{"id":2112,"slug":"wordstream-2025-cpc-benchmarks","title":"WordStream/LocaliQ 2025 — Attorneys $8.58, Dentists $7.85, Restaurants $2.05 (vendor)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["vertical-cpc-benchmarks"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** WordStream/LocaliQ 2025 (Google Search, ~16,446 US campaigns, Apr 2024-Mar 2025; medians):\n\n**Highest CPC:**\n- Attorneys & Legal Services: **$8.58**\n- Dentists & Dental Services: **$7.85**\n- Home & Home Improvement: **$7.85**\n- Education & Instruction: $6.23\n- Business Services: $5.58\n- Physicians & Surgeons: $5.00\n\n**Lowest CPC:**\n- Arts & Entertainment: **$1.60**\n- Restaurants & Food: **$2.05**\n- Travel: $2.12\n- Real Estate: notably low now\n\n**Highest cost-per-lead:** Attorneys **$131.63**; Furniture $121.51; Business Services $103.54; Real Estate $100.48.\n\n**Overall avg CPC: $5.26** (up 12.88% YoY). LocaliQ attributes part of the rise to smart-bidding campaigns. **Legal-to-Restaurant spread: 4.18x** ($8.58 vs $2.05).\n\n**Source:** WordStream/LocaliQ 2025 (vendor — sells PPC management software).\n\n**Caveat:** Vendor. Data is median of OWN MANAGED accounts (selection bias toward active advertisers). Quarantined as directional.\n\n**Confidence:** Single-source / Industry-consensus.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Anchor for the widget's commercial-intensity axis. Legal/Dental/Home are TOP 3 every year — the rank-ordering is stable. Use ranges, not point CPCs.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"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","link_type":"relates-to"}],"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":"tier-1-hyper-competitive-verticals","title":"Vertical Tier 1 — Hyper-competitive (Legal, Insurance, Finance, SaaS/B2B)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"tier-2-hard-local-verticals","title":"Vertical Tier 2 — Hard-local (Dentistry, Trades, Real estate agents)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"tier-3-moderate-verticals","title":"Vertical Tier 3 — Moderate (Healthcare, Retail, Restaurants)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"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":"2026-06-23T19:16:04.789Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:04.789Z"}