Google Ads and the War on Free Clicks

Where Google Makes Its Money: The 20 Most Expensive Keywords in AdWord

The Top 10 Most Expensive Keywords are:

1. Insurance
2. Loans
3. Mortgage
4. Attorney
5. Credit
6. Lawyer
7. Donate
8. Degree
9. Hosting
10. Claim

You’ll notice that these top ten most expensive AdWords keywords deal primarily with financing and industries that manage vast sums of money. The fact that the educational keyword “degree” is one of the top ten most expensive Google keywords, right up with lawyers and credit, reminds us of the growing cost of education.

The next ten most expensive keywords complete our total list, resulting the top 20 most expensive AdWords keywords:

11. Conference Call
12. Trading
13. Software
14. Recovery
15. Transfer
16. Gas/Electricity
17. Classes
18. Rehab
19. Treatment
20. Cord Blood

There you have it – the highest cost keywords. If you are considering entering into one of these industries, be ready to pay highcost per click rates for the top keywords. While some may start treatment facilities for the greater good, be aware that you’ll wind up in one of the most expensive niche groups, and your paid search marketing wallet will suffer from those high CPCs.

The most expensive SEM keywords may be frustrating for those in the industries, but they are the best keywords for Google, who makes 97% of revenue from advertising on Google sites (AdWords, AdSense). In the last four quarters, the biggest player of search engine history brought in $32.2 billion in total advertising revenue.

While the minimum bid per keyword is 5 cents in AdWords, the high cost keywords listed above are nowhere near that. Google can make up to $50 per click from the most expensive PPC keywords. Keyword advertising is a highly lucrative business for Google. Learn more about the costs of AdWords here.

The most expensive niche groups paying for the most costly keywords are industries with very high lifetime customer value; the most costly AdWords keywords exist in industries where the customer pay-off is considerably high. Ultimately, the amount of money insurance companies get from an individual signing up for insurance with them makes high cost per click rates worth the investment, even at $54 a click