Sometimes referred to as pay for placement or paid inclusion. Pay per click is an online advertising arrangement with a search engine. The advertiser’s fee payment is based entirely on performance such as impressions (views) or actual click-throughs to target web page.
 
The advertiser’s web page link and description appears in the search results area of the directory or search engine or in a designated area (e.g. right margin, top margin, etc.). Rankings are prioritized according to the bid amount with the highest bidder receiving the number one listing, the second highest bidder receiving the number two listing and so on.
 
Pay per click advertising has rapidly become a popular form of marketing online. It can often be a perfect complement or in some cases an alternative to search engine ranking campaigns.