Types of PPC: 7 Kinds of Pay-Per-Click Ads Explained

The main types of PPC are search ads, shopping ads, display ads, video ads, paid social ads, remarketing and app campaigns, plus automated mixes such as Google’s Performance Max. Each type shows your ad in a different place, to people at a different stage of buying. Most UK businesses should start with search, then add other types only when the basics are profitable.

PPC (pay-per-click) is any form of online advertising where you bid for placement and usually pay when someone clicks. This guide explains each type of PPC, where it appears, who it suits and what to run first. Facts about each platform are taken from Google, Microsoft, Meta and LinkedIn’s own documentation, as of November 2026.

Key takeaways

• Search ads catch people who are already looking for what you sell, so they usually convert best and suit almost every business.
• Shopping ads are the main PPC type for online shops, and they need a product feed in Google Merchant Center.
• Display, video and paid social ads build demand among people who are not searching yet. They work best with a clear offer and good creative.
• Performance Max runs across all Google Ads inventory from one campaign, but it gives you less control over where money goes.
• Remarketing (now called “your data” in Google Ads) shows ads to people who have already visited your site or used your app.
• Start with one type, prove it makes money, then expand. Running five types on a small budget spreads spend too thin to learn anything.

What are the main types of PPC advertising?

There are seven main types of PPC advertising, and they differ mainly by where the ad appears and how ready the viewer is to buy. The table below compares them side by side.

Performance Max sits across several of these rows at once, so we cover it separately below.

What is search advertising in PPC?

Search advertising is the original and most common type of PPC: text ads that appear on search engine results when someone types a query related to your keywords. Google’s own description of a Search campaign is simply “text ads on search results”.

You choose keywords, write ads, set a bid and a budget, and Google decides which ads show based on bid and ad quality. Because the person has already told the search engine what they want, search ads catch demand that already exists. Someone typing “boiler repair Croydon” or “payroll software for small business” is far closer to buying than someone scrolling a news site.

Search ads suit most businesses as a first PPC channel. The main limit is volume: if few people search for what you sell, search ads cannot create those searches. Costs per click also vary widely by sector, which we break down in our guide to what PPC costs in the UK.

Search ads on Microsoft Advertising

Google is not the only search engine you can advertise on. Microsoft Advertising runs search ads on Bing and its partner network, and offers Search, Shopping, Audience and Performance Max campaigns. Many advertisers import their Google campaigns into Microsoft Advertising once Google is working, as a way to reach extra searchers without rebuilding everything.

How do Shopping ads work?

Shopping ads are product listings with an image, price and shop name that appear on Google search results and the Google Shopping tab. Google calls them “product listings on Google”, and they are driven by a product feed in Google Merchant Center rather than by keywords you choose.

That feed is the heart of a Shopping campaign. Google reads your product titles, descriptions, prices, images and stock levels to decide which searches your products match. A weak feed (vague titles, missing attributes, wrong prices) means poor matching and wasted spend, however good your bidding is. Feed quality is usually the first thing we fix for a shop.

Shopping ads are the main PPC type for ecommerce because shoppers see the product and price before they click, so clicks tend to come from people who are already interested. Google now also runs Shopping inventory through Performance Max when a Merchant Center feed is linked. If you sell online, our ecommerce PPC work covers feeds, Shopping and Performance Max together.

What is Performance Max, and should you use it?

Performance Max is Google’s automated campaign type that runs your ads across all Google Ads inventory from a single campaign. Google describes it as “a goal-based campaign type that allows performance advertisers to access all Google Ads inventory from a single campaign”, which includes Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube and more.

You supply assets (headlines, descriptions, images, videos, a product feed if you have one), audience signals and a conversion goal. Google’s systems then decide where to show ads and how much to bid. Microsoft has its own version: Microsoft’s Performance Max documentation says it runs “across the entire Microsoft Advertising Network”, and notes that Search campaigns with exact match keywords are prioritised over Performance Max.

Performance Max can work well when you have reliable conversion tracking, enough conversions for the system to learn from, and good creative. It works poorly when tracking is broken or the goal is vague, because the automation optimises towards whatever you tell it counts as success. You also get less visibility of which placements spend your money than in a standard Search campaign. For most businesses we treat it as a second step, not the first campaign in a new account.

What are display and video PPC ads?

Display ads are image ads shown on websites and apps, and video ads are ads shown on YouTube and other video placements. Google says Display campaigns reach people as they browse “millions of websites, apps and Google-owned properties, such as YouTube”.

Both types reach people who are not actively searching for you. That makes them useful for awareness and for products people do not know to search for yet, but clicks from display are usually less ready to buy than clicks from search. Judge display and video on the job you gave them: cheaper reach, new audiences or remarketing, not on the same conversion rate you expect from search.

Google Ads offers several Video campaign subtypes, including drive conversions, video reach, get views and ad sequence (which shows a set of videos in order). Google’s help centre also lists Demand Gen as a separate campaign type for visual ads. If you have no video yet, a short, well-lit clip that explains your offer in the first few seconds is a better test than an expensive production.

Is paid social a type of PPC?

Yes. Paid social is PPC on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, where you pay to show ads to people based on who they are rather than what they searched for. The bidding and budgeting work in a similar way to Google Ads, but the targeting and creative are very different.

Meta’s ad formats include photo, video, Stories, Messenger, carousel (up to ten images or videos in one ad, each with its own link), slideshow, collection and playable ads, shown across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and the Audience Network. LinkedIn offers Sponsored Content in the feed, Sponsored Messaging, Dynamic Ads personalised from profile data such as job title, and Text Ads, which LinkedIn describes as “self-service, pay-per-click desktop ads”.

In our experience, Meta suits consumer brands with visual products, while LinkedIn suits B2B companies who need to reach a specific job title or industry and can justify higher click costs. Our paid social management covers both.

What is remarketing in PPC?

Remarketing is a type of PPC that shows ads to people who have already visited your website or used your app. In Google Ads it has been renamed: Google’s help centre now says “‘remarketing’ is now referred to as ‘your data'”, and audience types are called audience segments.

Most visitors leave a site without buying or getting in touch. Remarketing lets you reach them again with a reminder, a different message or an offer. Dynamic remarketing goes further for shops by showing the specific products a person viewed. Remarketing lists also work on Meta and LinkedIn using their own tracking pixels.

Remarketing relies on website tags, so check your cookie consent setup first, and cap how often each person sees your ads.

What are app campaigns?

App campaigns are a type of PPC built to promote mobile apps. Google says they use your app’s information to show ads across Search, Google Play, YouTube, Discover and over three million sites and apps, with goals for app installs, app engagement or pre-registration before launch.

You do not pick keywords or placements one by one. You supply text, images and video, set a target cost per install or in-app action, and Google handles the rest. App campaigns only make sense once the app’s store listing is strong and you track what users do after installing, otherwise you buy installs that never turn into customers.

Which type of PPC is right for your business?

The right type of PPC depends on whether people already search for what you sell, how visual your product is and how much budget you have. Use this decision framework in order.

1. Do people search for what you sell? If yes, start with Google Search ads on your highest-intent keywords. If search volume is tiny, look at paid social or video instead.
2. Do you sell products online? If yes, set up Google Merchant Center and run Shopping ads, either as a standard Shopping campaign or through Performance Max.
3. Do you sell to businesses by job title? If yes, test LinkedIn Sponsored Content alongside search, with a lead form or a useful download as the offer.
4. Is your product visual or new to the market? If yes, add Meta or video ads to build demand that search cannot capture.
5. Do you get steady website traffic? If yes, add remarketing to bring back visitors who did not convert.
6. Is your conversion tracking reliable with a steady flow of conversions? Only then consider Performance Max or wider automation.

Checklist before you launch any type of PPC

• Conversion tracking is set up and tested (form submissions, calls, purchases).
• Each ad sends people to a relevant landing page, not just the homepage.
• You know roughly what a customer is worth, so you can set a sensible cost per lead or sale.
• The daily budget is enough to get meaningful clicks on one campaign, rather than a few clicks spread across many.
• You own the ad account and pay the platform directly.
• Negative keywords (search) or audience exclusions (social) are in place to cut obvious waste.
• You have agreed what success looks like after the first two to three months.

How do the types of PPC work together?

The types of PPC work best as a sequence, not a menu. Search and Shopping capture people who are ready to buy. Display, video and paid social create new interest. Remarketing brings back people who showed interest but did not act. Each layer feeds the next.

A typical path: launch search on core keywords, add Shopping if you sell products, add remarketing once traffic builds, then test paid social or video. If you are weighing paid search against organic search more broadly, our comparison of SEO and PPC sets out when each one makes sense.

At ProntX we usually start new accounts with search because it gives the clearest read on demand and cost per lead, then expand channel by channel. The full list of campaign types and their goals is in Google’s guide to choosing a campaign type.

Getting help choosing and running PPC

Picking the right type of PPC matters more than any bidding trick. The wrong type burns budget on people who were never going to buy. ProntX manages search, Shopping, Performance Max, paid social and remarketing for UK businesses, from £450 a month for management, with ad spend paid directly to Google or Meta and rolling monthly contracts. You own every account. If you want a second opinion on which types of PPC suit your business, see how ProntX runs PPC campaigns or ask for a free audit.