{"id":2157,"slug":"wordstream-2024-cpc-prior-year-baseline","title":"WordStream 2024 — Attorneys $8.94, Home Improvement $6.96, Dentists $6.82 (trend baseline)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["vertical-cpc-benchmarks"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** WordStream 2024 (prior year, for trend) — Attorneys $8.94, Home Improvement $6.96, Dentists $6.82.\n\nCombined with [[wordstream-2025-cpc-benchmarks]] (2025: $8.58 / $7.85 / $7.85) and [[wordstream-2026-cpc-trend]] (2026: $9.87 / $8.33 / $8.00), this shows Legal CPC has risen ~10% YoY across two years; Dental rose 15% then another 2%; Home Improvement was flat then rose ~6%.\n\n**Source:** WordStream / LocaliQ 2024 (vendor — PPC software).\n\n**Caveat:** Vendor. Quarantined.\n\n**Confidence:** Single-source.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Year-over-year trend data — commercial intensity is RISING in the top hyper-competitive verticals. The widget should refresh CPC anchors annually as the values keep climbing.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-smb-widget-vertical-difficulty-june-2026","title":"Research brief: SMB widget vertical difficulty — two-axis tiering by industry (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"wordstream-2025-cpc-benchmarks","title":"WordStream/LocaliQ 2025 — Attorneys $8.58, Dentists $7.85, Restaurants $2.05 (vendor)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"wordstream-2026-cpc-trend","title":"WordStream 2026 — Attorneys $9.87, Home Improvement $8.33, Dentists $8.00 (trend continues)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T20:03:33.354Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T20:03:33.354Z"}