Our newsletterVendor reportLocaliQ, 2026
Search ad leads cost the most for Attorneys and Legal Services ($131.63) and the least for Arts and Entertainment ($26.84)
Channel validation
Average cost per lead across search ad industries
Average cost per lead across search ad industries| Industry | Average cost per lead (USD) |
|---|---|
| Animals & Pets | $31.5 |
| Apparel/Fashion & Jewelry | $97.51 |
| Arts & Entertainment | $26.84 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $131.63 |
| Automotive (For Sale) | $44.26 |
| Automotive (Repair, Service & Parts) | $29.96 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $39.25 |
| Business Services | $93.69 |
| Career & Employment | $67.36 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $72.97 |
| Education & Instruction | $77.48 |
| Finance & Insurance | $74.44 |
| Furniture | $106.7 |
| Health & Fitness | $67.36 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $90.92 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $75.19 |
| Personal Services | $54.6 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $40.04 |
| Real Estate | $102.51 |
| Restaurants & Food | $30.57 |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $49.4 |
| Sports & Recreation | $44.26 |
| Travel | $44.7 |
- Reader Note:
- These are average costs per lead in 2026 across 23 industries, against an overall average of $66.69. A “lead” here is whatever conversion each advertiser tracks in Google Ads or Microsoft Ads, such as a form fill or a call, so it is not a sale and is not counted the same way everywhere. The data comes from 13,474 LocaliQ client search campaigns (April 2025 – March 2026), and the report does not say how many campaigns sit behind each industry.
- Evidence:
- Observed behaviour
- Vendor interest:
- Moderate — This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
- Sample:
- 13,474 LocaliQ customer search advertising campaigns running from April 2025 through March 2026; campaign data from accounts using LocaliQ's platform, with aggregate budget split roughly 80-85% Google and 15-20% Microsoft. US campaigns only, and each industry subcategory included at least 52 unique active campaigns. The published figures are medians rather than means, calculated that way to limit the effect of outliers, even though the report labels them averages throughout.
Reader Note:
Evidence:
Vendor interest:
Sample:Good for
Comparing yourself against a similar segment, and choosing what to test next.
Not for
- Saying that one thing caused another, or predicting what you would get.
- This was measured in one market. It may not hold where you are.
- This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
- Nobody counted this directly — it's a calculation. The publisher worked it out itself, or took the ad platform's word for what its ads achieved.
- The source never says how this number was measured.
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