A good click-through rate for Google Search ads in 2026 is above 6 percent, with the cross-industry average between 6 and 7 percent. Legal, industrial, and B2B categories run under 5 percent; dating, travel, and finance run above 9 percent. Display Network CTR is a different scale entirely, typically 0.4 to 0.6 percent.
What moves it
CTR rises with brand queries, exact match, top-of-page position, sitelinks and other assets, and copy that repeats the query. It falls with broad match, generic terms, and competitors bidding on your brand. A high CTR with a low conversion rate means the ad promises something the landing page does not deliver.
Google Search benchmarks, September 17, 2026
| Average CPC | $4.30 to $5.50 across industries; Legal, Insurance, and Financial Services from about $15 to over $23; Ecommerce and Arts under $2 |
| Average CTR | 6 to 7 percent across industries in 2026 studies; under 5 percent in Legal and Industrial, above 9 percent in Dating and Finance |
| Conversion rate | 5.7 to 8.2 percent (click-based) across industries; highly dependent on what counts as a conversion |
| Cost per lead | $67 to $76 blended; $130 to $300 in Legal, Insurance, and Financial Services |
| ROAS | About 4x blended in agency-reported data; ecommerce accounts commonly target 4x to 6x |
Sources and every other channel: Google Search benchmarks.
Run your own numbers with the CPC and CTR calculator.
Agency Echelon. "What is a good CTR for Google Ads?" Agency Echelon Reference, reviewed September 2026. https://agencyechelon.com/reference/questions/what-is-a-good-ctr-for-google-ads/