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:
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."
Building an AI agent for ad management: The hard part isn’t the AI
Confident mistakes, noisy alerts, and conversion lag reveal what it takes to build an AI agent you can trust with paid media.
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.