What Are Good Google Ads Benchmarks In 2026? [STUDY]

Keeping up with current Google Ads and Microsoft Ads benchmarks matters more than ever in 2026.

Clients, executives, and stakeholders constantly ask questions like:

• “Is this a good CTR?”
• “Why is our CPA so high?”
• “What’s a good conversion rate, anyway?”

Those conversations become even more common when budgets tighten or performance fluctuates.

The challenge is that many advertisers still rely on outdated benchmark reports or broad industry assumptions that no longer reflect how competitive paid search has become.

This year also marks the 10th edition of WordStream by LocaliQ’s annual Search Advertising Benchmarks report, making it one of the longest-running benchmark studies in the PPC industry.

The latest report analyzes performance data from thousands of Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns across 20 industries between April 2025 and March 2026.

Industries included in the report range from:

• Arts & Entertainment.
• Automotive.
• Education.
• Finance & Insurance.
• Health & Fitness.
• Home Improvement.
• Shopping & Retail.
• Travel.

The report includes benchmark data for several core paid search metrics, including:

• Click-through rate (CTR).
• Average cost-per-click (CPC).
• Conversion rate (CVR).
• Cost per lead (CPL).

Of course, benchmarks should never be treated as universal goals.

Performance expectations vary significantly based on budget, competition, geographic targeting, conversion actions, sales cycles, landing page quality, and overall business model.

Still, benchmark reports like this can help advertisers better contextualize performance, set more realistic expectations, and identify where campaigns may be underperforming relative to their industry peers.

Here’s a closer look at the latest data.

Average Click-Through Rate In Google & Microsoft Ads By Industry

The average click-through rate for Google & Microsoft Ads across all industries averaged out to 6.64% over the last 12 months.

Compared to when the company first started gathering data in 2015, the average CTR for search ads was minimal at 1.35%.

The business category that boasted the highest CTR was Arts & Entertainment, with an astounding 12.75% CTR, although down slightly from last year at over 13%.

At the other end of the spectrum was Automotive (Repair, Service & Parts) at a 5.56% CTR.

The biggest industries that saw the biggest impact year-over-year in the CTR metric include:

• Education & Instruction: +31.71%
• Beauty & Personal Care: +18.21%
• Finance & Insurance: +18.01%
• Health & Fitness: -19.08%
• Career & Employment: -10.50%
• Restaurants & Food: -9.89%

The CTR metric should be analyzed as only one indicator of performance, not the end-all-be-all when trying to determine if your ads are doing well.

The widespread in CTR performance is influenced by:

• Your competition (Is the SERP saturated?).
• Your bidding strategy.
• Your position on the results page.
• Your ad copy relevancy.
• Your audience targeting.

High CTR doesn’t always mean high performance, though. Sometimes it just means your ad is click-worthy, not necessarily that it’s converting. That’s why CTR should be viewed as one piece of the puzzle, not the whole picture.

If your CTR is low compared to your industry average, tools like Google’s Quality Score can help pinpoint the problem areas, from poor ad relevance to weak expected click-through rate.

Average Cost-Per-Click In Google & Microsoft Ads By Industry

The average cost-per-click for Google and Microsoft Ads across all industries over the past 12 months averaged $5.42.

While the Attorneys and Legal Services showcased one of the lowest CTR categories, it also boasted the highest average CPC. In 2026, the average CPC for this industry came in at $9.87.

This average is unsurprising, given the higher-than-average cost of acquiring a customer.

On the lower end of the spectrum, the Arts & Entertainment industry had the lowest average CPC at $1.63.

Compared to 2025, these industries had the largest CPC increases:

• Real Estate: +27.27%
• Personal Services: +23.41%
• Health & Fitness: +23.41%

Similar to analyzing the CTR metric, average CPC is just one performance indicator.

For example, your ads may show a low average CPC and a low CTR. This could mean your bids aren’t high enough to be competitive in the market, and you may want to consider raising bids.

On the other hand, if you have a higher-than-average CPC, you’ll want to monitor these more closely to ensure you can prove your return on ad spend/investment.

Average Conversion Rates In Google & Microsoft Ads By Industry

The average conversion rate across all industries for Google and Microsoft Ads in the last twelve months was 8.18%.

The average conversion rate is calculated from the number of leads/sales you get divided by the number of clicks from your ad.

When looking at the data from 2026, the average conversion rate varied highly across industries.

On the high end of performance, Animals & Pets had the highest conversion rate at 16.22%, followed by Automotive (Repair, Service & Parts) at 15.51%.

The industries that had the lowest conversion rate included:

• Finance & Insurance: 2.64%
• Furniture: 2.99%
• Career & Employment: 3.05%

When looking at these industries and the products they sell, these conversion rates make sense.

Furniture is a high-ticket item for many customers. Users do a lot of research online before making a purchase. Not only that, but because of the price tag, many customers end up purchasing in stores instead of online.

While the conversion rate may be low in this particular industry, it’s more important than ever to be able to measure offline conversions, such as in-store visits or purchases.

In the apparel industry, new brands seem to pop up every day.

If you do a simple search for Nike sneakers, the number of sellers and resellers for these types of products has skyrocketed in recent years.

The amount of competition can directly contribute to a low (or high) conversion rate.

Compared to 2025, the following industries saw a massive increase in conversion rate:

• Beauty & Personal Care: +32.34%
• Personal Services: +26.69%
• Animals & Pets: +24.10%

Other industries weren’t as fortunate. The following industries saw the biggest decline in conversion rate year-over-year:

• Career & Employment: -29.42%
• Automotive -For Sale: -22.56%
• Business Services: -5.65%

When you take into the state of the economy, the declines in those industries make sense. Consumers across the country are tightening their budgets and are likely not buying vehicles at the rate they were the past few years. Additionally, unemployment rates have continued to increase over the past few years, indicating a more unstable job market.

Average Cost Per Lead In Google & Microsoft Ads By Industry

The average cost per lead across all industries for Google and Microsoft Ads in the last twelve months was $66.69.

The average cost per lead is a core KPI that advertisers should keep a pulse on when analyzing performance.

It remains one of the most scrutinized metrics by marketing and finance teams alike.

It’s no surprise that certain industries have a much higher CPL compared to other industries. Some of the factors that can influence CPL include:

• Average CPC.
• Average CTR (this influences your CPC).
• Audience targeting.
• Conversion rate.
• The type of product/service you’re selling.

The Attorneys and Legal Services industry had the highest CPL out of all industries at a whopping $131.63.

However, while the CPL may be high, many businesses in that industry find that well worth the investment, considering their return on each individual they represent.

Those industries with lower-priced products and services likely have a lower CPL goal.

The industries that showed the lowest CPL in 2026 were:

• Arts & Entertainment: $26.84
• Automotive (Repair, Service & Parts): $29.96
• Restaurants & Food : $30.57

Some of the industries that were most impacted by CPL year-over-year include:

• Automotive-For Sale: +13.90%
• Health & Fitness: +7.26%
• Career & Employment: +7.26%

Other industries saw large decreases in CPL, further improving their ad efficiency:

• Travel: -39.35%
• Beauty & Personal Care: -34.95%
• Physicians & Surgeons: -29.64%

While the last few years have seen such a large fluctuation in CPL due to the record inflation and economic instability, the year-over-year changes in CPL have mellowed out a bit.

Summary

Benchmark reports are exactly that: benchmarks. They’re not scorecards, and they don’t account for your specific brand, audience, goals, or tech stack.

So, if your numbers don’t perfectly align with the averages, it doesn’t mean you’re underperforming.

If you’re looking to make progress in the second half of the year, try following the tips below:

• Make sure your goals are aligned with your industry’s actual buying journey.
• Explore alternative platforms like Microsoft Ads to diversify CPC risk.
• Prioritize ad relevance and landing page experience.
• Improve tracking for offline conversions where applicable.
• Don’t forget to test (and retest) your keyword and bidding strategy.
• Don’t forget about the mobile experience!

Make sure to check out Wordstream by LocaliQ’s full report on benchmarks and tips to improve your campaigns.

More Resources:

• Which Metrics Matter In PPC?
• The State Of Performance Max: How To Optimize Google Ads In 2025
• PPC Expert Tips: Budgets, Testing & Optimization

Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock