20 most expensive Google AdWord categories and what they reveal about us (Infographic)

 
90% of all purchase decisions begin on the internet.  75% of us shop online before we buy offline.
$33.3 billion is invested in Google Ads every year to help influence those decisions.  It’s where Google makes 97% of its revenue.
TechCrunch recently published the 20 most expensive categories for Google keywords.  The infographic below shows the numbers.  If we group them, they reveal some surprising insights into our real wants and needs.  And what marketers pay for that knowledge.  Here’s the infographic followed by some insights into what they reveal about us.

Here’s what the 20 most expensive Google AdWord categories reveal about our wants and needs.
GROUP #1 (1-3):  WE WANT A BRIGHT FUTURE (45.8%/$49.2 CPC)
The biggest and most expensive group by far centers around our need for a brighter tomorrow and the belief we can have it if we invest in the things that matter most – our home, possessions and ourselves – today.  It accounts for almost half of all Google Adwords and businesses pay almost $50.o0 just for a click.

  • INSURANCE: 24,0% of total/$54.91 average CPC (cost per clic
  • LOANS (Student, home, etc.): 12.8%/$44.12 CPC
  • MORTGAGE: 9.0%/$47,12 CPC_

GROUP #2 (3-6): WE WANT TO BE PROTECTED FROM SITUATIONS WE CAN”T CONTROL 9.8%
What we have is worth protecting.  Situations beyond our control risk taking it away, and we need the resources and people who can protect us.

  • ATTORNEY: 3.6%/$47.07
  • CREDIT: 3.2%
  • LAWYER: 3.0%

GROUP 3 (7):  WE WANT TO GIVE BACK (2.5%)
Others are in need more than ourselves.  We want to help them if and when we can.

  • DONATE: 2.5%

GROUP 4 (8-15): WE WANT TO INCREASE OUR PRODUCTIVITY (10.8%)
Technology and tools help us accomplish more.  We want to know about them, use them and have them help bring us closer to the goal of feeling fulfilled in our work.

  • DEGREE: 2.2%
  • HOSTING: 2.2%
  • CLAIM: 1.4%
  • CONFERENCE CALL: 1.0%
  • TRADING: 1.o%
  • SOFTWARE: 1.0%
  • TRANSFER: 1.0%
  • GAS/ELECTRICITY: 1.0%

GROUP 5 (16-20): WE WANT TO CORRECT SERIOUS SHORTCOMING (5%)
If our frailties take us off course or down the wrong path, we want to make amends and come out stronger.

  • RECOVERY: 1.0%
  • CLASSES: 1.0%
  • REHAB: 1.0%
  • TREATMENT: 1.0%
  • CORD BLOOD: 1.0%

Taken as a whole, these reveal not greed, status-consciousness or everybody is out for themselves; It shows what we really want is fulfillment, security, productivity and to make amends if we get off course.
These are what the insights from the most expensive Google AdWord categories reveal to me. What do they reveal to you?
 
 
 

3 Comments

  1. Jeff Powers

    Interesting take, Rob. From this I see that the majority of the keywords are service industries. Most companies in the 20 industries/keywords listed seem to have a hard time differentiating themselves, which is why I would say they dominate the PPC advertising. Also, if you turn on a TV for any short period of time you will see a commercial for at least one of the top 6 keywords listed. I am surprised not to see pharma/health on there though, given their marketing budgets and our self-prescribing culture.

    1. Rob Petersen

      Thanks Jeff. Appreciate your insights. Telling.

  2. Craig Lambert

    Rob, what seemed notable to me about this list is that the searcher is facing a decision point that incorporates more than the normal amount of risk or expense AND that comes along only rarely. So, with little experience to go on, he or she is looking for decision-support information. It’s why we search.
    – Group 1/3/4a: A Fool and His Money: the rare expenditure of significant money with an unfamiliar organization for purposes important to me
    – Group 2/5: Hired Guns: facing a situation that threatens my way of life
    – Group 4b: Teach a Man to Fish: life changing decisions about education
    It seems to me that these kinds of rare or once-in-a-lifetime decisions are the ones in which too little “caveat emptor” has proven disastrous, or at least wasteful.
    This is where trust, transparency and straight-up useful information can help a marketer to close a sale. By demonstrating that the searcher and the seller’s interests are aligned, the buyer gains the confidence to buy (or at least consider), even in this unfamiliar situation.

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