Types of Paid Advertising: A Complete Guide to PPC, CPC, CPA, CPV, and More

Organic reach isn’t sufficient to keep your business visible and ahead of the competition in today’s fast-paced digital world. Whether you own an online shop, a software as a service platform, or a more conventional brick-and-mortar business looking to expand online, paid advertising is the greatest approach to reach your target audience, increase traffic, and ultimately, increase revenue.

But here’s the rub: sponsored ad types abound, and each has its own strategy, price point, and optimal application. It can be overwhelming just to think about all the acronyms, such as PPC, CPC, CPA, CPM, and CPV.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the many forms of paid advertising, how they function, the pros and disadvantages of each, and how to select the one that is most suited to your marketing objectives.

What Is Paid Advertising?

Paid advertising is any kind of marketing when a business pays to show ads to a certain group of people. You can see these advertising on search engines like Google, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, websites, mobile applications, and more.

What makes paid advertising powerful is its ability to deliver:

• Immediate visibility
• Precise targeting
• Scalable results
• Performance tracking and ROI analysis

Now, let’s dive into the core types of paid advertising.

1. PPC (Pay-Per-Click)

PPC is a type of online advertising where businesses pay every time someone clicks on their ad. People most often think about Google Ads when they hear about this concept, but Bing Ads, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn also use it in different ways.

Where It’s Used:

1. Search engines (Google, Bing)
2. Display networks
3. Social media platforms

Pros:

• You only pay when someone takes action
• Highly targeted (based on location, device, behavior, etc.)
• Easy to measure ROI

Best For:

• Generating traffic quickly
• Targeting high-intent users via search

2. CPC (Cost-Per-Click)

People commonly use CPC and PPC to mean the same thing, however CPC is the actual cost you pay for each click, whereas PPC is the model as a whole. Most platforms give advertisers average CPC rates so they may plan their budgets.

Formula:

• Total Cost / Number of Clicks = CPC

Why It Matters:

• Understanding CPC helps you manage ad budgets and determine cost-effectiveness per click.

3. CPM (Cost-Per-Mille or Cost-Per-Thousand Impressions)

CPM means that advertisers pay for every 1,000 times their ad is shown, no matter how many clicks it gets. This technique is great for campaigns that want to get people to know about a brand without having them interact with it directly.

Where It’s Common:

• Display ads
• Video ads
• Social media (especially Meta and TikTok)

Pros:

• Ideal for increasing brand visibility
• Generally lower cost per impression

Cons:

• No guarantee of clicks or conversions

4. CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition / Cost-Per-Action)

With a CPA model, advertisers only have to pay when a customer does a certain thing, like signing up, downloading an app, or buying something. It’s one of the types of ads that cares the most about performance.

Formula:

• Total Cost / Number of Conversions = CPA

Best For:

• E-commerce
• Subscription-based services
• Lead generation

Pros:

• You only pay for results
• Ideal for optimizing ROI

Cons:

• Often higher cost due to quality traffic requirements

5. CPV (Cost-Per-View)

CPV is a common way to pay for video ads; you pay when someone watches or interacts with your ad. A “view” on YouTube usually entails watching the video for 30 seconds or doing something with it (whichever comes first).

Where You’ll See It:

• YouTube Ads (via Google Ads)
• In-app video advertising

Pros:

• Great for storytelling and visual branding
• You only pay for engaged viewers

Cons:

• Harder to drive direct conversions

6. PPI (Pay-Per-Install)

PPI is used in mobile app marketing, advertisers pay each time a user installs their app. It’s a specialized form of CPA.

Ideal For:

• Mobile app developers
• Gaming apps
• SaaS platforms with mobile onboarding

Pros:

• Tracks installs directly
• High intent from the user

Cons:

• Doesn’t guarantee app usage or retention

7. Social Media Advertising

Although not a pricing model, social media advertising deserves its own category due to the unique blend of targeting, formats, and campaign objectives.

Platforms:

1. Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram)
2. TikTok Ads
3. LinkedIn Ads
4. Twitter/X Ads
5. Pinterest Ads
6. Snapchat Ads

Pricing Models Supported:

• CPC
• CPM
• CPA
• CPV

Unique Features:

• Behavioral and interest-based targeting
• Custom audiences and lookalikes
• Diverse ad formats: Stories, Reels, Carousels, etc.

8. Search Engine Advertising

These are text-based ads that appear on search engine results pages (SERPs), typically above or below organic listings.

Key Platform:

1. Google Ads (formerly AdWords)
2. Bing Ads
3. Pricing:
4. Primarily PPC / CPC

Pros:

• Targets high-intent keywords
• Shows ads at the moment of need

Cons:

• Can be highly competitive (especially in finance, law, etc.)

9. Display Advertising

Display ads are banner or visual ads placed on websites, apps, or video content.

Key Platform:

1. Static banners
2. Rich media
3. Responsive ads

Pricing Models:

• CPM
• CPC

Best Use Cases:

• Brand awareness
• Retargeting visitors
• Product promotion

10. Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising automatically buys digital ad space using AI and real-time bidding (RTB). It gets rid of the necessity for manual negotiation and lets advertisers easily grow their campaigns.

Channels:

1. Display
2. Video
3. Mobile
4. Native ads

Pros:

• Real-time optimization
• Hyper-targeting based on data
• Scalable across many networks

11. Native Advertising

Native advertisements are ads that look, feel, and work like the media format they are in. These are things like paid blog posts, suggested articles, and promoted listings.

Platforms:

1. Taboola
2. Outbrain
3. In-feed social ads

Pricing:

• CPC
• CPM

Pros:

• Non-disruptive user experience
• Higher engagement and trust

Comparing the Types of Paid Advertising

Final Thoughts: The Future of Paid Advertising

Paid ads are always changing because of new technology, changes in privacy laws, and how people act. AI-driven customisation, targeting without cookies, and immersive ad formats like AR/VR are changing the way advertising will work in the future.

If you’re new to this, try out multiple concepts and platforms, use data to improve them, and grow what works.

Contechtive creates campaigns that are based on data and are designed to help your organization reach its goals. Our team of professionals will make sure you achieve the most return on investment (ROI) from your PPC, CPA, or programmatic advertising by targeting the right people and optimizing performance.

Contechtive can help you grow your business and dominate your digital space with paid ads.