Why is CPC in Yandex Direct growing?

Four reasons, and only one of them is external. The first is the consolidation of the auction: after the departure of Google Ads, advertisers’ demand concentrated in Direct. The second is seasonality: during the high season, everyone raises their rates. The third is changes in its own semantics: general queries were added, the average CPC increased. The fourth is a change in strategy: auto strategies with payment for conversions completely change the click-through picture.

How much cheaper is CPC in YAN than in Search?

According to site benchmarks for 2026, the median CPC in Search is 38 ₽, in YAN - 12 ₽, that is, a difference of three to five times depending on the niche. But a click from YAN and a click from Search are different events: in Search a person is looking for a solution right now, in networks he was doing something else. It is incorrect to compare these channels based on the cost of a click rather than the cost of an application.

What is the normal CPC in my niche?

The range of niches is huge: from 25-28 rubles in local services to several hundred rubles from lawyers. The market median in Search is about 38 ₽, but it makes no sense to focus on it - it averages out disparate niches. You need to look at your row in the benchmark table and compare yourself with yourself a month ago.

What to do if the cost per click has increased?

First find out the reason, and not raise the budget. Check whether the semantics have expanded, whether the strategy has changed, whether it’s the season. If the growth is external, you need to work not with the bid, but with what depends on it: the quality of the ad, the relevance of the landing page and the conversion. It is cheaper to increase conversion by a quarter than to win an auction with a bid.

CPC has increased and there are more applications - is this bad?

That's good. CPC is an intermediate indicator; it does not say anything about money in itself. If the cost per click increased by 20% and the conversion by 30%, the cost per lead fell. Decisions are made based on CPL and DRR, and cost per click is used as a diagnostic: it explains why the CPL has changed, but does not replace it.

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PerformanceSeptember 5, 20269 min

CPC in Yandex Direct 2026: why clicks become more expensive and how to distinguish the market from your mistakes

In most offices, the increase in average CPC turns out to be a consequence of their own actions, and not of changes in the auction. I’ll look at four reasons for price increases, levels by niche, the effect of Google Ads leaving and the procedure for checking your dynamics.

“Clicks have become more expensive” is the most common complaint about Direct and the most poorly verified conclusion. In most cases that I analyzed, the increase in average CPC turned out not to be a change in the market, but a consequence of one’s own actions in the office. Let's figure out how to distinguish it.

Average CPC is not a price, but a division result. Its denominator changes, and most often this is precisely the point.

1. Where we are: levels by niche

To talk about dynamics, you need a starting point. By CPC benchmarks in Yandex Direct the median in Search is 38 ₽, in YAN - 12 ₽. The spread across niches is such that the median means little in itself.

Niche	Median CPC, Search
Local services (beauty, auto, repair)	28 ₽
E-com clothing and accessories	35 ₽
Medicine, clinics, dentistry	60 ₽
B2B SaaS and IT services	110 ₽
Lawyers and notaries	420 ₽

The difference between the extreme lines is fifteenfold. Therefore, the phrase “the average CPC in the market has increased” does not mean anything for a specific account: incomparable things are averaged. A complete table with “good / median / bad” ranges and sources is available at benchmarks page.

2. Search and YAN: do not compare directly

The difference of three to five times in favor of the networks looks like the argument “we shift the budget to YAN.” But a click there and a click here are different events.

While searching, a person formulates a need right now. He was reading an article online and was distracted by the ad. Hence the pattern that can be seen in any account: conversion in networks is lower, and the conversion gap often eats up all the savings per click.

The correct comparison is based on the cost per lead, not the cost of the click. This is considered in CPL calculator, and the norms for niches are in CPL benchmarks.

3. Four reasons for growth, and only one is external

Reason	How to check	External?
Auction compaction	Grows in everyone's niche, your settings haven't changed	Yes
Seasonality of demand	Wordstat for the main query for 2-3 years	Yes, but predictable
Extension of semantics	Compare list of phrases before and after	No
Change of strategy	Campaign change history	No

The third line is the most frequent and most inconspicuous. We added a dozen common high-frequency queries to the campaign, the average CPC went up, and this was attributed to the market. The auction has nothing to do with it: the composition of what is averaged has changed.

The fourth line breaks the comparison altogether. With automatic strategies with payment for conversions, the system itself distributes bids, and the cost of a click ceases to be a manageable value. Comparing CPC before and after such a change is like comparing gas mileage before and after changing a car.

4. What did leaving Google Ads give you?

One structural change did occur: budgets that were previously divided between two systems were concentrated in one. According to the assessment recorded in site benchmarks, this added about 10-15% to the cost per click.

The effect is uneven. It is strongest where Google has historically held a significant share: IT, B2B, part of e-commerce with foreign brands. In local services, where Google collected little before, the change is almost imperceptible.

There is only one practical conclusion: this is a one-time level shift, and not a trend that will continue every month. Planning a budget with the bookmark “plus 15% per year to CPC” on this basis is wrong.

5. What to do when a click has really gone up in price

Raising the bet is the last option, not the first. Everything that costs after a click works cheaper.

Simple arithmetic: if the CPC increased by 20%, and the landing conversion was raised from 3% to 4%, the cost per lead did not increase, but fell. Moreover, increasing conversion by a third on a poorly designed page is usually easier than winning back 20% in an auction where all competitors are working against you at once.

Procedure: first the relevance of the ad to the request, then compliance with the landing promise from the ad, then the form and speed of the page, and only then the bids. What to check on the page itself - in parsing the landing.

6. How to calculate your dynamics correctly

Unload CPC by month for two years, separately Search and separately YAN.
Overlay the seasonal demand curve from Wordstat - some of the fluctuations will be explained immediately.
Mark the dates of changes on the chart: expansion of semantics, change of strategy, new campaigns.
Compare only comparable segments - those between which the settings have not changed.
Build CPL nearby. Decisions are made based on it.

After such an analysis, “clicks have become more expensive” usually turns into something specific: “general queries were added in March, the average CPC increased by 30%, but the CPL did not change.” This is no longer a complaint, but a fact with which you can work.

7. Summary

Levels: median in Search 38 ₽, in YAN 12 ₽, spread across niches fifteenfold. The departure of Google Ads added about 10-15% to the auction - one-time, not annually.

Everything else that looks like an increase in price more often turns out to be its own change: they expanded the semantics, changed the strategy, entered the season. This is checked in two hours by unloading by month with seasonality imposed.

And most importantly: CPC is a diagnostic indicator, not a target one. Target - CPL and DRR.

If you need a look at a specific office - write to Telegram or through form.