Google Ads (formerly known as Google AdWords) is Google’s online advertising platform, allowing businesses to create and display paid advertisements across Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Shopping, and the wider Google Display Network. It is the primary way businesses pay to appear prominently in Google Search results and the main source of revenue for Google.
Ads allow advertisers to bid on specific keywords so that their ads appear at the top or bottom of the search results page when users search for those terms. These paid results are labelled with a “Sponsored” tag to distinguish them from organic search results, though they often appear in very prominent positions on the page.
Google Ads operates primarily on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, meaning advertisers are charged each time a user clicks on their ad rather than simply for it being displayed. The position and visibility of an ad are determined by a combination of the advertiser’s bid and their Quality Score. That is a rating based on the relevance and quality of the ad, its expected click-through rate, and the experience of the landing page it points to.
Common formats include:
- Search ads — text-based ads that appear in Google Search results.
- Display ads — visual banner ads shown across websites in the Google Display Network.
- Shopping ads — product listings with images and prices shown in search results.
- Video ads — ads served before, during, or alongside YouTube content.
- Performance Max campaigns — AI-driven campaigns that serve ads across all Google channels simultaneously.
While Google Ads is a paid channel and technically separate from organic SEO, the two are closely related and work best when considered together as part of an integrated search strategy. Running Google Ads can provide valuable keyword and conversion data that informs your organic content strategy, and paid ads can provide immediate visibility for terms you are working to rank for organically in the longer term.
It is worth noting, however, that unlike SEO, where strong rankings can deliver sustained traffic without ongoing spend, Google Ads requires continuous investment to maintain visibility. Stopping your ad spend means your ads stop appearing immediately, whereas organic rankings, once earned, can continue to drive traffic without direct cost per click.
