What Are Good Google Ads Benchmarks In 2025? [STUDY]

Keeping up-to-date on industry Google Ads benchmarks is crucial to help answer questions you might get from clients or exec such as:

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

Questions like these come up all the time, especially when budgets are tight and performance dips even slightly.

But unless you’ve got fresh benchmark data on hand, these conversations are usually filled with guesswork, vague assurances, or worse, outdated reports that no longer reflect how competitive today’s ad landscape really is.

Wordstream by LocaliQ recently updated its Search Advertising benchmarks for 2025, compiling real data from thousands of Google and Microsoft Ads campaigns across 20 verticals.

The data consists of data points from thousands of campaigns in both Google and Microsoft Ads for some of the top industries. Some of the top industries include:

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

While these benchmarks are a starting point, it’s important to note that many factors go into setting benchmarks that are attainable for your business.

We hope this data is useful for you to help level-set expectations and goals for your business, and get a sense of how you stack up to the competition.

In this report, you’ll find benchmarks for Search campaigns in Google & Microsoft Ads for:

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

Let’s dig into the 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 6.66% 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 13.10% CTR.

At the other end of the spectrum was Dentists and Dental Services at a 5.44% CTR.

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

Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025

The average cost-per-click for Google and Microsoft Ads across all industries over the past 12 months averaged $5.26.

While the Attorneys and Legal Services showcased one of the lowest CTR categories, it also boasted the highest average CPC. In 2025, the average CPC for this industry came in at $8.58.

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 $1.60.

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

Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025

The average conversion rate across all industries for Google and Microsoft Ads in the last twelve months was 7.52%.

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 2025, the average conversion rate varied highly across industries.

On the high end of performance, Automotive had the highest conversion rate at 14.67%, followed by Animals and Pets at 13.07%.

The industries that had the lowest conversion rate included:

• Finance & Insurance: 2.55%
• Furniture: 2.73%
• Real Estate: 3.28%

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.

Average Cost Per Lead In Google & Microsoft Ads By Industry

Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025

The average cost per lead across all industries for Google and Microsoft Ads in the last twelve months was $70.11.

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.

On average, the CPL across all industries reported was $70.11.

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 2025 were Automotive Repair, Services & Parts at $28.50, followed by Arts & Entertainment and Restaurants & Food at $30.27.

Compared to last year’s data, 13 out of the 23 industries reported an increase in CPL.

Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025

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:

Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock