Compare CPM benchmarks by industry, region, and campaign type.
October 2025 - September 2026
Benchmark observations based on the selected data
Legal industry CPMs ran materially above the market this year, showing pronounced spikes in late 2025 and early 2026 and a clear mid-spring trough. 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 compared to the global benchmark for Cost per thousand impressions (CPM).
Legal CPMs started at about $40.70 in July 2025 and finished at $45.48 in July 2026, averaging roughly $44.5 across the 13-month window. The series reached a high of $52.94 in February 2026 and a low of $35.26 in April 2026. By comparison the global baseline averaged about $20.6 CPM over the same months, with a much narrower spread between $16.47 and $24.26.
Across months the Legal line ran roughly double the baseline on average — about 116% higher overall — and monthly gaps ranged from about +49% (April 2026) to about +176% (July 2026). Absolute movement was notable: Legal CPMs moved an average of ~$4.2 month-to-month (≈9–10% relative to the Legal mean) and the series’ standard deviation was about $5.2 (≈12% of its mean), underscoring above-average volatility versus the global benchmark.
Several sharp month-to-month shifts stood out: an October 2025 lift to roughly $50.37 from a September $43.78, a peak in February 2026 at $52.94, and a pronounced decline into April 2026 where CPMs fell to about $35.26 before rebounding through June and July 2026.
Seasonally, Legal CPMs show a late-year and early-year concentration of strength. Q4 into early Q1 (October–February) contains the biggest upward momentum, with October, December and February among the higher months. The opposite rhythm appears in spring: April and May 2026 form a noticeable trough, with April marking the lowest point. After that low, CPMs staged a multi-month rebound into early summer.
The baseline follows a gentler seasonal arc: smaller October and November upticks and a dip into mid-year, but without the amplitude seen in Legal CPMs. In short, Legal displays sharper peaks and deeper troughs inside the same seasonal windows where the global baseline remains steadier.
Viewed against the global benchmark, Legal CPMs were consistently above average and more volatile. Where the global benchmark stayed mostly between $16.5 and $24.3, Legal spanned roughly $35.3 to $52.9 — a wider absolute range (~$17.7 vs ~$7.8). Relative gaps varied by month: the narrowest gap (April 2026) saw Legal about 49% higher than global; the widest gap (July 2026) saw Legal roughly 176% higher. Overall, Legal CPMs operated at roughly 2.2–2.8x the baseline in peak months and about 1.5–2.0x in quieter months.
This CPM-focused view of industry ad performance highlights how Legal advertising cost rhythms diverged from the global benchmark across All countries. Understanding Facebook Ads benchmarks, CPM analysis, CPC trends, CTR performance, country-specific ad costs, and broader industry ad performance for Legal in All countries helps advertisers evaluate engagement trends and compare performance to global patterns.
Facebook advertising cost benchmarks
Cost Per Mille (CPM) is the cost advertisers pay for 1,000 impressions of their Facebook ad. In the Legal industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. Geographic targeting affects ad costs through regional competition and user engagement. Campaign objectives affect costs because Facebook optimizes delivery for different goals. The data shows median values across multiple campaigns. Results can vary with ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
A small share of campaigns has extremely high CPM values. Those outliers can inflate an average. The median is the midpoint across campaigns, so it better represents a typical result.
The data shows industry median benchmarks. Costs can vary with targeting, creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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The dataset includes over $3B in Facebook ad spend from thousands of ad accounts that use Superads to analyze and improve campaigns. Every data point is anonymized and aggregated. It does not expose an individual advertiser.
The dataset updates as new ad data is available.
Competition, seasonality, audience size, and ad quality affect CPM. Q4 can cost more. Smaller audiences and lower relevance scores often lead to higher CPMs.
Campaign objectives, bidding strategies, and time of day can change CPM. Conversion campaigns usually have higher CPMs than traffic campaigns, while broad targeting tends to lower CPMs.
In most industries, CPMs range from $5 to $18 depending on the region and objective. Retail and e-comm campaigns often sit at the higher end. Our live data above shows a breakdown by country and industry.
Audience size and targeting both matter. Audience quality, including intent and fit with your offer, usually has more impact than size. Extremely tight audiences can raise CPM because delivery opportunities are limited.
Use CPM for awareness campaigns and CPC or CPA for performance campaigns. A high CPM can increase costs across the funnel.
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