Pay per click (PPC) advertising is a business model used in internet marketing. It is popularly used in online marketing networks, search engines, and content websites. The concept of PPC marketing is highly accepted by advertisers and website owners alike because it thrives in a mutually beneficial relationship.

With PPC marketing, online advertisers pay website owners every time a qualified user clicks on their PPC ads directing to their website. By qualified, we mean those other than the website owner or any clicker the advertiser deems unreliable. Standards are set, geographical or technical, to avoid website owners from clicking their own ads.

Online advertisers actively bid for keywords that they consider relevant to their targeted market. Keyword research, therefore, proves vital in PPC campaigns. Websites that feature PPC advertisements, such as Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing, more often than not feature PPC ads that are related to each of these websites' niche or targeted audience. This makes sense because the websites' visitors are likely to be interested in the displayed ads for the same reason that they visited the website in the first place.

Pay per click online marketing could be categorized into sponsored (or keyword) match and content match. Content sites, such as blogs and newsletters, sometimes automatically include PPC features, wherein users are given the option to choose what types of ads they would like to display for them to generate revenue. Sometimes, the website owner could decide where he wants the PPC ads to be placed. Google Adwords for one, working alongside www.blogger.com , even makes suggestions as to the strategic placement of ads. Another example would be Yahoo Search Marketing, which distributes ads to be published on partner sites. Content matches could also be applied to email campaigns.

In the case of keyword or sponsored match, interested advertisers apply by bidding for keywords. The sponsored links are always placed above or adjacent the "organic" or the unpaid results.

The costs per click on PPC ads vary, depending on the sponsors and the level of competition surrounding a specific keyword. This means that PPC ads targeting popular keywords or phrases cost higher for every click on the top search engines. Keywords are the most vital elements in PPC marketing. The placement of PPC ads when a specific keyword is searched for depends on how much the advertisers bid for the said keyword.

Pay per click programs could also be specified for product or service searches. It depends on search engine companies if they want to put their PPC ads under more than one category. There is what we call product engines or product comparison engines. They offer a list of related advertisers for every product searched. The higher paying advertisers are of course, placed on top of the list. They could also use the pay per click model but not all the time. Examples of product engines include Google Product Search and Shopping.com. Anyone could normally have their products listed here but they are usually required to offer product feeds.

The only downside of PPC advertising, perhaps, is that it could be a little too expensive. Needless to say, the use of PPC ads in website marketing has proven to be very effective with results guaranteed minutes upon enrolment.