Are 'near me' searches worth targeting for junk removal?
Yes, on every channel. 'Near me' searches are about a quarter of junk removal ad clicks and cost about 7% less per click with the same cost per lead, and on organic results they bring about 19% of non-brand clicks from only about 7% of impressions.
By Justin Hubbard, who runs Adimize and has owned and operated a junk removal and dumpster rental company for over 12 years
Based on 22-23 Google Ads accounts and 18 Business Profiles (Oct 2025 - Sep 2026); 11-28 websites (Jul 2025 - Sep 2026)
Google Ads: 'near me' vs other junk removal searches, same account
| Measure | Near me vs other searches | Middle half | Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of junk removal clicks | 22.5% | 18.5%-29.5% | 22 |
| Cost per click | 0.93x | 0.88-1.01 | 23 |
| Conversion rate | 0.98x | 0.84-1.23 | 18 |
| Cost per lead | 0.97x | 0.82-1.04 | 18 |
Organic results
Searches containing 'near me' are 19% of non-brand organic clicks (middle half 12%-29%, 13 sites) but only 6.9% of non-brand impressions (28 sites). They get clicked 2.3 times as often as other non-brand searches on the same site (middle half 1.9-4.1 times, 11 sites), and still 2.0 times as often comparing only top-10 results.
Business Profile
'Near me' and 'nearby' are about 17% of the non-branded searches that show a junk removal Business Profile (middle half 10%-22%, 18 profiles).
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