Why Your PPC Costs Are Rising (And What to Do About It)

Click-through rates are falling, costs are rising, and campaigns that used to perform consistently are getting harder to keep profitable. The culprit isn’t competition; it’s structural, given advances in AI search and LLMs. Zero-click searches are changing how paid search works, and most advertisers haven’t adjusted their strategy yet.

In short, Google’s AI Overviews, featured snippets, and knowledge panels now answer questions directly on the search results page. Users get what they need without clicking. For searchers, that’s convenient. For advertisers, it means fewer available clicks and higher costs per click as competition intensifies for what’s left. The click pool is shrinking, and quality scores are taking a hit because even well-positioned ads see lower click-through rates when AI answers dominate the page.

Here’s the shift most marketers miss: the clicks you do get are now more valuable. AI Overviews immediately satisfy the informational part of the search journey. A user searching “best nontoxic nonstick pan” sees brand recommendations right on the results page. By the time they click your ad, they’re not researching anymore; they’re ready to buy. These are what some call “super clicks” because they carry serious transactional intent. The strategy isn’t about chasing every click; it’s about winning the high-intent ones.

So how do you adapt? It starts with tightly themed ad groups. Avoid grouping related but distinct keywords, because specificity drives relevance and higher quality scores. Maximize every ad asset to take up more real estate on the page and make sure your landing page delivers exactly what the ad promises. If your ad promotes a nontoxic nonstick frying pan, the landing page should feature that exact product, not a generic catalog.

Think beyond PPC. AI Overviews reward authority, which means strong SEO content won’t just crop up organically. Use your paid search data, specifically the search terms driving your most profitable conversions, to guide your content strategy. If your brand is cited in the AI Overview organically, it builds trust that makes your paid ads more credible when they appear.

Finally, reevaluate your bid strategy. Value-based bidding matters more now because you don’t want to pay the same for every click. Focus your budget on being the most relevant, immediate transactional link for the specific products AI Overviews recommend. Zero-click searches aren’t going away, but they’re not the end of paid search either. They’re pushing the channel back to its fundamentals: relevance, clarity, and intent.

If your brand is working to navigate the AI transformation to SEO, ASTRALCOM can help. We work with brands to adapt PPC strategies for zero-click search environments. Learn how we approach paid keyword search.