Search engine advertising
From DigitalJargonBuster
Search engine advertising campaigns (often called PPC standing for ‘pay-per-click’) are the advertising listings that can be bought in prominent positions within search engines and the advertising networks they supply. Advertisers only pay when a link is clicked on which created a new type of accountability when it entered the mainstream of web marketing in the late 1990s. The approach allows advertisers to bid against each other for the most prominent position and in general the advertisers that bids the most appears highest.