CPC (cost per click) is the amount you pay Google when someone clicks your ad. In Search campaigns you pay precisely for clicks: if your ad was shown but nobody clicked it, it costs you nothing.
It's important to tell two amounts apart. Your maximum bid is the most you're willing to pay for a single click. Your actual cost per click is what you really pay, and it's usually lower: according to Google Ads Help, you only pay what's needed for your ad to clear the minimum Ad Rank thresholds and to beat the competitor ranked directly below you. The exception is some automated bidding strategies and bid adjustments, which can push the actual cost above the bid you've set.
| Payment model | What you pay for | Where it's most often used |
|---|---|---|
| CPC | per click | Search and Shopping campaigns |
| CPM | per 1,000 impressions | display advertising, awareness campaigns |
| CPV | per video view | YouTube ads |
| Target CPA | this is a bidding strategy: Google sets the bids itself to reach the cost per conversion you specify, and in most cases you still pay per click | campaigns that have already built up conversion data |
Every time someone searches, Google runs an auction and calculates an Ad Rank for each eligible ad. The ad shown highest isn't the one with the biggest bid, but the one with the best combination of bid, ad quality and other factors.
Google lists the following Ad Rank factors:
Quality Score is a 1–10 rating for a keyword that you can see in your Google Ads account. It's made up of three components: expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Quality Score itself isn't used in the auction – Google calls it a diagnostic tool. But it reflects the same qualities the auction assesses in real time, so a low score often means more expensive clicks as well.
So a competitor whose ad answers the query precisely and whose landing page is fast and clear can be shown above you and still pay less per click. The old rule ‘whoever pays more ranks higher’ no longer applies.
Search ads appear above or below the free search results and are marked with a ‘Sponsored’ label. Google hasn't shown text ads in the right-hand column of the search results page since 2016. Besides search, ads can appear on several other channels:
Google's AI Overviews haven't done away with ad placements: ads can appear above or below them in every market where AI Overviews are available. As of September 2026, ads within the AI Overview itself are shown in only twelve countries (including the US, Canada, Australia and India) and only in English – Lithuania isn't one of them. You don't need a separate campaign for this: existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max ads are eligible.
The cost per click is driven mainly by competition for the same query and by the value of a single customer in your field: the more companies can afford to pay a lot for a new customer, the more expensive the click. In our experience, a click in Lithuania usually costs anywhere from a few tens of cents to a few euros, and the exact price depends on your niche and the competition.
Industry studies show how large the differences between sectors can be. The 2026 search advertising benchmarks from the US companies LocaliQ and WordStream, compiled from their clients' campaigns on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, show an average cost per click of USD 5.42: the cheapest in arts and entertainment (USD 1.63) and the most expensive for attorneys and legal services (USD 9.87). These figures don't apply directly to the Lithuanian market, but they clearly show that the price can vary several times over from one niche to another.
You'll get a more accurate picture for your own field from the Google Ads Keyword Planner. It shows what advertisers have bid over the last 30 days to have their ad shown at the top of the page: the low and high end of the range for each keyword in the location you choose.
The easiest way is to work backwards from your goal: how many enquiries or sales you want per month, what share of the people who click become customers, and how much a click costs on average.
Clicks needed = desired number of conversions ÷ conversion rate
Advertising budget = clicks needed × average cost per click
| Metric | Example (illustrative figures) |
|---|---|
| Desired enquiries per month | 20 |
| Conversion rate (share of people who click and then send an enquiry) | 5% |
| Clicks needed | 20 ÷ 0.05 = 400 |
| Average cost per click | €0.80 |
| Advertising budget | 400 × €0.80 = €320/month |
| Cost per enquiry | €320 ÷ 20 = €16 |
This is an example with illustrative figures, not a forecast for your field. You can estimate the cost per click before launch with the Keyword Planner, but the real conversion rate only becomes clear after a few weeks, once the campaign has gathered data. Then compare the cost per enquiry with what you earn from one customer: if an enquiry costs €16 and one in four turns into a €400 order, each order costs you €64 in advertising, i.e. 16% of its value. Whether that pays off depends on your margin.
Most money is usually lost not because the cost per click is too high, but on clicks that will never turn into orders. So start by limiting who sees your ad, where and when.
Return on advertising isn't shown by clicks but by conversions: calls, enquiries and sales linked to specific campaigns. For this you need Google Ads conversion tracking and Google Analytics 4 (GA4), and in the European Economic Area they only work properly with a cookie consent solution.
You can run a small Search campaign covering a few services yourself, as long as you set aside time every week to review search terms and conversions. It's worth finding a specialist when the budget is bigger, you have several campaigns or it's unclear what the advertising actually brings in.
Saitai.lt Google Ads management costs from €99/month (one channel, budget up to €500/month, campaign setup from €150), two channels – €199/month, and for a larger budget – 12% of ad spend, but no less than €299/month. You pay the advertising budget directly to Google, and the account is created in your company's name. All plans and sample calculations are on our online advertising pricing page; prices include all taxes – no VAT is added.
We don't promise a specific number of enquiries in advance – that depends on the auction, your competitors and your offer. But before launch we estimate click prices in your field and show you what budget you need. If nobody is searching for your service yet, Facebook and Instagram ads will be a better fit, and for long-term traffic without paying per click – SEO (we explain how it works in our article ‘What is SEO and how does it work?’).
Want to know what clicks would cost in your field? Fill in the enquiry form: tell us what you want to advertise, in which region and what monthly budget you're planning. We'll reply within 1 working day and tell you whether Google Ads is right for you and what budget it's worth starting with.
Yes, but in Google Ads the budget is set as an average daily budget. On some days a campaign can spend up to 2 times more if there are more searches, but over a month you won't be charged more than your average daily budget multiplied by 30.4. If a campaign has to end on a specific day, set an end date for it; you can lower the budget or pause the campaign at any time.
Not in Search and Shopping campaigns: you only pay when someone clicks your ad. Paying for impressions (CPM) or video views (CPV) is most common in Display and YouTube campaigns. Which model applies depends on the campaign type and the bidding strategy you choose.
Usually because of quality: if their ad matches the query more precisely and their landing page is more useful, they need a lower bid for the same position. Other settings also play a part – ad schedule, location, devices and match type. On top of that, the actual cost depends on the competitor ranked below, so it differs from one position to another.
Often, yes. On the search results page, ads appear above the free results, so advertising helps you take up more space – especially if competitors are bidding on your services or your brand name. Paid ads don't directly change your organic rankings, but the search terms report shows which queries bring in orders – that's useful when planning SEO.
Saitai.lt management costs from €99/month for one channel with a budget up to €500/month (campaign setup from €150), two channels – €199/month, and for a larger budget – 12% of ad spend, but no less than €299/month. The advertising budget is paid separately, directly to Google. Prices include all taxes – no VAT is added.
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