CPC
The average price you pay for one click on an ad: total cost divided by clicks.
CPC, or cost per click, is the average amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad, worked out as total spend divided by clicks. In the auction it is set by your bid, the competition, and how relevant Google judges your ad to be.
A lower CPC is rarely something you buy by bidding less; it is something you earn with relevance. A tighter keyword-to-ad match lifts your click-through rate and Quality Score, and a higher Quality Score buys a cheaper click at the same position. That is why granular structure like single keyword ad groups and sharper ad copy pay for themselves.
CPC on its own is not a goal. A cheap click that never converts is expensive; what matters is the cost per acquisition and the return behind it.
Put the number to work: the break-even ROAS calculator turns your margins into the ROAS you need, and a free Due Diligence Audit checks whether the figures you see are the ones you are getting. Back to the glossary.