Answers
Why did my cost per click go up?
Usually competition or seasonality — but check whether your own match types or targeting changed first.
The short answer
Usually competition or seasonality — but check whether your own match types or targeting changed first.
External causes: more advertisers in your auction, a seasonal peak, or a competitor bidding aggressively. Internal causes are more common and easier to fix: broadened match types, a negative list that stopped being maintained, or a bid strategy target loosened.
Rising CPC is not automatically bad. A more expensive click that converts twice as often is cheaper per order — judge it on CPA, not on CPC.
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