Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
July 2025 - July 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
The main story: Legal category cost-per-click (CPC) ran consistently above the overall benchmark but with much sharper swings — a summer 2025 peak, a winter plateau, and a dramatic trough in mid‑2026 before a partial rebound. This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Legal in All countries available compared to the global benchmark.
Across the 13-month window (Jul 2025–Jul 2026) Legal CPCs started at $2.43 and finished at $1.66, averaging about $1.78 per click. The high point was $2.43 in July 2025; the low point was $0.79 in June 2026 — a peak‑to‑trough swing of roughly $1.64 (about 66% of the period mean). By contrast the global median CPC began at $1.08 and ended at $0.77, averaging about $1.05.
Over the period Legal CPC fell roughly 31.7% from start to finish, while the global benchmark fell about 28.4%. Legal’s month‑to‑month volatility averaged an absolute movement of about $0.33 (≈19% of its mean), compared with the global benchmark’s ≈$0.10 monthly swing (≈9% of its mean). In raw terms Legal CPCs ran about 70% higher than the global median on average.
Notable monthly moves: a steady slide from the July 2025 peak into November 2025 ($2.05 → $1.63), a rebound into January 2026 ($1.75 → $1.98), then a series of declines through spring 2026 culminating in the June low at $0.79 and a strong partial recovery to $1.66 in July 2026.
Rhythm in the series shows early Q3 strength (July–September 2025) transitioning to softer late Q4 engagement (November 2025 trough), a winter uptick through January, and a choppy spring that accelerates into a pronounced mid‑year low. The June 2026 trough is the most extreme seasonal deviation: Legal CPCs fell below the overall market in that month, reversing the year’s typical premium. Across the window, periods around year‑end and Q1 show typical rebound behavior, while late spring into early summer shows heightened variability for Legal.
Viewed relative to the baseline, Legal CPCs were usually above market but not uniformly so. At their widest gap (July 2025) Legal CPCs were about 126% higher than the global median; at their narrowest (June 2026) Legal CPCs were about 29% below the baseline. Most months show Legal running materially above the global benchmark (e.g., +108% in August 2025, +115% in July 2026), while a few months narrow the gap into the 20–30% range. Overall, the Legal series is more volatile and carries a persistent premium versus the global CPC trend.
Understanding Facebook Ads cost-per-click benchmarks for Legal in All countries available provides a data‑grounded view of how industry ad costs diverge from global CPC trends, and how seasonality and volatility shaped industry ad performance over this 13‑month period.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. In the Legal industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. Geographic targeting affects ad costs based on market competition and user engagement in different regions. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
Improve your Facebook ad performance
• Instant performance insights – See which ads, audiences, and creatives drive results.
• Data-driven creative decisions – Spot patterns to improve ROAS.
• Effortless reporting – No spreadsheets, just clear insights.
All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
Average cost per click benchmarks across industries
Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
Average cost per purchase benchmarks across industries
See how much it costs to get users to install an app