CPC, cost per click, is the amount paid for one click on an ad. It is both a pricing model — the advertiser is billed per click rather than per impression — and a derived metric — total spend divided by clicks — on campaigns bought any other way.
Definition
CPC, cost per click, is the amount paid for one click on an ad. It is both a pricing model — the advertiser is billed per click rather than per impression — and a derived metric — total spend divided by clicks — on campaigns bought any other way.
On a CPC pricing model the advertiser carries no risk on impressions that do not earn a click; on a CPM model, CPC is what the impression cost works out to after the click-through rate is applied.
CPC is one step closer to a result than CPM but still upstream of the outcome that matters. A cheap CPC from traffic that does not convert is not a win, and campaigns are ultimately judged on cost per qualified action and player value, not cost per click.
CPC is most useful for comparing the click efficiency of creatives, placements and audiences that are otherwise similar, and as a lever a buyer can set directly when using manual bidding.
In context
In iGaming, CPC ranges from a few cents on cheap push and pop sources in Tier-3 markets to several dollars on compliant paid search for competitive Tier-1 gambling keywords. The CPC a buyer can profitably pay is derived backwards from the offer: if the payout is $120 per qualified FTD and the funnel converts clicks to qualified FTDs at 1%, the break-even CPC is $1.20, and the target CPC is set below that to leave margin.
On paid search specifically, CPC is also shaped by quality score — the platform's assessment of ad relevance, expected click-through and landing-page experience. A higher quality score lowers the CPC needed to hold a given position, so improving ad-to-keyword relevance and landing-page quality reduces click cost without raising the bid.
For iGaming search campaigns, which run only in markets and on platforms where gambling ads are permitted under certification, this makes on-page and ad-copy quality a direct cost lever, not just a conversion one.
Worked example
A buyer on a $150 CPA offer with a 0.9% click-to-qualified-FTD rate calculates a break-even CPC of $1.35 and sets a manual target of $0.95. After improving the ad-to-landing-page match and raising quality score, the same position holds at a $0.78 CPC, widening the campaign's margin without any change in bid strategy.
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