Vertical Tier 1 — Hyper-competitive (Legal, Insurance, Finance, SaaS/B2B)

Verticals: Legal (esp. personal injury), Insurance, Financial/wealth advisory, SaaS/B2B software.

Why hard: Extreme CPC + extreme keyword difficulty (YMYL — Google demands exceptional E-E-A-T for money/health/legal topics) + national + funded competitors. High LTV justifies aggressive bidding.

Evidence:

• Legal CPC $8.58 (2025) / $9.87 (2026); cost-per-lead $131.63. See WordStream/LocaliQ 2025 — Attorneys $8.58, Dentists $7.85, Restaurants $2.05 (vendor).
• "Auto accident lawyer" can exceed $200/click. See Envoca — "auto accident lawyer" / "medical malpractice attorney" exceed $200/click; wealth mgmt ~$31.
• SaaS/B2B: venture-funded competitors with dedicated content teams. Head terms like "CRM software" have dozens of funded competitors. Standard playbook = retreat to long-tail (KD <20) and bottom-funnel pages.
• Real estate is YMYL-adjacent AND brutally portal-dominated (Zillow ranks for 4.5M+ keywords) even though its CPC has dropped.

Confidence: Industry-consensus.