PPC stands for Pay Per Click. It is advertising on search engines — primarily Google — where you pay each time someone clicks your ad. When a search matches the keywords you are targeting, your ad appears above the organic search results.
Done well, PPC is one of the fastest ways to reach people who are actively looking to buy. Done poorly, it is a reliable way to spend a budget on people who were never going to become customers. The difference usually comes down to keywords.
Buying Intent: The Garage Door Example
Not everyone who types the same phrase into Google wants the same thing. Take “garage doors.” That search could come from someone wanting a new door installed, someone looking for DIY repair advice, a student writing a project, or a trade supplier with no need for a fitter.
If you are a garage door installer and your ads show for all of those searches, you are paying for clicks that will not convert. The person looking for a how-to video does not need your services today. The one searching “garage door installation Northampton” probably does.
Keyword research is the process of identifying the searches where someone is ready to act — to call, to book, to buy — and making sure your ads appear for those searches, not the adjacent ones that cost money without producing results. Understanding the intent behind a search is what separates a campaign that works from one that just spends.
Match Types Explained
Google Ads gives you control over how closely a search needs to match your keyword before your ad appears.
Broad match means your ad can show for searches loosely related to your keyword. This gives Google the most flexibility, but without close management, it can lead to ads appearing for irrelevant terms.
Phrase match means your ad shows when a search contains your keyword phrase in order, with other words around it. More controlled than broad match and usually a safer default for most campaigns.
Exact match means your ad shows only when the search is very close to your specific keyword. The most precise option, but it limits reach to searches you have explicitly anticipated.
Most well-run campaigns use a combination. The right balance depends on your budget, the specificity of your service, and available search volume.
Negative Keywords: As Important as the Ones You Target
A negative keyword tells Google not to show your ad when a particular word appears in the search. Without a considered negative keyword list, you will pay for clicks from people who are categorically not your customers.
A plumber should add negatives including jobs, salary, training, courses, apprenticeship, and how-to. People searching for plumbing courses are not looking to hire a plumber.
An estate agent should exclude Rightmove, Zoopla, Purple Bricks, and major national competitors. Someone searching “estate agents Rightmove” is going to a platform, not looking for a local independent.
A solicitor may need to exclude how to become, law degree, salary, self-represent, and names of TV legal dramas. Someone searching “how to become a solicitor” is a student, not a prospective client.
Building a solid negative keyword list takes time, but it is one of the highest-return activities in managing a PPC account. Every irrelevant click prevented is budget available for clicks that actually convert.
What Has Changed in 2026, and Where Budget Goes to Waste
Google’s Performance Max campaigns — PMax — are now a standard part of most advertising accounts. PMax uses machine learning to serve ads across all of Google’s channels from a single campaign: Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps. The challenge is that PMax has not historically accepted traditional negative keywords at campaign level.
In 2026, Google opened up account-level negative keyword exclusions for PMax. This is a meaningful development — brand exclusions and category exclusions can now be applied across PMax campaigns without them spending on your most obvious irrelevant searches. But it requires active setup, and a significant number of accounts have not been updated to take advantage of it.
Research consistently points to between 20% and 40% of PPC spend going on clicks that will never convert. That is largely a management problem. Regular review of search term reports, ongoing negative keyword expansion, and honest assessment of which terms are driving enquiries — rather than just generating clicks — are the levers that reduce wasted spend and improve return on investment.