About the data
Here’s how we got the list: We pulled all the data collected from anonymous Google Ads Performance Grader reports across all industries between June 1, 2016 and June 12, 2017, then looked at the top 1000 most expensive keywords seen during that time period and categorized them by core intent.
For example, we lumped the keywords “bail bonds” and “bail bonds los angeles” into a single category since the core intent is the same. Likewise, keywords involving different types of lawyers (such as “malpractice lawyer” and “injury lawyer”) or insurance were grouped together. We used a similar methodology last time so as to avoid featuring too many specific long-tail or local keywords that wouldn’t have broad applicability to a large number of businesses. We separated distinct services (pest control vs. termites) as much as possible.
We also filtered out keywords with less than 100 clicks from our data set. We only looked at advertisers bidding in USD, GBP, AUD, CAD, and ZAR, and analyzed different currencies separately. We also eliminated non-English ads and duplicates (where both the keyword and the CPC were exactly the same) from that set. The results you’re reading about in this article are in USD.
Shout out to everyone who helped compile, analyze, and illustrate the data: our data analyst Josh Brackett, our web team leader Meg Lister, and our designer Kate Lindsay.
What are the most expensive keywords in Google Ads?
The top 25 most expensive keywords in Google are as follows:
Top 25 Most Expensive Keywords
| Keyword | Average CPC |
|---|---|
| Business Services | $58.64 |
| Bail Bonds | $58.48 |
| Casino | $55.48 |
| Lawyer | $54.86 |
| Asset Management | $49.86 |
| Insurance | $48.41 |
| Cash Services & Payday Loans | $48.18 |
| Cleanup & Restoration Services | $47.61 |
| Degree | $47.36 |
| Medical Coding Services | $46.84 |
| Rehab | $46.14 |
| Psychic | $43.78 |
| Timeshare | $42.13 |
| HVAC | $41.24 |
| Business Software | $41.12 |
| Medical Needs | $40.73 |
| Loans | $40.69 |
| Plumber | $39.19 |
| Termites | $38.88 |
| Pest Control | $38.84 |
| Mortgages | $36.76 |
| Online Gambling | $32.84 |
| Banking | $31.43 |
| Hair Transplant | $31.37 |
| Google AdWords | $30.06 |
What makes these keywords so expensive?
Generally, AdWords keyword costs get driven up in particular niches for one of the following reasons:
People have a bad problem they really need to fix now
When people are desperate for help, they’re willing to spend more on services or products to get that problem solved. That means the companies doing the advertising can charge more for those services, and they can often achieve strong ROI on their ad spend even with high costs per click.
These spaces are also highly competitive, because people don’t necessarily spend a long time deciding where they’re going to shop – they want help NOW! For example, one of the top keywords in the “medical services” category is “emergency room near me.” If the advertiser is in the right place at the right time, they can profit big. (Not that I think private companies should be profiting off people who need emergency care…)
