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Ad benchmarks explorer

Reference ranges for Meta, Google, LinkedIn and TikTok, pulled from published 2025/2026 datasets and broken out by vertical where the data allows. Then an AI read on how your own numbers compare.

Metric2025 medianNote
CPM$14.192025 median, +20.0% YoY; impression-weighted tracking put it at $8.19 (Oct 2025), US-only near $23
CTR2.19%2025 median, +13.5% YoY
CVR1.6%2025 median, +8.3% YoY
CPA$38.192025 median, +1.0% YoY
ROAS1.862025 median, +1.3% YoY
CPC (traffic objective)$0.70−6.7% YoY, SMB accounts
CPC (leads objective)$1.92+2.1% YoY, SMB accounts
Cost per lead$27.66+20.9% YoY; spans $3.16 (restaurants) to $76.71 (dentists)

Source: Triple Whale (full-year 2025, ~35,000 brands, primarily DTC) and WordStream/LocaliQ (2025, SMB accounts). Full sourcing and methodology in the 2026 benchmarks report.

Grade my numbers

Enter what you can from your last 30 days on Meta. Fill at least two fields and we'll compare them to the ranges above, with a media buyer's read on what to look at first. Nothing is stored.

Where these numbers come from

An ad benchmark is a published median or range for a metric like CPM, CPC, CTR or CPA, measured across a large sample of ad accounts on one platform. Every figure in this tool is transcribed from published benchmark datasets: Triple Whale (Meta medians across ~35,000 mostly DTC brands), WordStream/LocaliQ (Meta lead-gen and Google search, thousands of SMB accounts), The B2B House (LinkedIn), Digital Applied and Lebesgue (TikTok), and Gupta Media's impression-weighted CPM tracker. Where the sources disagree, and on TikTok CPMs they disagree by almost 2×, we show the spread instead of pretending there's a consensus.

Treat the ranges as reference points, not gospel. Each dataset measures a different sample of accounts, and the spread between samples is often bigger than the spread between platforms. The same goes for verticals: on Google search, real estate clicks cost $2.53 and legal clicks cost $8.58, so your industry's row matters far more than the all-industries average. When a number looks off, check whose accounts the benchmark was built on before changing anything in your account.

For the full report with methodology, source-by-source notes and a guide to reading benchmarks without fooling yourself, read the 2026 paid ads benchmarks report. And if you'd rather benchmark against accounts that actually look like yours, that's what Market Intelligence does continuously.

Benchmark questions, answered

Most figures come from full-year 2025 datasets, the latest complete data available, with LinkedIn and TikTok sources publishing 2026 updates. The big reports refresh annually, but auction prices move quarterly and seasonally: Meta's global median CPM spiked to $25.22 in November 2025 before falling to $15.74 by January 2026. Always check the data window before you lean on a number.

Because the sources measure different samples. Triple Whale's Meta CPM median ($14.19) comes from ~35,000 mostly DTC brands, an impression-weighted tracker put the same platform at $8.19, and US-only estimates run near $23. All three are correct for their sample. A range tells you where credible measurements land; a single number mostly tells you whose accounts were measured.

Not necessarily. US CPMs run well above global averages, competitive verticals like health and wellness carry CPMs near $20.70 against a $14 cross-industry median, and narrow audiences, Q4 seasonality and weak creative all add premiums. Check geography, vertical, audience size and time of year before treating it as a problem. A high CPM with strong CTR and CPA is often just the price of your market.

Yes, a lot. These figures skew US/global: Meta's global average CPM sits around $6.59 while the US runs near $23. If you buy in other markets, treat everything here as directional and weight your own trailing performance more heavily than any published median.

The full report, with every source named, the disagreements between datasets flagged, and a guide to reading benchmarks without fooling yourself, is in our 2026 benchmarks article at /blog/ad-benchmarks-2026. Each table in this tool also cites the dataset it came from.

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Benchmarks from accounts like yours

Industry medians are a sanity check. Adside compares your campaigns to similar accounts (same channel, same vertical, same spend band) continuously, so 'above benchmark' actually means something.