It’s estimated that nearly 60% of all ad spend in the US occurring on just two sites – the digital advertising duopoly of Google and Facebook – most advertising campaigns start and stop with those two platforms.

There are lots of considerations that should go into play when deciding which platform to focus on – or how to split your budget between the two. For instance, Facebook is often the better bet for brands looking to build brand awareness or grow their social following, while Google is often the platform of choice for immediate product sales or lead generation.

Just as important is the industry in which a brand operates. Ad performance can vary significantly by industry on each platform, with average conversion rate one good indicator of that fluctuation. Here is a breakdown of the average conversion rates on Google and Facebook by industry according to a study published on the SearchEngineWatch.com website:

Google Conversion Rates

Across Google’s Search Network as a whole, the average conversion rate is 3.75 percent, according to a 2019 study conducted by WordStream.

The top five industries by average conversion rate (CVR) are:

Dating/Personals: 9.64%
Legal Affairs: 6.98%
Consumer Services: 6.64%
Employment Services: 5.13%
Financial Services/Insurance: 5.10%

By contrast, evidence suggests the bottom five industries by average conversion rate are:

Advocacy: 1.96%
Real Estate: 2.47%
Home Goods: 2.70%
E-commerce: 2.81%
Technology: 2.92%

Facebook Conversion Rates

Across all industries, Facebook ads accrue an average conversion rate of 9.21%, with that percentage buoyed by a handful of high-performing industries. Advertisers in the health and fitness industry, in particular, clean up on Facebook. And while real estate proved to be one of the industries that fared worst on Google Ads, on Facebook it resides among the top five.

The top five industries by average conversion rate on Facebook are: