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:
Greg Finn on 20 years of PPC: From exact match to AI Mode
Greg Finn reflects on 20 years of PPC, from exact match and Smart Bidding to automation, AI Mode and why authenticity will matter more than ever.
Google says better YouTube creative can more than double ROI
Google’s new YouTube creative guidance highlights the ad elements associated with stronger conversions and ROI.
Google announces October changes to Display & Video 360 API
Google’s DV360 changes remove targeting exclusions and add new business identity requirements for YouTube responsive ads.
More leads or better leads? Optimize for what your business needs
Form fills don't tell ad platforms what makes a lead valuable. Deeper-funnel signals can improve lead quality and campaign performance.
Google expands Demand Gen with messaging ads, travel tools and AI video creation
Google's Demand Gen tools aim to shorten the path from discovery to conversion while making it easier to scale creative across campaigns.
Moving from Google Display to Demand Gen: What you’ll lose and gain
New inventory and AI-powered creative come with trade-offs. See which controls and capabilities change in Demand Gen.
Google Ads API Developer Assistant gets major AI agent upgrade
Google Ads API Developer Assistant v4.0.0 brings specialized API dev, troubleshooting and reporting tools into AI workflows.
Google Ads adds reporting for AI-generated product titles
Google’s new Product titles report shows advertisers which AI-generated product titles are being served and how they perform.
Meta Ads: Why creative diversity matters more than volume
Vary hooks, creators, messaging, formats, and offers to give Meta more creative combinations to match with different audiences.
Google tests channel prioritization controls for Performance Max
Google is testing new Performance Max controls that let advertisers influence which channels the algorithm prioritizes.
Google brings Gemini Omni video creation to Google Ads
Google is adding Gemini Omni to Asset Studio, making it easier to turn creative briefs and brand assets into campaign-ready videos.
Google expands direct booking for Local Services Ads
Google is expanding LSA direct booking to more than 500 partners, making it easier for customers to book straight from ads.
Google Local Services Ads will charge for some missed calls starting Oct. 1
Google will start charging Local Services Ads advertisers for some missed and follow-up calls that qualify as valid leads from Oct. 1.
When paid media optimization starts working against you
Cheap clicks can look efficient while producing weaker results. Learn how to connect paid media to sales, revenue, and profit.
Your paid media ROAS isn’t 5x. Or 2x.
Your platform claims the sale, your backend gives credit elsewhere, and neither can tell you if the ad caused it. Incrementality does.
ChatGPT Ads adds automated bidding, platform targeting
ChatGPT Ads adds automated bidding, platform targeting and view-through conversions as it expands into Latin America.
Google expands Local Services Ads categories ahead of migration
Google is expanding LSA categories ahead of its migration into Google Ads, giving businesses more precise ways to target leads.
Google unifies Google tag and Tag Manager, adds no-code event tracking
Google is unifying Google tag and Tag Manager with no-code event tracking, streamlined management and faster data transmission.
The power of connected customer history
Why transaction data alone isn't enough for performance marketing, and how persistent customer profiles change the equation.
Meta AI can now analyze and optimize Meta Ads campaigns
Meta AI can now analyze Meta Ads performance, recommend campaign optimizations and automate reporting for advertisers.
How to improve Google Ads lead quality with CRM data
Connect your CRM to Google Ads, define qualified leads, and optimize campaigns around the leads that actually drive business value.
Google adds new AI Max testing and planning tools
Google is expanding AI Max with new experiments and planning tools to help advertisers test budgets, ROI targets and controls.
Google Ads API v25.1 expands measurement and insights
Google Ads API v25.1 adds new tools for lift measurement, benchmarking, brand sentiment, and loyalty reporting.
Microsoft Advertising rolls out AI Max globally for Search campaigns
Microsoft is rolling out AI Max globally, bringing AI targeting, creative and landing page optimization to Search campaigns.
Google Ads tests Enhanced Matching for Customer Match
Enhanced Matching could help advertisers expand the reach of their first-party audiences using consented publisher signals.
ChatGPT Ads are expanding to 31 European countries
Advertisers in Europe will gain access to a new high-intent channel as OpenAI significantly expands its global advertising footprint.
Google Ads is finally building a stronger foundation for B2B lead gen
Three months after Google Marketing Live, Google Ads is laying the groundwork for better B2B lead gen. Here’s what to act on now.
Microsoft Advertising publishes Conversions API documentation
Microsoft shared documentation for its beta Conversions API, as a server-side option for sending data directly to the platform.
Google Ads will use generative AI to resize Performance Max video ads
Google is expanding PMax video optimization with generative AI that automatically creates missing aspect ratios from existing ads.
ChatGPT draws more paid clicks from Google than any other top destination
ChatGPT draws a higher share of Google clicks than any other top destination, highlighting overlap between search and AI discovery.
Ginny Marvin on Smart Bidding, AI and why PPC fundamentals still matter
Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin discusses Smart Bidding, AI, PPC mistakes and why strong fundamentals still matter with the rise of AI.
SMX Now: The target bidding apocalypse and how we’ve been here before
Join us on August 19th for the latest SMX Now where Reva Minkoff will break down Google's August 17 Smart Bidding changes
Google updates Demand Gen view-through conversion optimization
Google is making view-through conversion optimization video-only for Demand Gen while expanding support to Display.
The $113,000 paid search test: How much traffic did organic replace?
Paid search looked valuable in the channel report. A 13-week test revealed how much of that value the business actually needed to buy.
The 4-step roadmap to AI agents for Google Ads
Know when to use off-the-shelf AI, when to build custom systems, and what foundations you need before agents can deliver real value.
Google Merchant Center for Agencies now supports up to 1,000 linked accounts
Google has clarified that Merchant Center for Agencies accounts can now link up to 1,000 client Merchant Center accounts
Google Analytics adds custom conversion attribution windows
Google Analytics now supports custom conversion windows for click-through and engaged-view attribution.
Google sets AI Max migration timeline for Search campaigns
Google will begin automatically migrating legacy Search campaign features to AI Max in September, with DSAs following next year.
LLM traffic converts differently — here’s what to do about it
Paid search captures demand at the query. AI shapes the decision before the visitor reaches your site. Here’s how to convert that traffic.
Demand Gen shows why PPC can no longer hide behind intent
PPC’s expanding role brings creative strategy, customer psychology, and full-journey measurement into the performance marketer’s job.