The Olympic Games 2.0, But With A Cat 🐱 This Time
The competitive spirit continues!
The Tokyo Olympic Games might have drawn to a close, but it seems many Malaysians still have a competitive spirit 💪 within them - albeit in a completely different arena. The name “Popcat” has lately been trending on social media, with Malaysians calling 📞 on their compatriots to join them in their quest to bring the country to the top. However, what is Popcat, and what on earth are Malaysians hoping to accomplish 🏆 with it?
As it turns out, it is an online 🌐 clicking game that simply involves clicking on an image of a cat. Every time you tap your screen, the kitty opens its mouth 👄 in a wide “O” shape, with a popping sound accompanying it.
The Popcat page was set up as a joke 🤣 last December by a trio of computer scientists from Sheffield University, though it only started to truly pick up steam in April this year before conquering cyberspace these past weeks with millions of visits from users worldwide 🌎. Each click a netizen makes will be counted as a point for their respective country. A total of 214 countries are present on the leaderboard, including, funnily enough, North Korea 🇰🇵!
What is Pay-Per-Click (PPC)?
Pay-per-click (PPC) is an online advertising model in which an advertiser pays 💰 a publisher every time an advertisement link is “clicked” on. Alternatively, PPC is known as the cost-per-click (CPC) model. The pay-per-click model is offered primarily by search 🔍 engines, namely Google, and social 📱 networks such as Facebook. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Twitter Ads are the most popular platforms for PPC advertising.
How does the PPC model work?
The pay-per-click model is primarily based on keywords 🔤. For example, online ads (also known as sponsored links) only appear when someone searches for a keyword related to the product or service being advertised in search engines. Thus, companies that rely on PPC advertising models research and analyse 🧐 the keywords most applicable to their products or services. Investing in relevant keywords can result in a higher 📈 number of clicks and, eventually, higher profits.
The PPC model is considered to be beneficial ✅ for both advertisers and publishers. For advertisers, the model is advantageous because it provides an opportunity to advertise products or services to a specific audience 👥 who is actively searching for related content. In addition, a well-designed PPC advertising campaign allows an advertiser to save a substantial amount of money as the value of each visit (click) from a potential customer exceeds the cost of the click paid to a publisher.
For publishers, the pay-per-click model provides a primary ☝️ revenue stream. Think about Google and Facebook, which provide free services to their customers - free web searches and social networking 🤝. Online companies are able to monetise their free products using online advertising, particularly the PPC model.
Hit that follow button and stay tuned to learn more about the pay-per-click model 🤩😎!
References:
Corporate Finance Institute
Wong, N. 2021, August 16. ‘Popcat’, the feline taking Malaysia and the world by storm. Free Malaysia Today.
