By Mark McDowellPosted: 9 min read
How Much Do Google Ads Cost In Malaysia
Google Ads has no set price in Malaysia. You choose the budget, and an auction sets what each click costs. In Primal's own Google Ads account, a click cost RM26.74 this year, and the price changed nearly six times over from one keyword to the next.
Key Takeaways
- Primal's search clicks averaged RM26.74. That figure covers 6,536 clicks on search ads in Primal's own Google Ads account this year.
- Click prices vary nearly sixfold by keyword. In that one account a click cost about RM15 for "digital marketing" and about RM89 for "aeo".
- Budget on the cost of a lead. A dearer click that turns into enquiries more often can bring a cheaper lead.
- Work out your break-even click price. It is one customer's value multiplied by your enquiry rate and your close rate, the method on Google's own help page.
- Add 8% service tax to the budget. Google adds it to Google Ads charges for Malaysian business accounts, so a RM3,000 monthly budget is billed at RM3,240.
What Google Ads Cost In Our Own Account
Nobody can quote you one price for Google Ads in Malaysia, because each click is priced in an auction. So the most useful figure I can give you is what we pay ourselves. This year, a click in Primal’s own Google Ads account cost RM26.74 on average, across 6,536 clicks on search ads.
That is what an agency pays to be found by businesses looking for marketing help. Your figure will differ, because the price of a click follows the search you bid on. Among the keywords we spent the most on, the dearest cost nearly six times the cheapest. A dearer click can still bring a cheaper lead, when more of its clicks turn into enquiries.
So I plan budgets on what a lead costs and what a customer is worth. An average cost per click, ours or anyone’s, is only a starting point. Your own keywords, your enquiry rate and the value of a customer decide what you can afford.
What Changes The Price Of A Click
Google prices every click in an auction among the advertisers bidding on that search. A search that many businesses want, and bid high for, costs more. Our guide to pay per click (PPC) advertising walks through how the auction works.
Your own settings change the price as well. Google’s help page on choosing a bid says the right bid depends on your campaign type, the cost of your keywords and how well they perform. Google also lets you raise or lower bids by device, time of day and location. The quality of your ad and of the landing page it links to matters in the auction too, as the PPC guide explains.
What Are The Most Expensive Terms?
Customers often ask us which terms cost the most. In our own account, general searches cost the least, and searches for a supplier or a new service cost several times as much. The table lists some of the keywords we spent the most on this year, with the average cost of a click rounded to the ringgit. The match type in brackets is the setting that decides how closely a search has to match the keyword.
| Keyword (match type) | Average cost per click |
|---|---|
| “digital marketing” (phrase) | RM15 |
| “seo” (phrase) | RM21 |
| “marketing agency” (exact) | RM24 |
| “digital marketing agency” (phrase) | RM30 |
| “ai seo” (phrase) | RM37 |
| “seo agency” (phrase) | RM65 |
| “seo company” (phrase) | RM82 |
| “aeo” (phrase) | RM89 |
The cheapest click in the table was a general search, “digital marketing”. Searches for a search engine optimisation (SEO) supplier, such as “seo agency” and “seo company”, cost four to five times as much. The dearest was “aeo”, short for answer engine optimisation (AEO), the work of getting a brand cited when ChatGPT or Gemini answers a question.
The chart shows the same eight prices as bars, so you can see how far a supplier search sits above a general one.
What A Click Costs In Other Industries
Published estimates for other industries sit well below what our agency keywords cost. 2Stallions, a Malaysian agency, publishes ranges for Malaysia that run from under RM1 a click for restaurants and online shops to RM8.50 or more for legal services. Its range for business services is RM3 to RM6 a click. I treat these ranges as the low end of what you might pay.
For a wider view, WordStream’s Google Ads benchmarks put the median click for business services in the US at US$5.87. That is about RM24 at Bank Negara Malaysia’s exchange rate. Our own clicks cost about the same, so a competitive search can cost about as much as the US median.
What A Lead Costs From Google Ads
A lead costs your cost per click divided by your conversion rate, the share of clicks that turn into enquiries. At RM27 a click, about what we paid on average, a business that turns 5 in every 100 clicks into enquiries pays RM540 a lead. At 2 in every 100, the same click brings a lead at RM1,350.
The keyword changes the answer too, because some searches turn into enquiries more often than others. Say a RM40 click turns 8 in every 100 clicks into enquiries, and a RM25 click turns 4 in 100. The first brings a lead at RM500 and the second at RM625, so the dearer click brings the cheaper lead. These rates are examples, so use your own.
A click price tells you little until you know how often that search turns into an enquiry. You can only see that with conversion tracking switched on. Google’s budget page says that without it you can see which ads get clicks. You cannot see which clicks lead to a purchase or a sign-up.
What Is The Standard Cost Per Lead In A Similar Industry?
Customers often ask us what the standard cost per lead is in a similar industry. The 2Stallions guide puts a lead from Google Ads in Malaysia at RM10 to RM200, depending on the industry. Your own figure follows your click prices and your conversion rate, so track it from the first month and plan on that.
How To Find The Cost Per Click For Your Own Keywords
Keyword Planner, inside Google Ads, shows what advertisers have paid for the keywords you enter in the location you pick. Google’s help page on Keyword Planner says you need to finish setting up your account, billing included, before you can use it. For each keyword it gives a low and a high top of page bid. The low one is about the 20th percentile of what advertisers paid to show at the top of the results, and the high one is about the 80th.
- Enter the searches you plan to bid on, in English and Malay if your customers search in both.
- Set the location to Malaysia, or to the states and cities you serve.
- Read the low and high top of page bids for each keyword.
- If a keyword shows no bid range, Google says it may have little bid history, so treat its price as unknown.
- Take a figure between the low and high bids as your planning cost per click. Then run it through the sum in the next section.
The Most You Can Pay For A Click
The most you can pay for a click is what one customer is worth, multiplied by your enquiry rate and your close rate. Google’s help page on choosing a bid starts from what a click is worth to you. Its example is a shop that makes US$10 from each purchase and sells once in every 10 visits, so a US$1 click breaks even.
A business that sells through enquiries adds the close rate to the same sum. Multiply by your profit margin as well when you want to break even on profit.
Take a service business with a RM3,000 monthly budget and a RM5 click, inside the business services range in the 2Stallions guide. The 5% enquiry rate, 20% close rate, RM2,000 customer value and 40% profit margin are examples, so use your own.
| Step | Sum | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks | RM3,000 ÷ RM5 | 600 |
| Enquiries | 600 × 5% | 30 |
| Cost per enquiry | RM3,000 ÷ 30 | RM100 |
| Customers | 30 × 20% | 6 |
| Revenue | 6 × RM2,000 | RM12,000 |
| Gross profit at a 40% margin | RM12,000 × 40% | RM4,800 |
| Profit after ad spend | RM4,800 minus RM3,000 | RM1,800 |
| Break-even cost per click, on profit | RM2,000 × 5% × 20% × 40% | RM8 |
The RM5 click sits under the RM8 break-even, so the example makes money. At the RM27 we paid per click, the same business would lose money each month.
| One customer is worth | Break-even click on revenue | Break-even click on profit, 40% margin |
|---|---|---|
| RM500 | RM5 | RM2 |
| RM2,000 | RM20 | RM8 |
| RM5,000 | RM50 | RM20 |
| RM10,000 | RM100 | RM40 |
The table keeps the example’s enquiry and close rates. Change either one and the break-even click changes in proportion. A customer of low value leaves little room for search ads at these rates. A customer of high value leaves room for clicks as dear as the agency keywords in our account. I would start any Google Ads budget from this number, then check the price of the keywords against it.
What You Pay On Top Of The Clicks
You pay service tax on the ad spend, and you pay for someone’s time to run the account.
Service Tax
According to its help page on taxes, Google adds 8% service tax to Google Ads charges for accounts with a Malaysian business address. The rate was 6% before 1 March 2024. In the worked example, the RM3,000 budget is billed at RM3,240, and the monthly profit falls from RM1,800 to RM1,560.
Running It Yourself
The cost is your time. Keyword Planner and conversion tracking come with the account, and the sums in this post need nothing more than a spreadsheet.
A Hire
JobStreet’s salary guide puts a digital marketing specialist in Malaysia at RM4,100 to RM5,400 a month. The employer’s statutory contributions come on top. The role covers digital marketing in general, so the same person may run other channels as well. For what search work costs when you hire it out, see our guide to SEO cost in Malaysia.
An Agency
Agencies charge a flat monthly fee or a share of your ad spend, and some add a setup fee. A share of spend rises with the budget, while a flat fee stays the same, so ask which one a quote uses. Ask as well whether the service tax is included, and on which amount.
What To Do Before You Set A Budget
I would set a first budget in this order.
- Price your own keywords in Keyword Planner, with the location set to Malaysia.
- Work out your break-even click from what one customer is worth.
- Plan on the cost of a lead, and use your own enquiry rate once you have one.
- Add the service tax and any management fee to the monthly total.
- Keep the Google Ads account in your company’s name, so its history stays with you if you change provider.
Primal has offices in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore. Our Google Ads team can run these sums on your own keywords before you commit a budget. The calculator on that page works out clicks, enquiries and return from your own figures.
Frequently Asked Questions About Google Ads Cost In Malaysia
Is There A Minimum Budget For Google Ads In Malaysia?
Google leaves the budget to you. Its budget page says you decide how much you spend and can change your daily budget at any time. Its help page on bids suggests a US$1 maximum bid, about RM4, if you are unsure where to start.
How Much Should A Small Business Spend On Google Ads In Malaysia?
Spend enough to buy the leads you need at a cost below your break-even. Raise the budget once the numbers hold. At RM100 a lead, as in the worked example, 10 leads a month needs about RM1,000 in ad spend, or RM1,080 with tax. Track every enquiry from the first month so you know your real cost per lead.
Are Google Ads Cheaper In Malaysia Than In The US?
For many industries the published estimates say yes. The Malaysian ranges in the 2Stallions guide sit well below WordStream’s US medians. Competitive searches can be the exception. Our own agency clicks cost about as much as WordStream’s median for business services, once that figure is converted to ringgit.
Do You Pay For Google Ads When Nobody Clicks?
With cost per click bidding, you pay only when someone clicks your ad. Google says most people starting out use it. On the Display Network, Google also lets you pay for every thousand viewable impressions instead. Then you pay for views, whether or not anyone clicks.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Mark McDowell is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Primal, which he started in Bangkok in 2015. He is on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020 list and was Campaign Asia’s Southeast Asia Young Achiever of the Year in 2018. He writes about AI search and search engine optimisation.
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