CPC (Cost per Click)

CPC (Cost per Click) is a digital advertising pricing model in which the advertiser pays each time a user clicks on the ad, regardless of whether the click results in a purchase. CPC is the standard pricing model for metasearch advertising in the hotel industry.

Where it shows up in hotel marketing

• Google Hotel Ads — bid CPC for placement in Google's hotel search results
• trivago — CPC bidding for placement on trivago's metasearch listings
• Kayak, TripAdvisor, HotelsCombined — CPC and hybrid CPC/commission models
• Google Search Ads — branded and non-branded keyword campaigns

Calculating cost per booking

CPC by itself doesn't tell you whether a campaign is profitable. You need:

• Conversion rate — what % of clicks turn into bookings
• ADR — what each booking is worth
• ALOS — how many nights per booking

Example: If a metasearch channel costs $1.50/click with a 3% conversion rate, the cost per booking is $50. If the average booking is $400, that's a 12.5% effective acquisition cost — comparable to or lower than OTA commission, which is why metasearch is a critical direct-booking channel.

CPC vs CPA

• CPC — pay per click (the advertiser bears conversion risk)
• CPA / commission — pay per booking (the platform bears conversion risk)

Some metasearch engines now offer hybrid models where the hotel can choose between bidding on CPC or paying a commission per stay, similar to OTA pricing.