2025 Google Advertising Benchmarks for Every Industry

Google Ads is evolving fast.

To bring clarity, we analyzed $996 million in ad spend across 100 consumer brands running campaigns on Google Ads (search, display, shopping, Performance Max, and video) from January 2024 through February 2025.

The findings are clear:

Google continues to deliver unmatched intent and click-through rates, but at a cost. Search remains the most expensive channel, largely due to outsized spent on branded search. PMAX adoption is steady but limited, even declining in some industries over time in our data set.

And that's just the point.

Google Ads benchmarks for CPM (cost per thousand impressions), CPC (cost per click) and CTR (click-through rate) vary widely depending on the advertiser's industry.

The Big Picture: Google Ads in 2025

Across all industries, Google shows stronger engagement than Meta, but at a higher price point.

• Average Google CPM: $11.12
• Average Google CPC: $0.73
• Average Google CTR: 1.53%

When adjusted for outliers (notably, removing the Software industry), the average Google CPM is $17.80 and CPC is $1.31.

Google Ads Campaign Trends

Google offers a wide variety of campaign types, and the data shows where advertisers are putting their dollars.

• Search campaigns dominated, capturing 56.2% of total Google ad investment.
• PMAX, Google’s AI-driven campaign format, consistently held 13–18% of monthly Google spend, despite aggressive promotion from Google.
• Shopping Ads accounted for 10.3% of budgets, especially in retail-heavy categories like Footwear, Furniture, and Marketplaces.
• Video and Display were some of the most cost-efficient plays for our customers, with Display CPMs averaging just $2.54.

On bidding, advertisers leaned into automation: Maximize Conversions and Target ROAS each captured about 33% of spend, while Maximize Conversion Value accounted for 15%. Our advertisers used Google's Target CPA bid strategy about 10% of the time.

(Note: there's some self-selection bias in this data set. We have access to this performance data because our customers use our AI platforms to automate bid and budget management, identify new audiences, adjust targets, and more. It stands to reason there wouldn't be a lot of Manual CPC campaigns in this data set.)

Google Ads Benchmarks for Each Industry at a Glance

The differences between industries are striking, if not surprising. CPMs range from $2.71 in Online Marketplaces to over $36 in Health & Healthcare Services. CPCs swing from $0.25 in the Travel & Hospitality industry to just over $3 in the Food & Beverage industry.

Note - throughout the report, you'll see us referring to volatility. To measure volatility of prices, like CPM and CPC, we used the coefficient of variation (CV).

The CV shows how stable or volatile a metric is relative to its average. It’s calculated by dividing the standard deviation by the mean and expressing it as a percentage. A lower CV means the metric is more consistent over time, while a higher CV signals greater fluctuation.

Food & Beverage

Of all our customers, Food & Beverage brands were the top spenders on Google, with $214 million invested. But that spend comes with one of the highest CPMs ($28.59) and CPCs ($3.07). Average CTR for advertisers in this industry was 0.93%.

These costs reflect fierce competition for premium placements, especially during peak shopping seasons. Yet volatility is relatively moderate (21% CPM variation), making budgeting more predictable than some other industries.

Tactics to consider for advertisers in the Food & Beverage industry:

• Use Shopping campaigns to showcase product variety.
• Use Maximize Conversion Value bidding to offset high CPMs.
• Focus creative on value and price comparisons to stand out.

Health & Healthcare Services

Healthcare brands in our data set spent $148.2 million on Google, with the highest CPMs in the dataset at $36.82 and average CPCs of $1.52. Average CTR for advertisers in the Health and Healthcare industry was 2.43%.

Tactics to consider:

• Use Target CPA bidding to stabilize acquisition costs.
• Focus on localized search campaigns for high-intent queries (appointments, insurance, treatments).
• Invest in trust-building creative with clear benefits, testimonials, and compliance-focused messaging.

Jewelry & Luxury Goods

Luxury advertisers spent $79.1 million, paying an average of $14.33 CPM and $1.48 CPC. Average click-through rates for this industry were 0.97%.

Interestingly, this industry had one of the biggest deltas between CPM volatility (24%) and CPC volatility (just 9% - low by any standard). But we don't read it as a risk signal. Instead, in this case it's a pointer to the impact of competition and seasonality of awareness pricing around the holiday season in North America.

Tactics to consider:

• Emphasize brand storytelling and exclusivity.
• Use high-quality video and immersive ad formats on YouTube and Display.
• Test Target ROAS bidding to ensure efficiency on high-value conversions.

Travel & Hospitality

Travel brands spent $65.1 million and enjoyed some of the lowest CPMs ($4.5) and CPCs ($0.25) on Google. CTRs also exceeded the average of other industries at 1.12%.

Tactics to consider:

• Prioritize Search campaigns around seasonal peaks (holidays, summer travel).
• Repurpose organic video into YouTube campaigns to capture inspiration-driven demand.
• Use audience signals (location, browsing history) to trigger timely offers.

Furniture & Home Décor

This industry spent $69.5 million on Google, with CPMs at $15.96 and CPCs at $0.98. Average CTR for these advertisers across the time-span we analyzed was 1.63%.

Tactics to consider:

• Invest in Shopping campaigns. They performed strongly for advertisers in this category.
• Use lifestyle imagery in Display ads to showcase real-world product use.
• Test Target ROAS bidding to optimize for higher-ticket purchases.

Automotive

Automotive brands invested $49.6 million, with CPMs at $14.30 and CPCs at $0.92. Average click through rates in this industry were 1.56%.

Given that many campaigns focus on lead generation and test drives, conversion-focused bidding was most common for these advertisers.

Tactics to consider:

• Use Target CPA or Maximize Conversions for lead efficiency.
• Highlight financing offers and new model features in Search and Display.
• Explore PMAX cautiously to expand reach across Google’s ecosystem

Online Marketplaces

Marketplaces spent $39.6 million and leaned heavily into PMAX and Shopping campaigns, benefiting from very low CPMs ($2.71) and CPCs ($0.14). CTRs are healthy at 1.88%, and volatility is relatively stable (23% CPM variation).

Tactics to consider:

• Scale PMAX while keeping an eye on attribution transparency.
• Use Shopping ads to highlight breadth of products.
• Layer in remarketing to convert browsers to buyers.

Apparel & Accessories

With $37.9 million spent on Google, Apparel brands paid $20.74 CPM and $1.64 CPC. Average CTRs were at 1.26%, but costs are significantly higher for these advertisers here on Google than Meta.

Even so, volatility was relatively low (12% CPM variation, 7% CPC variation), making budgeting easier to forecast.

Tactics to consider:

• Continue to prioritize Search and Shopping for high-intent queries.
• Use seasonal PMAX bursts to capture incremental conversions.
• Emphasize price competitiveness in ad copy.

Beauty & Personal Care

Beauty brands spent $38.8 million on Google, with CPMs of $13.56 and CPCs at $2.08. Average CTR was 

Tactics to consider:

• Test Manual CPC or Target ROAS for greater cost control.
• Focus on lower-funnel campaigns and high-value keywords.
• Use licensed IP or creator-led video to boost CTR.

Pet Care

Pet Care advertisers spent $22 million, but paid some of the highest CPMs ($52.77) and CPCs ($2.47). CTR was a standout, though, at 2.13%.

I suspect most of the data in this set is a little biased towards conversion campaigns due to the small sample size of just two brands, so I'd take the CPM averages with a grain of salt.

Tactics to consider:

• Prioritize Maximize Conversions bidding (already favored in this category).
• Highlight emotional storytelling around pets and owners.
• Use audience-based targeting to focus on high-value segments like new pet owners.

Gaming

Gaming stands out as the only industry in our data set that invested 100% in multi-channel Google campaigns. That's not to say that if you're running marketing at a Gaming company, you should do the same. While it does make sense that more visual campaign types would lend themselves to success for gaming brands, keep in mind that this is another industry in which our sample size is relatively small.

The gaming brands we work with spent a total of $19 million, achieving CPMs of $10.39 and very low CPCs ($0.59) due to their focus on multi-channel. CTR was strong at 1.76%.

Tactics to consider:

• Continue leveraging multi-channel campaigns to reach gamers across YouTube and Display.
• Focus on community-driven creative and interactive video ads. UGC is another format that worked well for these brands.
• Test new formats like Shorts to capture mobile-first audiences.

Office Supplies & Stationery

This niche spent $19.3 million on Google with CPMs of $17.41 and CPCs of $2.04. CTR averaged 1.5%, above the overall benchmark. Due to relatively lower seasonality, volatility of media costs for these advertisers was low (11% CPM variation, 11% CPC variation).

Tactics to consider:

• Use Shopping campaigns to highlight price and convenience.
• Test Target ROAS bidding to balance efficiency and volume.

Software

Another industry in which our sample smaller, but we're including it because it does illustrate a fundamental truth: more competition isn't the only thing that increases media costs. So do customer lifetime value and margins, both of which are higher for software companies than most other businesses in our data set.

All told, our software brands spent $14.7 million with extraordinarily high CPMs ($383.24) and CPCs ($3.88). Average CTR was also comparably much higher (9.88%), because of the proportion of budget these businesses dedicated to branded search.

With the lowest volatility (7% CPM variation), at least costs are predictable when software advertisers deploy their budgets this way.

Tactics to consider:

• Focus on high-intent Search keywords that justify premium CPCs.
• Invest in strong lead nurturing to maximize LTV.
• Try other channels. Instagram and YouTube may not be the first place software advertisers think to spend their ad budgets, but costs are much lower, competition isn't as present on those channels, and you can bet your audience is.

Key Lessons for Google Advertisers in 2025

1. Search is powerful but expensive. Just because it's easy to justify the spend on search due to shorter paths to conversion doesn't mean it's the most effective way to spend the digital media budget.
    
2. PMAX is promising but opaque. While it delivered lower CPMs ($8.69) and CPCs ($0.66) than other campaign types, it's next to impossible to figure out why it's working. That means you don't get insights you can put to use elsewhere. Use it for incremental reach, but don’t abandon proven Search and Shopping campaigns.
    
3. Volatility varies by industry. Benchmark against peers, and keeping seasonality in mind, not just against the averages we've reported here.
    
4. Creative differentiation matters. It should go without saying since marketers are so often saying "creative drives 80% of success." And yet, many brands aren't investing the way they should. Generative AI can help create more versions of creative, even transforming still product shots into lifestyle images or videos, without sacrificing any quality.
    
5. Building your own AI strategy is essential. With Google’s walled-garden AI driving most bidding, but a clear pattern of spend moving away from it, it's clear marketers need AI tools that add context, transparency, and decision support. And even more importantly, they need AI platforms that offer transparency across marketing channels.

The Role of AI in Google Advertising

Performance Max promises efficiency, and we see it working. But, as we all know, it's also a black box. Advertisers struggle to know whether spend is driving real business outcomes like ROAS or LTV.

As Chris Parrett, CEO of Social Hustle, explained: “We’re watching the collapse of reliable data signals. We need better signals, better clarity, better attribution”.

Marketers are turning to AI platforms that integrate cross-channel data, surface insights in plain language, and optimize budgets across Search, Shopping, Display, and YouTube. These tools move teams beyond guesswork and help them respond faster to cost volatility.

Final Word

The 2025 Google Ads benchmarks paint a picture of a platform that still dominates high-intent advertising but demands sharper strategy. Costs are climbing, competition is fierce, and new formats like PMAX introduce both opportunity and uncertainty.

Winning on Google today requires:

• Precision in targeting high-value keywords and audiences.
• Creative that highlights value, credibility, and differentiation.
• Diversification across Search, Shopping, PMAX, and Video.
• Smart use of AI to connect fragmented signals and guide spend decisions.

Benchmarks are your starting line. The next step is turning them into smarter, faster, context-driven action.

Google Ads Benchmark FAQ (2025)

What is the average Google Ads CPM in 2025?
The average is $11.12, but when you include outliers like the software industry, it rises to $17.80.

Which industry pays the most on Google Ads?
Health & Healthcare Services, with a $35.07 CPM and $1.49 CPC.

Which industry has the cheapest clicks?
Consumer Electronics, at just $0.12 CPC.

Which campaign type is most popular on Google?
Search campaigns dominate with 56.2% of spend but they’re also the most expensive, with average CPMs nearing $200 and CPCs of $1.94.

Is PMAX living up to the hype?
Not fully. PMAX accounts for only 13–18% of spend despite heavy promotion by Google. It delivers lower CPMs and CPCs but lacks transparency, making it hard to apply insights across campaigns.