Chances are, if you’ve watched television in the US, you’ve seen myriad advertisements for local lawyers that want to save you money after an injury—no win, no fee. Perhaps you’ve even memorized their bizarre jingles, or seen a program based on their exploits. And it seems that the internet is no different than television: Accident lawyers dominate the most expensive keyword search terms on Google AdWords—the adverts that pop up next to search results on Google.
The report, which was released last month, was created by WebpageFX, a digital marketing company, and SEMrush, a digital marketing analytics firm. They found that the vast majority of the most expensive keyword search terms were for legal issues, most of which were localized to certain US cities or states. The single most expensive paid search term so far in 2015 is: “San Antonio car wreck attorney,” which costs advertisers $670.44 every time a person searching on Google clicks on that term.
It seems that things haven’t really changed that much in the last decade or so of web searches, either. In 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported (paywall) that the most expensive search term was “mesothelioma.” According to the report, the respiratory cancer—which has been linked to exposure to asbestos, the insulating material found in many old buildings—has been a lucrative field for personal injury lawyers as the link has been so undeniable.”Why is [mesothelioma] the highest paying keyword? Because there is nothing more valuable than one mesothelioma patient,” Chris Hahn, the executive director at the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, told the Journal.