Google Ads is the fastest way to appear on the first page of Google — but how much should you actually budget? The answer depends on your industry, competition level, and the type of campaign you choose.
In this guide we break down the real costs of Google Ads in 2026 — from average cost-per-click benchmarks by industry to minimum recommended budgets and the ROI formulas we use daily for our clients.
Costs vary significantly — an e-commerce campaign might cost under €0.50 per click, while a single click on a legal keyword can reach €5 or more. The difference lies in the strategy behind each campaign.
How Google Ads pricing works
Google Ads operates on a real-time auction model. Every time someone searches for a keyword you're targeting, Google runs an instant auction among all advertisers bidding on that term.
The cost-per-click (CPC) you pay depends not only on how much you bid, but also on your Quality Score — a rating from 1 to 10 that Google assigns to each keyword based on ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected click-through rate.
The simplified formula is: Ad Rank = Max CPC × Quality Score. This means an advertiser with a Quality Score of 9 and a bid of €0.60 can outrank someone bidding €1.20 with a Quality Score of 4.
In Search campaigns, you pay per click — not per impression. If your ad shows 1,000 times but nobody clicks, you pay nothing. The exception is Display and YouTube campaigns, where you can also pay per 1,000 impressions (CPM).
Average CPC by industry in Europe
The data below reflects average CPCs we observe across client accounts and Google Ads benchmarks in European markets in 2026. Ranges vary based on seasonality, location, and campaign quality.
| Industry | Avg CPC (EUR) | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| E-commerce (general) | 0.40 – 1.20 | Medium |
| Real estate | 0.80 – 2.50 | High |
| Legal services | 1.50 – 5.00 | Very high |
| Medical / dental | 1.00 – 3.50 | High |
| B2B services | 0.80 – 3.00 | Medium-High |
| Education | 0.50 – 1.80 | Medium |
| Tourism / travel | 0.60 – 2.00 | Medium |
| Beauty / wellness | 0.40 – 1.50 | Medium |
Note that legal and medical services have the highest CPCs — competition is fierce and the lifetime value of a new client justifies the investment. In contrast, general e-commerce benefits from accessible CPCs, making it ideal for testing with smaller budgets.
Recommended budgets by campaign type
There is no universal budget — each campaign type has a minimum threshold below which you won't collect enough data to optimise. Here are our recommendations based on hundreds of managed campaigns:
Ideal for testing. €1,000+/month for scaling on competitive keywords.
Essential for e-commerce. Requires an optimised product feed and healthy margins.
Brand awareness and remarketing. Low CPCs but indirect conversions.
Automated cross-channel campaign. Needs high data volume to perform well.
Video ads with massive reach. Cost per view (CPV) between €0.01 – €0.04.
These budgets are recommended minimums for gathering statistically relevant data. A smaller budget means fewer clicks, fewer conversions, and decisions based on noise rather than real data.
How to calculate your Google Ads ROI
Cost per click means nothing without context. What truly matters is your cost per acquisition (CPA) and return on ad spend (ROAS). Here is the formula we use:
ROI calculation example:
- Average CPC€0.60
- Conversion rate3%
- Average order value€60
- Clicks needed per conversion33 clicks
- Cost per acquisition (CPA)€20
- Revenue per acquisition€60
- ROAS3:1
A ROAS of 3:1 means that for every euro invested in Google Ads, you generate 3 euros in revenue. Generally, a minimum ROAS of 2:1 is considered profitable for e-commerce, while for services (where margins are higher) even a 1.5:1 ROAS can be excellent.
5 mistakes that increase your Google Ads costs
Most wasted Google Ads budgets are not the platform's fault — they are the result of configuration mistakes. Here are the 5 most common errors we see:
1. Overly broad keywords (Broad Match without control)
Using Broad Match without Smart Bidding strategies or negative keywords means Google will show your ad for irrelevant searches. We have seen clients paying for completely unrelated queries — wasting 30–50% of their budget.
2. Missing negative keywords
Negative keywords are just as important as positive ones. Without them, you pay for clicks from people searching for free information, jobs in your industry, or entirely different products.
3. Poor landing pages
Google penalises ads that lead to slow, irrelevant, or poorly designed pages. A low Quality Score means higher CPC and lower positions — you pay more for less.
4. No conversion tracking configured
Without tracking, Google’s algorithm doesn’t know what a valuable customer looks like. It’s like driving blindfolded — you cannot optimise what you do not measure.
5. Ignoring Quality Score
A Quality Score of 3 instead of 7 can double your cost per click. Improving ad relevance, landing page quality, and CTR can reduce costs by 30–50% without changing your budget.
Fixing these 5 mistakes can reduce costs by 30–60% and increase conversions without raising your budget. It is the first action we take when we take over an existing Google Ads account.
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