Pay per click: what it is, how much it costs, and why you should look for alternatives
The “pay per click” (PPC) advertising model is one of the most widely used online. It works in a simple way: companies pay every time someone clicks on an ad. But is it really that effective? And what alternatives exist today to avoid waste and achieve tangible results?
What is pay per click
The term “pay per click” refers to a system in which advertisers pay a fixed cost each time their ad receives a click. The most well-known platforms that use it are Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, TikTok Ads, and other similar tools.
The goal of PPC is to drive traffic to a specific page (landing page, website, product) and convert that traffic into an action: sign-up, purchase, contact, etc.
How much does a click really cost?
The cost per click (CPC) varies depending on the industry, competition, ad quality, and geographic target. In many cases it starts from €0.40 up to more than €2 or €3 per click, with an estimated average of about €0.80–1.20 in Europe.
However, this cost guarantees nothing: neither that the user is interested nor that they will take a useful action. That’s why more and more companies (those who know the problem) are starting to look for more sustainable and transparent alternatives.
The limits of the traditional PPC model
- Anonymous and untraceable clicks: you don’t know who clicked, whether it was a real user or a bot, or whether they were truly interested.
- bots, scripts and click farms can click on ads by mistake, for fraud, or to consume competitors’ budgets.
- Platforms do not guarantee that every click was voluntary, conscious, or useful.
- Ads are often shown to users outside the target or geographic area, generating useless costs.
Bots, fake clicks and junk traffic: why it happens
Bots act for various reasons:
- 🧨 Fraudulent competitor clicks: to drain opponents’ budgets.
- 🤖 Simulated human behavior: fake scrolls, likes, and clicks used to train AI or generate fake activity.
- 📱 Click farms: thousands of devices generating automatic actions at industrial scale.
- 🔍 Scraping and automated testing: some systems click on ads for analysis or mass profiling.
The result? The company pays for every click, even if no user has actually viewed or considered the ad.
Authoritative source confirming this:
Google itself confirms the issue of fraudulent click activity online, explaining how bots, automated or simulated clicks can compromise ad campaigns. Read the official documentation on click fraud and invalid traffic in the Google Ads Help Center.
Why ScratchScratch doesn’t use the PPC model
ScratchScratch doesn’t adopt a “pure pay per click” model, but a form of extended performance advertising, definable as ethical PPC or evolved PPC.
Companies don’t set budgets: they offer products as prizes, visible only to users registered in the relevant province/region/country. Each user can click to try to win the prize only after fully watching a 12-second company video ad.
The click is charged to the company regardless of video completion. However, only if the video is watched to the end, the click also generates cashback for the user.
Certified clicks, no bots, no fraud
Unlike classic PPC systems, on ScratchScratch every click is:
- ✅ Tracked: IP, timestamp, user ID, video ID, province, action performed.
- 🔒 Tied to a verified account: verified email, complete personal data.
- 🔁 Limited: one click per product per user per day.
No bot can simulate this behavior: it would require dozens of verified accounts, full video viewing, and voluntary interaction for each click.
The result is clean, controlled visibility based on genuine actions. No ad campaign is accessible via external links or shareable outside the platform, eliminating the risk of automated clicks or scraping at the root.
An evolved model: visibility + real action
Every click on ScratchScratch has value, but it is not an end in itself. It’s the beginning of a process that can lead to winning one or more real products!
The company incurs a fixed cost (€0.10 per click), but also a potential cost (the product/prize), which activates only if the user actually wins. No other PPC system offers such a balance between performance and transparency.
Moreover, each product offered as a prize also becomes a permanent advertising showcase: visible in your area, clickable, shareable, and potentially purchasable by those who didn’t win. A channel of active visibility with direct and indirect value.
Classic PPC or ethical PPC?
Traditional pay per click changed digital marketing, but today it shows all its limitations. ScratchScratch offers a safer, more human, and more measurable model. A system that puts people, not algorithms, at the center.
If you’re looking for a way to promote your company without waste, fraud, or inflated numbers, now is the time to try something new.
Register now and get 100 free tracked clicks for your business
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