What is the Cost per Click?

The Cost per Click is a cost metric and KPIs in Mobile Marketing. It sets the cost of a user acquisition campaign in relation to the number of clicks on the campaign’s ads. Or in other words, it tells marketers how much money they pay on average for each ad click.

CPC = Campaign Cost / Ad Clicks

CPC as a Payout Model

The CPC is the payout model that is used by some of the biggest traffic providers in Mobile Marketing: Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Apple Search Ads use it as the basis for billing advertisers  (Apple calls it “Call per Tap” or “CPT” though). It is also the standard model for programmatic campaigns.

Usually, advertisers do not pay a fixed CPC. Instead, they determine a maximum CPC, and the publisher finds placements that are available for this bid or a lower cost.

For advertisers, the CPC model is less risky than the CPM model. But as it does not grant a guarantee for new users, it has a bigger monetary risk than the CPI model.