2026 search advertising study
WordStream / LocaliQ: 13,474 U.S. Google and Microsoft search campaigns, April 1, 2025–March 31, 2026. Each category includes at least 52 campaigns. Reported averages are medians.
Free Interactive Planning Tool
Google & Meta Ads Revenue Calculator.
Sparkplug’s free Paid Ads Revenue Model estimates leads, new customers, advertising cost per customer, and gross revenue from your monthly budget. Choose an industry and Google Ads or Meta Lead Ads, then replace the planning assumptions with your own business data. No email or ad-account login is needed to use this calculator.
Google and Meta planning defaults Every figure is editable No results are guaranteed
Interactive monthly revenue model
The selected cost-per-lead default comes from a published U.S. median for the closest available category. Close rate and customer value are editable planning inputs, not claimed industry averages.
Paid ads channel
Selected CPL default: $90.92 from 2026 U.S. search median (Google + Microsoft Ads), category: Home & Home Improvement. Change it for your market, offer, and historical account data.
Starts at the published category benchmark. Replace this with your own account data whenever available.
Editable planning assumption: the share of leads that become paying customers.
Editable planning assumption: use the revenue value that matters for your business.
Expected values are mathematical planning scenarios, not guaranteed monthly lead, sale, customer, revenue, or platform-approval outcomes. They exclude taxes, fulfillment costs, refunds, agency fees, sales-cycle delays, and other operating costs. Use actual account and CRM data when available.
Sources, assumptions, and calculation method
Google & Meta cost-per-lead benchmarks by industry
These are the editable starting CPLs used by this free advertising revenue calculator—not Sparkplug client results. The table shows the source category behind each input. Search figures come from Google and Microsoft Ads studies and are used as Google Ads planning proxies. Meta figures are from lead-objective campaigns, not traffic campaigns.
Maintained by Sparkplug Marketing. Page updated . All values are U.S. dollar medians; they are not local-market or account-specific forecasts.
| Industry | Google Ads planning CPL | Meta lead planning CPL |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants & Food | $30.57Restaurants & Food · 2026 study | $27.39All industries · 2026 studyThe Meta study does not publish a Restaurants & Food lead-campaign CPL; this is its all-industry lead-campaign median. |
| Gyms & Fitness | $67.36Health & Fitness · 2026 study | $27.11Health & Fitness · 2026 study |
| Contractors & Home Services | $90.92Home & Home Improvement · 2026 study | $42.95Home & Home Improvement · 2026 studyBroad home-improvement category; not a trade-specific Meta median. |
| Retail & E-commerce | $49.40Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts · 2026 study | $27.39All industries · 2026 studyThe Meta study does not publish a retail lead-campaign CPL; this is its all-industry lead-campaign median. |
| Healthcare & Medical | $40.04Physicians & Surgeons · 2026 study | $32.14Physicians & Surgeons · 2026 study |
| Real Estate | $102.51Real Estate · 2026 study | $13.74Real Estate · 2026 study |
| Salons & Beauty | $39.25Beauty & Personal Care · 2026 study | $50.91Beauty & Personal Care · 2026 study |
| Law Firms | $131.63Attorneys & Legal Services · 2026 study | $38.09Personal Services · 2026 studyThe Meta study does not publish an Attorneys & Legal Services lead-campaign CPL; this uses its Personal Services median as a planning proxy. |
| Dentists | $72.97Dentists & Dental Services · 2026 study | $61.56Dentists & Dental Services · 2026 study |
| Plumbers | $129.02Plumbing · 2025 study | $42.95Home & Home Improvement · 2026 studyBroad home-improvement category; not a trade-specific Meta median. |
2026 Meta lead campaign study
WordStream / LocaliQ: 452 U.S. Facebook lead-objective campaigns, April 1, 2025–June 30, 2026. Each category includes at least four campaigns. Reported averages are medians.
2025 home-services search study
LocaliQ: 3,211 U.S. home-services search campaigns, April 1, 2024–March 21, 2025. Each category includes at least 103 campaigns. Supplies the older Plumbing median; not a 2026 figure.
The two channels use different samples and can measure different conversion actions. A cheaper lead is not necessarily a more qualified lead. Compare CRM-verified customers and contribution margin, not CPL alone. For restaurants and retail, this is a lead-generation scenario—not a direct online-sales or purchase-ROAS benchmark.
How to calculate ad revenue from a budget
CPL means advertising spend per captured lead. Lead-to-sale conversion is the share of those leads that become paying customers, not the ad platform’s click-to-lead conversion rate.
- Expected leads
- Monthly ad budget ÷ cost per lead (CPL)
- Expected new customers
- Expected leads × lead-to-sale conversion rate
- Modeled gross revenue
- Expected new customers × average customer or project value
- Advertising cost per customer
- Monthly ad budget ÷ expected new customers
- Revenue-to-ad-spend ratio
- Modeled gross revenue ÷ monthly ad budget
Fractional customers are expected values across repeated scenarios, not a promise of partial or guaranteed monthly sales. Revenue is a modeled cohort outcome; it may be earned after the advertising month. If using lifetime value, interpret it as lifetime gross revenue—not immediate cash or profit.
Worked example: a $2,000 monthly ad budget
Assume $90 CPL, a 15% lead-to-sale rate, and $11,000 per completed project. These are hypothetical inputs chosen to demonstrate the math, not measured results or a quote.
- Expected leads
- 22.2
- Expected customers
- 3.3
- Modeled gross revenue
- $36,667
- Ad cost per customer
- $600
$2,000 ÷ $90 = 22.22 leads. At 15% conversion, that is 3.33 customers. Multiply the unrounded customer value by $11,000 to model $36,667 gross revenue. Calculations use full precision; displayed values are rounded.
Not profit or guaranteed ROI. Subtract ad spend, service fees, labor, materials, refunds, tax, and overhead separately, and allow for sales-cycle delays.
Planning, not a promise
Make the numbers useful.
Use the initial channel and industry CPL as a conversation starter. Then replace the editable inputs with the performance of your actual campaigns, sales team, and customer economics before deciding how to scale.
Start with the right lead definition
A form fill, call, booked consultation, and sales-qualified opportunity can produce very different CPLs. Model the lead stage that matters to your team.
Use down-funnel conversion
The revenue view becomes more useful when your close-rate input comes from tracked CRM outcomes—not platform estimates.
Separate gross revenue from profit
This model shows gross revenue potential. Review delivery costs, ad spend, management fees, overhead, and cash timing separately.
Paid ads calculator questions
Where do the Google Ads and Meta cost-per-lead defaults come from?
The tool starts with a published U.S. median cost per lead for the closest available industry category. The selected category and source are shown beside the input. Some industries are not published as standalone Meta lead-campaign categories; in those cases, the model labels the all-industry or adjacent-category planning proxy instead of presenting it as an exact industry average.
Are the defaults a guarantee of lead cost or revenue?
No. The published channel medians are only editable planning benchmarks. Actual results can vary materially with market, geography, seasonality, offer, audience, creative, landing experience, budget, bidding, tracking, sales response time, competition, and platform delivery.
How does the model calculate expected revenue?
It divides monthly advertising budget by the cost per lead to model lead volume. It then multiplies that lead volume by your editable lead-to-sale conversion rate and average customer or project value. The result is modeled gross revenue, not profit or a guaranteed return.
Why are close rate and customer value editable rather than industry averages?
Those inputs depend heavily on your actual offer, sales process, pricing, fulfillment capacity, and customer mix. Using your CRM and financial data is more useful than relying on a generic average, so the tool clearly treats them as user-controlled planning assumptions.
What costs are not included in the revenue model?
The model does not include agency fees, taxes, fulfillment or delivery costs, payroll, refunds, sales-cycle delay, financing, overhead, or other operating expenses. Review those separately before making an investment decision.
Is this Google and Meta ads calculator free, and do I need an email address?
The interactive Paid Ads Revenue Model is free and does not require an email address, ad-account access, or a login. You can change the industry, channel, budget, lead cost, close rate, and customer value immediately. The separate emailed Meta Lead Forecast asks for your website and email so it can deliver its planning report.
Should I choose Google Ads or Meta Lead Ads for my business?
Use the channel comparison to explore costs, not to select a winner based on cheap leads alone. Search ads can capture people actively searching for a service; Meta lead campaigns can introduce an offer and collect inquiries within Facebook or Instagram. Lead definitions, qualification, sales response, and customer economics differ. Compare actual customers and contribution margin before scaling either channel.
Are these local-market forecasts or immediate monthly cash revenue?
No. The CPL starting points are U.S. study medians, not forecasts for your city or business. The revenue view models the customers attributable to the advertising inputs; payment and fulfillment can happen later. If you enter lifetime customer value, interpret the output as lifetime gross revenue rather than immediate monthly cash. Replace the defaults with your local account and CRM data.