CPC is the amount you pay each time a shopper clicks on your Amazon ad. Learn how CPC is calculated, what drives it up, and how to manage it for profitable advertising campaigns.
CPC stands for Cost Per Click. In Amazon Advertising, it's the actual amount charged each time a shopper clicks on your sponsored ad—whether that's a Sponsored Product, Sponsored Brand, or Sponsored Display ad. Amazon uses a second-price auction model: you set a maximum bid, but you only pay $0.01 more than the next highest competing bid—not your full maximum.
In Amazon's auction, the CPC you pay equals the second-highest bid plus one cent. If you bid $1.50 and the closest competitor bids $1.10, you pay $1.11—not $1.50. That said, actual CPCs vary based on placement type, targeting method, and real-time competition for a given keyword or product target. Top-of-search placements consistently command higher CPCs than rest-of-search or product page placements.
CPC and ACoS are directly connected. A high CPC doesn't automatically mean poor performance—if your conversion rate and average order value are strong, a high CPC can still yield a healthy ACoS. The relationship is: ACoS = CPC ÷ (Conversion Rate × Average Order Value). This means improving listing conversion is often more impactful than simply cutting bids.
