100 Most Expensive Keywords for Google Ads (September 2026)

Portrait of Si Quan Ong

By Si Quan Ong

SEO & Marketing Educator at Ahrefs

Reviewed by
Updated: September 1, 20267 min read

We analyzed our database of 28.7 billion keywords to identify the most expensive keywords people are bidding for on Google Ads.

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

100 most expensive keywords on Google Ads in the U.S.

#
Keyword
CPC
Search Volume
1
mesothelioma attorney chicago
$100.00
1,000
2
walter goncalves tucson az
$100.00
700
3
syngap
$100.00
500
4
lawsuit mesothelioma
$100.00
900
5
los angeles slip and fall attorney
$100.00
500
6
los angeles slip and fall lawyer
$100.00
700
7
axon taser
$100.00
1,000
8
interstitial ads cpm
$100.00
1,900
9
lingo meaning
$100.00
7,900
10
dallas mesothelioma lawyer
$100.00
500
11
reddit fgo
$100.00
700
12
nyc tax refund status
$100.00
500
13
axon company
$100.00
800
14
slip and fall attorney los angeles
$100.00
800
15
disney cruise line incidents
$100.00
800
16
leileiav
$100.00
500
17
advertise feedbuzzard
$100.00
4,800
18
tandem source login
$100.00
3,600
19
miami heat vs dallas mavericks timeline
$100.00
6,200
20
carnival cruise death
$100.00
4,600
21
advertising feedbuzzard
$100.00
4,000
22
syngap1
$100.00
2,200
23
legal answering service
$100.00
1,400
24
atlanta accident lawyer
$100.00
700
25
openreview
$100.00
1,700
26
maritime law firm
$100.00
600
27
cdkl5
$100.00
1,400
28
ambulance crash
$100.00
500
29
bjs 13 deal
$100.00
500
30
selva coffee house menu
$100.00
1,200
31
houston injury attorney
$100.00
500
32
sportwetten anbieter
$100.00
900
33
trochoid
$100.00
500
34
commercial vehicle accident lawyer
$100.00
1,400
35
og's
$100.00
500
36
mesothelioma lawsuit
$100.00
1,200
37
belpre animal clinic
$100.00
500
38
energy software development
$100.00
600
39
accident lawyer las vegas
$100.00
900
40
illinois mesothelioma lawyer
$100.00
600
41
mesothelioma lawsuits
$100.00
500
42
ohio mesothelioma lawyer
$95.00
1,000
43
mta accident lawyer
$95.00
500
44
tn entity search
$95.00
700
45
car accident lawyer macon ga
$95.00
900
46
kashima
$95.00
900
47
tallahassee car accident lawyer
$95.00
800
48
marjam kat
$95.00
500
49
princess cruise ship recovers
$95.00
2,200
50
venmo withdrawal limit
$95.00
600
51
richmond truck accident lawyer
$95.00
500
52
motorcycle accidents lawyer
$95.00
800
53
abogados accidentes de trafico
$95.00
600
54
ua806
$95.00
700
55
car accident lawyer macon
$95.00
900
56
openai python sdk
$95.00
700
57
columbia care marietta oh
$95.00
800
58
el paso car accident lawyer
$95.00
500
59
wg pay scale 2025
$95.00
1,000
60
hire dedicated php developer
$95.00
600
61
raytown schools
$95.00
500
62
macon car accident lawyer
$95.00
2,100
63
how to tag someone on linkedin
$95.00
1,100
64
tepezza and hearing loss
$95.00
600
65
mainframe modernization services
$95.00
500
66
online task management tool
$95.00
600
67
abogado de accidentes de camiones
$95.00
1,100
68
omnipresent
$95.00
32,000
69
legal age to vape
$95.00
600
70
denver auto accident lawyer
$95.00
1,100
71
18 usc 371
$95.00
900
72
bruit
$95.00
6,300
73
law firm answering service
$95.00
1,000
74
queens wrongful death attorney
$95.00
800
75
discord lawsuit
$95.00
600
76
openai gpt-4.1 pricing
$95.00
500
77
casino ie
$90.00
500
78
defensores de accidentes
$90.00
600
79
emsmart login
$90.00
700
80
pnc hsa login
$90.00
1,800
81
pqdi
$90.00
1,400
82
car accident lawyer albany ga
$90.00
700
83
houston car crash lawyer
$90.00
500
84
flower bowl new buffalo
$90.00
800
85
what is dra
$90.00
1,000
86
motorcycle lawyers
$90.00
900
87
bicycle accident attorney near me
$90.00
4,200
88
who is the best wrestler in the world
$90.00
500
89
riverside personal injury lawyer
$90.00
1,000
90
csi humboldt
$90.00
2,300
91
abogados de accidentes de carros
$90.00
600
92
lo4 flight status
$90.00
500
93
bike accident attorney near me
$90.00
1,900
94
deel pricing
$90.00
500
95
houston car wreck attorney
$90.00
600
96
hit and run attorneys
$90.00
600
97
v4 boutique
$90.00
500
98
accident attorney phoenix
$90.00
600
99
car accident lawyer houston
$90.00
8,000
100
chicago truck accident lawyer
$90.00
1,900

Why are these keywords so expensive?

The main reason is due to Google’s ads mechanism:

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

Companies have to outbid each other in order to secure their spot at the top of the search results. If demand for a keyword is high, it means more companies are bidding for it, therefore driving up the cost per click.

Demand for a keyword is high when companies believe it will generate a return on investment (ROI). Typically, you’ll see this when:

  • The industry offers high-value services or products (e.g., legal, finance) as each potential sale generates a lot of revenue.
  • The keyword signals strong purchase intent (e.g., personal injury lawyer near me) as they’re likely to lead to direct sales or high-quality leads.
  • The location is competitive and populous, e.g., “divorce lawyer in New York” will be more expensive than “divorce lawyer in Provincetown”.
  • There is a peak season (e.g. tax season, holidays)

Which industries do the most expensive keywords belong to?

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

  • Legal services (17.52%), with a focus on accident and injury law in specific locations (e.g., Baton Rouge)
  • Ecommerce (3.85%), with a focus on promotional codes, brand-specific queries, and product searches.
  • Education (2.58%), with a focus on university-related keywords, career and technical education centers, 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 (e.g, Romania)

How to avoid paying for expensive keywords

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

Your goal is not to avoid paying for expensive keywords, but to bid for keywords that make sense according to your goals and strategy. If a keyword generates a positive ROI for you, then you should continue bidding on that keyword, no matter how expensive it is. (Expensive is relative after all; a $10 cup of coffee is expensive to me, but could be of value to a snob.)

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

  • Targeting long-tail keywords (e.g., “affordable personal injury lawyer in New York”), rather than generic, broad keywords like “personal injury lawyer”
  • Using negative keywords to prevent your ads from appearing on irrelevant searches.
  • Improving your Quality Score by writing relevant ad copy and creating targeted landing pages.
  • Using retargeting to focus on people who’ve already interacted with your website or shown interest in your brand, product, or service.

How to see the paid keywords your competitors are bidding on

If your competitors are paying for certain keywords, it may indicate that they’re profitable for them—and could be for you too.

Here’s how to find these keywords:

  1. Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
  2. Enter your competitor’s domain
  3. Go to the Paid Keywords report

For example, if we analyze asana.com, we can see they’re bidding on 1,367 keywords in the U.S. We can also see the keywords they’re bidding on and how much they’re paying for each 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.

Want to do paid keyword research for your site? Sign up for Site Explorer.

Portrait of Si Quan Ong

Si Quan is a content marketer at Ahrefs. He has been involved in digital and content marketing for the past 5 years. Before he joined Ahrefs, he was content marketer at ReferralCandy, a 7-figure ARR SaaS company. Si Quan has spoken at some of the industry’s largest conferences in the Asia region, which includes TIECon and Digital Marketing Skill Share. He has also written for some of the industry’s most popular blogs like Sumo and SmartBlogger. His earliest work was marketing a product on Kickstarter, which eventually raised $150,000, more than double the original funding goal. The product was also featured on prominent tech websites, including Engadget, CNET and Digital Trends.

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