Google Ads - CPC vs CPA?

[daveinla]

So I set up a text ad campaign for my company. It of course focuses on key search terms. Someone sees the ad, clicks on it, they go to the landing page, and then hopefully fill out the form. I assume this is a Cost Per Click (CPC) campaign. Is there a different kind of campaign that is purely Cost Per Action (CPA)? As in, we would only pay if the person actually filled out the form and clicked submit?

Someone in my company had asked if this was a 'CPA campaign' and I said, 'no, it was a CPC campaign' and they got in a huff.

[RhinoFish]

The Google Ads you described are always billed on a CPC basis (Cost Per Click).

But...

In the Google Ads you described, the amount you pay per click is determined by how you set your bids...
1) You can use Manual CPC (Cost Per Click) and Enhanced CPC bidding to set your maximum amount you'll pay for a click.
Or, among other choices...
2) You can also use bidding types like Target CPA, where the CPC bidding (for each keyword auction) is controlled by Google for each Click, but Google aims the CPC bid amounts that it controls (for each and every click) to work out so that your outcome CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) hits your set Target CPA Goal (like $42 / per Sale).

The person in Marketing who is setting the Goals for this campaign is very likely thinking in terms of outcome CPA.
Some keywords that convert very well, might have a very high CPC bid.
Conversely, some keywords that convert poorly, might have a very low CPC bid.
Most people bid for outcomes.

So you can see that it depends on the person's perspective as to what they mean...
The auction is a CPC auction, but very people set CPC Goals as their desired outcome.

An analogy...

When you plan to drive from point A to point B, you usually based your desired outcome on travel time...
"Let's take the toll road, I'm in a hurry."
You could say this is a Miles Per Hour campaign.
But the gas pedal controls how fast you consume gas, not miles.
So your Uncle might say "On this trip from A to B, let's control the car to get 27.2 miles per gallon", he doesn't care about total time.
Then again, he's drunk, unemployed and not in a hurry, and you're paying for the gas anyhow... so ignore him... the outcome is what matters most.
:-)

PS - You asked about Text Search Ads, G does have other campaigns types that let you bid on CPA and CPM basis, not CPC. But since I'm your Uncle, this will have to wait for another day.