How Much Should You Spend on Google Ads? A Budget Guide by Industry

One of the most common questions businesses ask is: "How much should I spend on Google Ads?" The answer depends heavily on your industry, goals, and competitive landscape. In this guide, we break down budget recommendations based on 2026 industry benchmark data.

Why Your Industry Matters

Google Ads costs vary dramatically by industry. A legal firm might pay $8.58 per click, while an arts & entertainment business pays just $1.60. This means the same $3,000 monthly budget generates vastly different results depending on your vertical.

Before setting a budget, you need to understand your industry's cost per click (CPC) and cost per lead (CPL). Use our Google Ads Cost Calculator to see benchmarks for your specific industry.

Budget Tiers: What You Can Expect

Starter: $1,000-$3,000/month

Best for: Local businesses, single-service companies, and businesses testing Google Ads for the first time. At this level, focus on a tight set of 10-20 high-intent keywords. You will generate enough data to understand performance but may not have volume for rapid optimization.

Growth: $3,000-$10,000/month

Best for: Established businesses ready to scale. This budget allows for multiple campaign types, broader keyword coverage, and enough conversion data to optimize effectively. Most industries see meaningful results at this level.

Scale: $10,000-$25,000+/month

Best for: Businesses with proven unit economics ready to dominate their market. At this level, you can run Search, Shopping, Display remarketing, and Performance Max simultaneously. The key is having proper tracking and attribution to justify the investment.

Industry-Specific Budget Recommendations

Based on 2026 benchmarks, here are minimum recommended monthly budgets to generate at least 20 leads per month:

• Legal Services: $2,600-$6,600 (at $131 CPL)
• Healthcare: $1,100-$2,800 (at $57 CPL)
• Real Estate: $2,000-$5,000 (at $100 CPL)
• E-commerce: $960-$2,400 (at $48 CPL)
• Restaurants: $600-$1,500 (at $30 CPL)

See costs for all 23 industries on our industry cost pages.

When to Increase Your Budget

Scale your budget when you see these signals:

• Your campaigns consistently hit daily budget caps before 3pm
• Your ROAS exceeds your target by 20% or more for two consecutive months
• Your impression share for top keywords is below 70%
• You have proven landing pages converting above industry average

Increase in 20-30% increments and monitor for two weeks before scaling again. Rapid budget increases can disrupt Smart Bidding algorithms.

The Cost of Underspending

Many businesses fail with Google Ads not because the platform does not work, but because they spend too little. An inadequate budget means insufficient data for optimization, inability to compete for top positions, and a skewed perception of campaign performance. If your industry's average CPL is $100 and your monthly budget is $500, you're only generating 5 leads per month—not enough data to optimize anything.

The rule of thumb: budget for at least 20x your industry's average CPL per month. This gives you enough lead volume for meaningful optimization decisions.