The 100 Most Expensive Keywords for Google Ads in 2025

These are the 100 most expensive keywords in Google Ads, along with their monthly search volume and cost per click (CPC).

The main reason is due to Google’s advertising method:

• Google Ads works on a pay-per-click auction system.
• There are only a few ads that appear for each keyword.

Companies have to do their bit to secure their place at the top of the search results. If the demand for a keyword is high, then more companies are bidding on it, therefore increasing the cost per click.

Keyword demand is high when companies believe they will generate a return on investment (ROI). Typically, you’ll see this there:

• The industry provides high-value services or products (eg, legal, financial) as potential sales generate more revenue.
• A keyword indicates a strong buying intent (eg, personal injury attorney near me) as it may lead to direct sales or high-quality leads.
• The field is competitive and crowded, eg “divorce lawyer in New York” will cost more than “divorce lawyer in Provincetown”.
• There is a peak season (eg tax season, holidays)

I analyzed the top 10,000 keywords to see which niches they belong to:

• Legal services (17.52%), with a focus on accident and injury law in specific areas (eg, Baton Rouge)
• Ecommerce (3.85%)with a focus on promotional codes, brand-specific queries, and product searches.
• Education (2.58%)focusing on keywords related to the university, vocational and technical education institutions, and student services and programs.
• Financial services (1.52%)with a focus on trading platforms, banking services, and investment-related terms.
• Technology (1.13%)with a focus on software development services, computer vision development, technical education and training, and international outsourcing (eg, Romania)

Marketing consultant Dan Kennedy once said, “Whoever can spend the most to get a customer wins.”

Your goal is not to avoid paying for expensive keywordsbut bidding on keywords that make sense for your goals and strategy. If a keyword is generating a good ROI for you, you should continue to bid on that keyword, no matter what it is expensive Corner. (Expensive is relative; a $10 cup of coffee is expensive to me, but would be priceless to a snob.)

That said, there are ways to run your Google Ads more effectively, such as:

• Targeting long-tail keywords (eg, “affordable personal injury attorney New York”), rather than general, broad keywords such as “personal injury attorney”
• Using negative keywords prevents your ads from appearing in irrelevant searches.
• Improving Your Quality by Writing the Right Ad Copy and Creating Targeted Landing Pages.
• Using retargeting to focus on people who have already engaged with your website or shown interest in your brand, product, or service.

If your competitors are paying for certain keywords, it could prove profitable for them—and it could be for you, too.

Here’s how to find these keywords:

1. Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
2. Enter the competitor’s website
3. Go to Paid keywords report

For example, if we analyze asana.com, we can see that they are bidding on 1,367 keywords in the US We can also see the keywords they are bidding on and how much they are paying per keyword (CPC).

If you hover over the magnifying glass, you can even see the ad they’re running for that keyword and the link they’re sending paid traffic to.

Do you want to do paid keyword research for your site? Sign up for Site Explorer.