PPC glossary

Click-through rate (CTR)

Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click an ad or search result after seeing it, calculated by dividing clicks by impressions. Five clicks from 100 impressions is a 5% CTR. In Google Ads, expected CTR is one of the three components of Quality Score.

Reviewed by Gareth Hoyle, Managing Director
Last reviewed 31 October 2026

How is CTR used in Google Ads?

Google describes CTR as a measure of how often people who see an ad or free product listing end up clicking it. Comparing CTR across keywords, ads and listings shows which messages match what people are looking for.

It also feeds the auction. Expected clickthrough rate is part of Quality Score, and Google says predicted clickthrough rate can be part of the auction-time quality used in Ad Rank, so ads people tend to click can win better positions for less.

What is a good CTR?

Google says there is no universal benchmark: a good CTR is relative to what you are advertising and on which network. Search ads usually earn far higher CTRs than display ads, and brand keywords far higher than generic ones, because the searcher is already looking for you. Compare a keyword with its own history and with similar keywords, not with an industry average.

CTR in organic search

Google Search Console reports organic CTR the same way, as clicks divided by impressions. Organic CTR depends heavily on what else is on the page. In a Pew Research Center study of 900 US adults' searches in March 2025, people clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, against 15% when it did not. A falling organic CTR can reflect a changed results page rather than a worse title.

Example

An ad group for 'same day flower delivery' has a 3% CTR. The ads lead with the brand name and a generic offer. Rewriting the headlines to say 'Order by 2pm for delivery today' and showing the delivery price lifts CTR to 6% over the next month, and the keyword's expected CTR moves from below average to average.