Same B2B Google Ads Keywords Cost About 21% More, Agency Data Shows via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

To determine how much more the same non-branded Google Ads keywords cost 14 B2B advertisers per click during the months of April through September compared to the same time period last year, Grey Matter reviewed their Google Ads Search campaigns.

According to the agency report by Grey Matter issued in October, there was an increase of about 21% in cost-per-click (CPC) for the same keywords used by these 14 B2B advertisers, after accounting for changes in their spending, ad position and Quality Score. The report gives a likely range of 1% to 44% for that figure. It is based on client Google Ads Search campaign data only, so it does not include Performance Max, Shopping or Display campaigns. All 14 come from the agency’s client base, and its search team ru…

Andy Hendricks, Grey Matter’s head of search, writes that he wanted to isolate what portion of the overall price change all advertisers experienced versus what portion was due to actions taken by each advertiser individually. Most available CPC benchmarks, such as published averages, do not account for this differentiation and simply provide an overall average CPC.

Grey Matter excluded broad match keywords since the searches they get matched to can change over time; keywords within Maximize Clicks campaigns also do not fit into the analysis. Brand and competitor keywords were also excluded from the overall estimate.

Grey Matter’s analysis is based on tracking 1,349 non-brand keywords, each within one account, for six quarters (April 2025 to September 2026). The year-over-year comparison covers April through September 2026 versus those months a year prior.

The headline estimate was derived from a regression model using data from all 14 advertisers in the report which controlled for campaign spend, impression share lost to budget, top-of-page position, and Quality Score. Every advertiser was given equal weight regardless of how much it spends.