While “PPC” could refer to pay-per-click ads on any platform, paid search is very specific, referring to PPC advertisements in search engines like Google and Bing.
Paid search gives you the opportunity to advertise within the sponsored listings of a search engine – be that a traditional search engine like Google or Bing, or an online retailer like Amazon or eBay – by paying each time your ad is clicked.
Paid search is the fundamental activity of search engine marketing. It’s concerned with increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website. It can be immensely profitable but also incredibly costly when not performed correctly.
Google is by far the most popular paid search platform. In 2020, Google’s ad revenue amounted to 146.92 billion US dollars – over 85% of total revenues (Statista).