Rising Cost-Per-Click Put Product Data Under Pressure

Cost-per-click on Google Ads has increased by 15% year over year across European e-commerce, according to Channable’s latest eCommerce Google Ads Benchmark. The study analyzed €1.38 billion in verified ad spend from more than 10,000 advertisers and found that brands are paying more for traffic while receiving lower returns.

Between June 2025 and June 2026, CPC increased across Google Shopping and Performance Max campaigns. At the same time, return on ad spend fell sharply. Average ROAS dropped by 43% on Standard Shopping campaigns and 46% on Performance Max campaigns. The report also points to lower conversion rates on Performance Max as one reason why returns are under pressure.

Paid Traffic Is Getting More Expensive

Google Ads remains one of the most important acquisition channels for online retailers and brands. However, rising CPCs mean that every click now needs to work harder.

When advertising costs increase, weak product listings become more expensive too. A poorly structured feed, incomplete attributes, unclear titles, or inconsistent product data can reduce campaign performance before a shopper even reaches the product page.

This is especially important for Google Shopping and Performance Max campaigns, where product feeds play a central role in how ads are created, matched, and displayed.

If product information is not optimized, brands may end up paying more to compete while showing less relevant listings to potential customers.

ROAS Pressure Changes the Marketing Conversation

The decline in ROAS is particularly important.

Higher click costs are already difficult for retailers, but lower returns make the challenge more serious. It means brands are not only spending more to attract visitors, but also seeing weaker performance from that spend.

This forces companies to look beyond campaign budgets.

Better bidding strategies can help, but they are not enough on their own. Retailers also need stronger product data, clearer segmentation, better feed management, and more relevant content across campaigns.

In practice, advertising performance increasingly depends on the quality of the product information behind the campaign.

Q4 Will Be Even More Competitive

The benchmark also shows how seasonal competition affects advertising costs.

In Q4 2025, CPC across combined Google Ads channels was 9.1% higher than in Q1. Total advertising spend was almost 48% higher during the same period, reflecting the pressure of Black Friday, Cyber Week, and holiday shopping.

For brands and retailers, this means preparation matters.

Waiting until peak season to fix product data, update feeds, or refine product categories is risky. As advertising competition increases, inefficient listings become more costly.

Retailers that enter Q4 with optimized product data, clean feeds, and clear campaign structures will be better positioned to manage higher costs.

Product Data Becomes Part of Advertising Efficiency

Channable’s benchmark includes an important point from co-founder and CPO Stefan Hospes: Google Ads should be treated as key data infrastructure, not only as a budget line.

Product information is often discussed in relation to product pages, marketplaces, and customer experience. However, it also directly affects paid marketing performance.

Accurate titles, specifications, images, categories, availability, pricing, and structured attributes all help advertising systems match products with relevant shoppers. The better the product data, the better campaigns can perform across automated and AI-driven advertising environments.

More Expensive Clicks Require Better Foundations

Rising CPCs do not mean that Google Ads is becoming less important. They mean that inefficient campaigns are becoming harder to afford.

As advertising platforms become more automated and competition grows, brands need to focus on the inputs that still remain within their control.

Product data is one of those inputs.

For e-commerce businesses, the lesson is clear: paid traffic is getting more expensive, so the product content behind that traffic needs to become stronger, cleaner, and more useful.

In a market where every click costs more, better product information can help make each click count.