue to lose ground.
The availability heuristic: 7 ways Google Ads can steer your decisions
What gets your attention in Google Ads can influence where you spend, what you change, and how you judge performance. Here's what to watch.
Amazon pilots ChatGPT Ads through its DSP
Amazon is piloting access to ChatGPT Ads through Amazon DSP, letting U.S. advertisers extend campaigns into conversational ads.
OpenAI reportedly blocks rival AI tools from advertising in ChatGPT
OpenAI is reportedly blocking ads for competing image and audio AI tools from running inside ChatGPT.
How to use multiple MMMs to make better paid media decisions
Compare MMM outputs to expose hidden assumptions, surface uncertainty, and identify which budget decisions need further testing.
Google expands Data Manager and Meridian measurement tools
Google is rolling out new data tools to help marketers better understand what drives growth and where to invest.
Your marketing agent is working. Can you see what informs its recommendations?
Agentic marketing works best when marketers can inspect the data and evidence driving an agent's recommendations.
Google’s target bidding shake-up: Why PPC marketers have been here before
Reva Minkoff explored Google’s target bidding changes and why lessons from a decade ago could help PPC marketers adapt.
Google updates Location asset requirements without changing enforcement
Google updated its Location asset requirements with clearer language and troubleshooting guidance
Manual vs. automated Google Ads campaigns: How to allocate your budget
Balance scale and control by matching automation to conversion volume, account maturity, and performance needs.
Google Ads AI Dashboards start appearing in advertiser accounts
Google Ads’s AI Dashboards let advertisers turn simple text prompts into visual reports with AI-generated summaries.
Microsoft Advertising removes Max CPC from new standalone bidding campaigns
Microsoft will remove Max CPC controls from new campaigns using several standalone automated bidding strategies starting Oct. 1.
Google Ads adds new tools to drive and measure in-store sales
Google Ads is making it easier for multi-location businesses to reach nearby customers and measure the campaign in-store sales.
The 11x ROAS account that lost money on every order
High ROAS can mask negative contribution, weak incrementality, and costly inventory decisions. Here's how to measure what really matters.
AI Overviews may be affecting Shopping ad CTR and impressions
AI Overviews may be reducing Shopping ad impressions while concentrating clicks among higher-intent searches.
Google tests traditional Search campaigns in AI Mode
Google is testing exact and phrase match Search ads in AI Mode when users show clear, direct intent.
Google rolls out AI-powered AdSense Help guide to all English Help Center traffic
Google’s AI-powered AdSense Help guide answers publisher questions and helps with onboarding and troubleshooting.
Google opens YouTube personalized ads to alcohol advertisers
Google will allow personalized alcohol advertising on YouTube starting Oct. 30, in markets where local laws permit.
OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads globally and builds out its ad stack
OpenAI has expanded ChatGPT Ads, alongside new tools for audience targeting, conversion measurement, and reporting
SEO and PPC are sitting on each other’s best insights
The keyword that’s too expensive for PPC could be your next SEO priority. The page that ranks first could tell you where to cut paid spend.
Limited Ad Serving: Why Google Ads suddenly show less often
Google can limit ad serving without disapproving your ads. Learn what puts accounts at risk, how to spot a limitation, and how to appeal.
What your Google Ads hour-of-day report doesn’t tell you
Smart Bidding sees the auction-level signals your hourly report can’t. Know what you’re giving up when you cut an hour.
Google avoids AdX breakup in ad tech antitrust case
Judge keeps the monopoly finding intact, but chooses behavioral remedies over a forced AdX sale, preserving Google's ad exchange.
Creative targeting is quietly fragmenting your Meta audiences
Ten ads can behave like one when they make the same pitch. Give each buyer persona a distinct angle to expand your reach.
How to prove paid social drives paid search demand
When attribution misses delayed and cross-channel influence, here’s how to measure the demand paid social creates and paid search captures.
Google AdSense to change how it counts impressions: Begin-to-Render
This change is happening on February 17, 2027 and will result in a change in total impressions.
Google vs. Microsoft AI Max: What’s the same and what’s different
Learn where the platforms align, where controls and reporting differ, and how to test AI features without disrupting campaign performance.
Microsoft Advertising rolling out new design for advertiser console
Microsoft says it has "redesigned the navigation and enhanced tables for a more intuitive, efficient experience."