Methodology
Every number on this site comes from the same place and is calculated the same way. This page documents both, so you can judge whether the data fits your use case before you rely on it, or pay for it.
Where the data comes from
Keyword-level cost figures are sourced from DataForSEO, which aggregates Google Ads Keyword Planner data. The current dataset was collected in March 2026. Meta Ads and TikTok Ads figures are collected for the same keyword set to allow cross-platform comparison.
We do not run the ad accounts these figures describe. This is aggregated third-party data, not first-party spend from campaigns we manage.
What is actually in the database
The database currently holds 216 keywords across 14 industries and 3 platforms. Coverage per industry ranges from 13 to 19 keywords. Here is the full breakdown, with no rounding:
| Industry | Keywords | Median CPC | Typical range (p25–p75) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance | 15 | $73.65 | $52.18 – $97.63 |
| Legal Services | 19 | $70.60 | $35.55 – $139.29 |
| SaaS / Software | 18 | $31.10 | $16.03 – $35.35 |
| Home Services | 15 | $25.45 | $17.68 – $34.69 |
| B2B / Lead Gen | 13 | $22.30 | $17.15 – $28.75 |
| Education | 13 | $22.10 | $14.10 – $33.40 |
| Healthcare | 15 | $11.85 | $9.06 – $14.95 |
| Financial Services | 19 | $9.99 | $4.39 – $21.59 |
| Automotive | 13 | $5.20 | $4.23 – $7.35 |
| Travel & Tourism | 14 | $2.15 | $1.70 – $2.69 |
| Beauty & Cosmetics | 18 | $1.60 | $1.35 – $1.88 |
| Real Estate | 14 | $1.52 | $1.13 – $2.83 |
| E-commerce | 17 | $1.38 | $1.25 – $1.55 |
| Gaming | 13 | $0.85 | $0.55 – $0.99 |
How the figures are calculated
Median, not mean. Every headline figure on this site is a median. CPC distributions have long right tails: a handful of terms can sit an order of magnitude above the rest, and an average would describe none of the keywords in the set. In financial services, for example, the median is far below the most expensive term in the same industry.
Typical range. The range shown next to each median is the interquartile range, from the 25th to the 75th percentile. Half of the keywords in that industry fall inside it. It is a more honest description of what you should expect to pay than a single number.
Per platform, never blended. Google Search, Meta Ads and TikTok Ads are calculated separately and never averaged together. Blending them would produce a number that describes no real auction.
What we do not have
We would rather state this plainly than let you discover it after purchase:
- No CPM or CTR values. Those columns exist in the schema but are not populated in the current dataset. Any figure you see on this site is a cost per click.
- No geographic segmentation. Figures are national-level United States. Costs in a specific metro can differ substantially.
- No account-level factors. Quality Score, ad relevance, landing page experience and account history all move your real cost per click. Benchmarks cannot account for them.
- No live auction pricing. This is a snapshot, not a feed. Auction prices move daily.
How to use these numbers
Benchmarks are useful for planning ranges, sanity-checking a media plan, and spotting when your own costs are far outside the norm for your category. They are not a forecast of what you will pay.
If your measured CPC sits inside the interquartile range for your industry, your costs are unremarkable and your optimisation effort is better spent on conversion. If it sits well above the 75th percentile, that gap is worth investigating before increasing budget.
Update cadence
The dataset is refreshed periodically and the collection date is stated on every report page. Purchases include access to future refreshes at no extra cost. We label the collection date rather than a quarter, so a page never claims to be current when the underlying data is not.
Corrections
If a figure looks wrong to you, we would like to know. Email support@cpctools.com with the keyword, platform and what you measured. Corrections are applied in the next refresh.