The average Google Ads cost-per-click rose to $5.42 in 2025 from $4.66 the prior year, with CPCs increasing in 87% of industries analyzed, while average conversion rates climbed to 8.18% as advertisers got better at turning clicks into conversions, according to a new WordStream by LocaliQ benchmark report based on more than 16,000 campaigns. Attorneys & Legal Services topped the CPC rankings at $8.58, followed by Finance & Insurance and Home Improvement in the $7+ range, while Arts & Entertainment and Travel & Hospitality sat at the low end in the $2-$3 range. Average cost per lead increased to $70.11 in 2025 from $66.69 in 2024, a more modest 5.13% rise than prior years, signaling some stabilization after steep inflation across paid media. A separate WordStream analysis of more than 15,000 Google Ads accounts found nearly 29% recorded zero conversions over a 90-day period, with accounts using negative keywords seeing conversion rates up to three times higher than those without them.
