According to the “eCommerce Google Ads Benchmark” report published by Channable, cost per click in Google Shopping and Performance Max campaigns increased by an average of 0.06 euros across all campaign types between June 2025 and June 2026. In the same period, return on ad spend (ROAS) decreased by more than 40 percent.

1.38 Billion Euros in Ad Spend Analyzed

In the benchmark study prepared by Channable, the Netherlands-based e-commerce feed management platform, 1.38 billion euros in verified Google Ads spend belonging to more than 10,000 advertisers in the European e-commerce market was analyzed. The report enables online retail brands to compare their Google Ads performance with broader market averages.

Google Ads stands out as one of the paid advertising services used by brands to increase their visibility in search results and shopping areas. However, recent data shows that as competition in e-commerce increases, brands have to allocate higher budgets for the same visibility.

ROAS Declined While Cost Per Click Increased

According to the report, despite the increase in cost per click, the return from Google Ads campaigns decreased significantly. While average ROAS in Standard Shopping campaigns fell by 43 percent, average ROAS in Performance Max campaigns declined by 46 percent.

This picture reveals that brands are receiving lower returns despite paying more for advertising. Channable states that, in addition to rising cost per click, the 0.11-point decline in conversion rates in Performance Max campaigns also had an impact on the decrease in returns.

“Google Ads Should Be Seen as Core Data Infrastructure”

Channable Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Stefan Hospes emphasized in his assessment of the results that brands should treat Google Ads not only as a budget line, but as core data infrastructure.

Hospes said, “The brands feeling this most acutely treated Google Ads as a budget line when they should have approached it as key data infrastructure. A 15 percent CPC increase is painful if you are bidding on the same listings as last year. It is manageable if your feed is optimized, your budget is structured for Q4, and your product data is working as hard as your campaigns.”

Ad Spend Increased in the Fourth Quarter

When Google Ads channels are evaluated together, cost per click in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 9.1 percent higher than in the first quarter. In the same period, total ad spend increased by 47.9 percent compared to the first quarter of the year.

This increase shows that e-commerce brands need larger advertising budgets to compete during peak sales periods such as Cyber Week, Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. AI-powered campaign management, product feed optimization and data-driven budget planning are becoming more critical for maintaining advertising efficiency in online retail.