# Paid search

URL: /workflows/plays/paid-search · Id: `play:paid-search`

> Paid search bids on Keywords that state intent and runs only while the first transaction’s margin exceeds its cost per first transaction.

Paid search bids on [Keywords](/business/nouns/keyword) that state intent, such as a competitor’s name or the word “pricing”. It runs only while the first transaction’s margin exceeds the cost of winning it.

## Ratings
| Dimension | Rating | Reads |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Scalability | 4 of 5 | high: higher grows further with spend or automation |
| Cost | 4 of 5 | high: lower costs less per Customer |
| Latency | 1 of 5 | very low: lower answers sooner |

## Budget
| Property | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tier | $100 |
| Minimum effective budget | $100 a month |

| Monthly spend | Yields |
| --- | --- |
| $100 | An exact-match test on Bing that reads intent within weeks. |
| $1,000 | Competitor and high-intent terms on Google Search, 100 to 300 clicks. |
| $10,000 | Several Keyword groups with brand defense, as cost per click rises with volume. |

## How it runs
A $100 exact-match test on Bing reads intent before Google Search spend opens. Each [Campaign](/business/nouns/campaign) launch and each raise waits the ad-spend delay window; a pause never waits.

When cost per first transaction exceeds first-transaction margin for two weeks, the payback gate pauses the [Play](/business/nouns/play).

## Processes
Runs as [Experimentation](/workflows/processes/experimentation), accountable to the [Marketing Team](/agents/marketing).

Also sold as a Service: [Demand generation](/systems/integrations/upstreams#demand-generation).

## Fits
| Fits | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Family | demand |
| Shelf | Seed: finds the first Customers (Launch) |
| Moves | [Acquisition payback](/agents/finance#cac-payback) |
| Motions | [b2b](/business/motions/b2b), [b2c](/business/motions/b2c) |
| Venues | [Google Search](/workflows/plays#google-search), [Bing](/workflows/plays#bing) |
| States | [Live](/business/lifecycle/states/live), [Repeatable](/business/lifecycle/states/repeatable), [Scale](/business/lifecycle/states/scale) |

## Loop
| Step | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Hypothesis | Bidding only on Keywords that state intent keeps acquisition payback inside 30 days. |
| Measure | [Acquisition payback](/agents/finance#cac-payback) over 30d, at least 50 observations |
| Learn | The learn step reads the Readout, records Evidence and a Decision, and drafts the next Variant. |

## Example
A [Startup](/business/nouns/startup) selling a scheduling app to dental offices bids on four exact terms at $1,000 a month. The terms bring 210 clicks and nine paying offices at $62 each, under the $90 first-month margin, so the budget renews.