{"id":2113,"slug":"wordstream-2026-cpc-trend","title":"WordStream 2026 — Attorneys $9.87, Home Improvement $8.33, Dentists $8.00 (trend continues)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["vertical-cpc-benchmarks"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** WordStream 2026 (sample of 13,474 US campaigns, Apr 2025-Mar 2026): highest CPCs were Attorneys and Legal Services **$9.87**, Home and Home Improvement **$8.33**, and Dentists and Dental Services **$8.00**. Legal/Home/Dental remain the top 3 every year.\n\nPrior year (2024): Attorneys $8.94, Home Improvement $6.96, Dentists $6.82.\n\n**Source:** WordStream 2026 (vendor).\n\n**Confidence:** Single-source.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** The cross-year stability of Legal/Home/Dental as top-3 is itself strong evidence the rank-ordering is real. Year-over-year increases also signal commercial intensity is RISING in these verticals.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"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-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"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:04.795Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:04.795Z"}