Estimate your return on investment with Google Vehicle Ads compared to traditional PPC advertising
Enter your dealership's figures below and the calculator will estimate your Google Vehicle Ads performance against traditional PPC.
Additional leads
per month
Additional sales
per month
Cost per lead
saving
Monthly ROI
difference
These estimates are based on UK automotive industry benchmarks: GVA average CPC of £0.55 (range £0.30–£0.80), GVA lead conversion rate of 3% and lead-to-sale rate of 12%. Traditional PPC assumes an average CPC of £2.25 (range £1.50–£3.00), lead conversion rate of 2% and lead-to-sale rate of 10%. Actual results will vary based on your location, inventory, competition and campaign optimisation.
Google Vehicle Ads (GVA) are a specialised ad format that displays your vehicle inventory directly in Google Search results. They show vehicle images, price, make, model, mileage and dealer name — letting car buyers see your stock before they even click. GVAs pull data from your vehicle inventory feed via Google Merchant Center and appear at the top of search results for relevant queries.
Google Vehicle Ads typically cost between £0.30 and £0.80 per click, with an average of around £0.55. This is significantly cheaper than traditional automotive PPC, where clicks often cost £1.50 to £3.00 or more. You set your own daily or monthly budget, so you have full control over spend. Most dealers start with budgets of £300 to £1,000 per month.
For most car dealers, Google Vehicle Ads outperform traditional PPC on cost-per-click, lead quality and conversion rate. GVAs show vehicle details upfront, so clicks tend to be more qualified — the buyer has already seen the price and photos. Industry data shows GVAs deliver 50–75% lower cost-per-click and higher lead-to-sale conversion rates compared to standard text ads.
Most dealers begin seeing impressions and clicks within 1 to 2 weeks of launching Google Vehicle Ads, once their feed is approved by Google Merchant Center. Meaningful performance data usually accumulates within 4 to 6 weeks. Full optimisation, including bid adjustments and feed refinements, typically takes 2 to 3 months to achieve peak ROI.
Haswent manages Google Vehicle Ads campaigns for UK car dealers. Let us help you get more leads for less.
