Size and fit anxiety drives high return rates, so brands that reduce friction with sizing guides and free returns win on conversion.
Legal, Financial Services, and SaaS consistently have the highest CPCs. Legal averages $8.67 CPC on Google Ads. These industries have high LTV per customer, which justifies the premium. Home Services and Ecommerce are competitive but have lower CPCs.
Industry variation reflects three factors: (1) LTV per customer (higher LTV justifies higher CPA/CPC), (2) sales cycle length (longer cycles suppress CTR and CVR), (3) ad creative constraints (healthcare and finance face stricter platform policies). Use industry-specific benchmarks - global averages are often misleading.