Google Ads Conversion Rate Statistics for 2026, by Industry
The average Google Ads search campaign converts 7.52% to 8.18% of clicks, but the range runs from 2.55% in finance to 16.22% in pet services. This page gathers conversion rate data for 23 industries from two benchmark reports, landing page medians from Unbounce, and the account settings that move the number.
Key Takeaways
- The blended search conversion rate is 7.52% (WordStream, medians) to 8.18% (LocaliQ, averages) (WordStream, LocaliQ).
- Finance, furniture and real estate convert under 4% in both reports, while animal services, auto repair and education convert above 11%.
- Accounts using negative keywords converted at 13%, versus 4.6% for accounts that do not use them (WordStream account study).
- Smaller accounts convert better: advertisers spending under $1K a month converted at 18.8% versus 14.2% for $10K or more.
- Landing page quality matters as much as the ad: the all industry landing page median is 6.6% (Unbounce via Apexure).
What Is the Average Google Ads Conversion Rate?
Short answer: The median Google Ads search conversion rate is 7.52% (WordStream, 2024 to 2025), and LocaliQ's 2026 average is 8.18%.
Search Engine Land summarized the same WordStream and LocaliQ data under the headline that costs kept rising while conversion rates improved in 2025. Conversion rate is the lever with the most room: it moves cost per lead as much as click price does. See our cost per click statistics for the other half of that equation.
Conversion rate depends on what the advertiser counts as a conversion. A form fill and a phone call are not the same event, and some accounts count both. Treat benchmark rates as a rough guide and track your own definition consistently.
Conversion Rate by Industry: Two Reports Side by Side
Average Google Ads conversion rate by industry
| Industry | WordStream 2025 | LocaliQ 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Animals and Pets | 13.07% | 16.22% |
| Apparel, Fashion and Jewelry | 3.99% | 4.50% |
| Arts and Entertainment | 4.84% | 5.91% |
| Attorneys and Legal Services | 5.09% | 5.55% |
| Automotive: For Sale | 7.76% | 6.01% |
| Automotive: Repair, Service and Parts | 14.67% | 15.51% |
| Beauty and Personal Care | 7.82% | 10.35% |
| Business Services | 5.14% | 4.85% |
| Career and Employment | 4.33% | 3.05% |
| Dentists and Dental Services | 9.08% | 10.67% |
| Education and Instruction | 11.38% | 13.14% |
| Finance and Insurance | 2.55% | 2.64% |
| Furniture | 2.73% | 2.99% |
| Health and Fitness | 6.80% | 6.94% |
| Home and Home Improvement | 7.33% | 8.05% |
| Industrial and Commercial | 7.17% | 8.20% |
| Personal Services | 9.74% | 12.34% |
| Physicians and Surgeons | 11.62% | 12.43% |
| Real Estate | 3.28% | 3.70% |
| Restaurants and Food | 7.09% | 8.05% |
| Shopping, Collectibles and Gifts | 3.83% | 4.01% |
| Sports and Recreation | 7.62% | 7.69% |
| Travel | 5.75% | 5.83% |
Which Industries Convert Best and Worst on Google Ads?
Short answer: Animals and pets (16.22%) and auto repair (15.51%) convert best, while finance and insurance (2.64%) and furniture (2.99%) convert worst, per LocaliQ 2026.
Highest conversion rates, LocaliQ 2026 (percent)
Lowest conversion rates, LocaliQ 2026 (percent)
Urgent, local services convert best because the searcher needs a fix now. High consideration purchases such as insurance, furniture and property convert least, because searchers compare many options before acting. Using the published averages, the best converting industry converts about 6.1 times better than the worst (16.22% versus 2.64%), our calculation.
Biggest Year Over Year Changes
Conversion rate change, WordStream 2025 versus 2024
| Industry | Median conversion rate | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Education and Instruction | 11.38% | up 43.87% |
| Sports and Recreation | 7.62% | up 42.43% |
| Apparel, Fashion and Jewelry | 3.99% | up 14.69% |
| Home and Home Improvement | 7.33% | down 14.97% |
| Restaurants and Food | 7.09% | down 18.69% |
| Career and Employment | 4.33% | down 23.09% |
Career and Employment is the weakest mover, down 23.09%. LocaliQ links lower career conversion to shifts in the job market, though it gives no figure. Education rose 43.87% year over year.
What Improves Google Ads Conversion Rate?
Short answer: Negative keywords show the clearest effect: accounts using them converted at 13% versus 4.6% without, in WordStream's account study.
Conversion rate and order value by bidding strategy, Performance Max data
| Metric | Maximize conversion value | Maximize conversions |
|---|---|---|
| Median cost per click | EUR 0.37 | EUR 0.25 |
| Conversion rate | 2.22% | 1.98% |
| Average order value | EUR 106.55 | EUR 22.84 |
Bidding for value rather than raw conversions raised average order value more than fourfold in this dataset, which shows that conversion rate alone can hide cheap, low value conversions. A related finding from Fluency: Shopping conversion rate rose from 10.9% to 15.3% in its survey period.
Landing Page Conversion Rates
Ads send the click and the landing page earns the conversion. Apexure publishes industry medians from Unbounce Conversion Benchmark Report data covering 41,000 pages and 464 million visitors (Q4 2024).
Landing page median conversion rate by industry (percent)
Top performers in the same dataset run far above the median: 40% plus in events, 15% plus in financial services and 10% plus in ecommerce and education. If your landing page converts near the median, there is usually a clear fix such as a shorter form or a faster page.
Local Intent and Trust Signals That Lift Conversions
Reviews and a complete profile are free conversion levers. If your ads send traffic to a business with weak reviews, the click is spent before the trust is earned.
When Clicks Never Happen: Pew Research on AI Summaries
Conversion starts with a click. Pew Research Center tracked 900 US adults and 68,879 Google searches in March 2025. 18% of searches produced an AI summary.
Pew Research, March 2025
| Outcome | With AI summary | Without AI summary |
|---|---|---|
| Clicked a traditional result link | 8% of visits | 15% of visits |
| Ended the browsing session | 26% of visits | 16% of visits |
This is organic data rather than paid, but it shows the direction: fewer searches produce clicks, so each paid click that does arrive should convert as well as possible. See how this plays out in our Google Ads statistics roundup.
Sources and Further Reading
Every statistic on this page links to its original source. Figures were checked on October 24, 2026. Where sources disagree, we show both and say so.
- WordStream, 2025 Google Ads benchmarks
- WordStream, Google Ads account study
- LocaliQ, search advertising benchmarks
- Search Engine Land, Google Ads costs keep rising but conversion rates improved in 2025
- Search Engine Land, Optmyzr data on Performance Max and Search CPCs
- Triple Whale, Google Ads benchmarks
- Smarter Ecommerce, state of Performance Max 2025
- Fluency, 2026 trends and performance benchmarks
- Apexure, landing page conversion rate benchmarks by industry (Unbounce data)
- BrightLocal, local SEO statistics
- Pew Research Center, Google users and AI summaries
Keep Reading
- Google Ads statistics 2026
- Google Ads CPC statistics by industry
- Why is your Google Ads cost per lead so high?
- Google Ads management services
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