US Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting - PPC Market Share Analysis March 2026

Leveraging Adthena’s Whole Market View, this analysis explores recent trends in Google Ads for the US Payroll / Accounting category from the last month. Our Data Analyst, Ask Arlo provides commentary on key findings.

Payroll / Accounting – US

Google AI Overview visibility for Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting US

See how often AIOs appear and how search intent is distributed across buying signals.

AIO Frequency

How often a Google AI overview appears on search terms relevant to this category.

Frequency Percentage
Frequency 18.6427741961
81.3572258039
18%

Complex Query Frequency

A complex query is a longer, more detailed search that often contains multiple keywords, specific conditions, or multi-part questions.

Frequency Percentage
Frequency 40
60
40%

Search Intent Distribution

Breakdown of search queries by their underlying goal.

Intent Distribution
Investigational 14%
Transactional 8%
Navigational 9%
Seasonal 0%
Local 0%
Problem Solving 15%

Copyright © Adthena. All rights reserved.

Market Exposure

Share of Clicks for top 10 US Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting brands

Here are the Top 10 competitors in the industry by Share of Clicks for the last month.

Share of Clicks - Last month
Share of Clicks - Last month
Domain Share of clicks
turbotax.intuit.com 54.48
quickbooks.intuit.com 22.14
adp.com 4.49
paycom.com 3.11
freetaxusa.com 2.08
taxact.com 1.44
xero.com 1.18
gusto.com 1.11
intuit.com 0.91
sage.com 0.82
others 8.24
  • turbotax.intuit.com - 54.48%
  • quickbooks.intuit.com - 22.14%
  • adp.com - 4.49%
  • paycom.com - 3.11%
  • freetaxusa.com - 2.08%
  • taxact.com - 1.44%
  • xero.com - 1.18%
  • gusto.com - 1.11%
  • intuit.com - 0.91%
  • sage.com - 0.82%
  • others - 8.24%

Copyright © Adthena. All rights reserved.

In the PPC landscape, TurboTax dominates with 54.48% click share, followed by QuickBooks at 22.14%. ADP and Paycom trail behind, while ‘others’ collectively hold 8.24%.

Market Exposure

Share of Spend for the top 10 US Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting brands

Curious about your market position? Here you can see the Top 10 competitors in the industry by Share of Spend for the last month. 

Share of Spend - Last Month
Share of Spend - Last Month
Date quickbooks.intuit.com adp.com xero.com turbotax.intuit.com freshbooks.com sage.com gusto.com forbes.com netsuite.com top-accountingsoftware.com
2026/03/01 23.87% 14.12% 5.4% 6.67% 0.69% 3.21% 3.87% 2.7% 5.66% 0.89%
2026/03/02 26.35% 14.05% 4.44% 6.2% 1.65% 4.11% 4.67% 1.92% 5.97% 1.56%
2026/03/03 27.01% 12.34% 2.85% 7.08% 1.9% 5.29% 3.25% 3.06% 7.13% 1.31%
2026/03/04 27.57% 10.46% 3.43% 7.32% 0.98% 4.17% 4.25% 3.11% 7.1% 1.65%
2026/03/05 24.83% 13.32% 2.91% 6.51% 0.85% 6.77% 5.33% 2.02% 8.18% 2.36%
2026/03/06 23.52% 15.44% 4.07% 5.89% 1.28% 5.97% 4.04% 1.88% 7.44% 1.47%
2026/03/07 20.39% 17.73% 5.2% 5.85% 0.71% 6.71% 3.55% 2.86% 6.62% 0.86%
2026/03/08 22.91% 11.97% 5.97% 6.46% 1.21% 5.91% 3.4% 3.09% 7.91% 2.02%
2026/03/09 25.78% 11.97% 3.82% 6.12% 1.34% 9.42% 3.91% 2.07% 4.68% 1.44%
2026/03/10 24.73% 12.39% 3.11% 6.38% 3.88% 7.07% 4.94% 2.32% 1.69% 1.69%
2026/03/11 25.53% 10.33% 5.27% 5.99% 3.71% 8.01% 4.13% 3.17% 1.96% 3.38%
2026/03/12 22.39% 13.87% 5.21% 6.18% 2.72% 5.95% 5.26% 2.74% 1.45% 2.97%
2026/03/13 28.27% 12.32% 4.32% 5.67% 2.98% 7.78% 5.3% 1.97% 1.68% 2.49%
2026/03/14 27.23% 11.92% 6.52% 5.86% 1.94% 6.23% 5.24% 2.8% 1.09% 1.93%
2026/03/15 28.81% 11.56% 4.67% 6.06% 1.7% 5.35% 4.89% 3.13% 1.33% 2.23%
2026/03/16 28.61% 13.19% 4.58% 5.63% 2.15% 6.57% 5.04% 3.37% 1.32% 3.34%
2026/03/17 27.99% 13.28% 3.02% 6.05% 3.04% 6.65% 5.14% 2.89% 1.27% 3.39%
2026/03/18 29.22% 7.38% 4.17% 6.62% 2.48% 7.34% 4.93% 3.09% 0.96% 5.25%
2026/03/19 29.32% 11.28% 2.31% 5.31% 2.03% 9.72% 4.46% 3.07% 2.49% 3.83%
2026/03/20 29.14% 10.39% 2.21% 6.52% 2.28% 10.36% 4.08% 3.09% 2.48% 2.9%
2026/03/21 27.67% 10.37% 2.89% 6.07% 1.93% 9.22% 4.62% 4.43% 3% 1.88%
2026/03/22 27.5% 11.77% 2.48% 5.87% 3% 10.76% 4.43% 3.25% 2.99% 1.19%
2026/03/23 29.06% 9.62% 3.38% 6.03% 1.85% 8.46% 5.06% 2.87% 2.9% 2.29%
2026/03/24 28.13% 9.33% 8.44% 6.47% 1.88% 6% 6.02% 2.69% 2.85% 1.5%
2026/03/25 27.95% 11.58% 6.18% 6.12% 2.2% 9.55% 6.97% 1.38% 2% 1.12%
2026/03/26 30.8% 9.3% 8.4% 6.46% 3.9% 4.01% 6.9% 1.85% 1.12% 1.43%
2026/03/27 28.97% 10.29% 8.41% 5.56% 4.45% 4.76% 6.55% 1.41% 2.41% 2.05%
2026/03/28 28.43% 8.56% 10.43% 5.59% 3.42% 4.63% 5.08% 2.05% 1.89% 1.98%
2026/03/29 28.09% 10.24% 8.62% 5.6% 3.82% 4.36% 3.91% 1.57% 1.01% 1.38%
2026/03/30 30.95% 6.54% 7.03% 5.52% 5.66% 5.53% 3.66% 1.35% 1.53% 3.25%
2026/03/31 23.05% 10.6% 8.01% 6.72% 4.88% 4.4% 3.84% 3.49% 3.08% 2.76%
  • quickbooks.intuit.com
  • adp.com
  • xero.com
  • turbotax.intuit.com
  • freshbooks.com
  • sage.com
  • gusto.com
  • forbes.com
  • netsuite.com
  • top-accountingsoftware.com

Copyright © Adthena. All rights reserved.

QuickBooks led March with fluctuating spend, peaking at 30.95%. ADP’s share dipped, while Xero surged mid-month. TurboTax remained steady. FreshBooks and Sage saw late-month spikes. Gusto and Forbes had varied trends.

Market Exposure

Competitor Count for US Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting

Ever wondered how many competitors you’re up against in your industry? Well look no further, here we can see the number of advertisers bidding over the last month. 

Competitor Count - Last month
Competitor Count - Last month
Date Competitor Count
2026/03/01 563
2026/03/02 569
2026/03/03 564
2026/03/04 571
2026/03/05 571
2026/03/06 579
2026/03/07 582
2026/03/08 583
2026/03/09 600
2026/03/10 569
2026/03/11 580
2026/03/12 562
2026/03/13 558
2026/03/14 553
2026/03/15 556
2026/03/16 567
2026/03/17 555
2026/03/18 556
2026/03/19 558
2026/03/20 567
2026/03/21 567
2026/03/22 571
2026/03/23 569
2026/03/24 537
2026/03/25 533
2026/03/26 523
2026/03/27 530
2026/03/28 534
2026/03/29 528
2026/03/30 523
2026/03/31 524

Copyright © Adthena. All rights reserved.

March began with 563 advertisers, peaking at 600 on the 9th. A decline followed, ending the month at 524.

Campaign Efficiency

Market Loss & Market Gains for US Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting

Here we’re looking at the Top 10 biggest industry movers by market share gains and losses for the last 30 days.

Market Loss & Market Gains - Last month
Market Loss & Market Gains - Last month
Name Market Trend
quickbooks.intuit.com 2.67%
freetaxusa.com 0.52%
turbotax.intuit.com 0.51%
freshbooks.com 0.22%
e-file.com 0.17%
paychex.com -0.18%
paycom.com -0.2%
taxact.com -0.24%
intuit.com -1.11%
adp.com -2.29%

Copyright © Adthena. All rights reserved.

QuickBooks surged with a 2.67% click share increase, while ADP faced a 2.29% decline. TurboTax and FreeTaxUSA gained, contrasting with Intuit’s main site drop.

Campaign Efficiency

US Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting Share of Impressions

Take a look at the Top 10 competitors in the industry by Share of Impressions over the last month.

Date turbotax.intuit.com freetaxusa.com quickbooks.intuit.com taxact.com adp.com xero.com freshbooks.com taxslayer.com gusto.com paycom.com
2026/03/01 24.25% 13.07% 12.54% 3.73% 8.78% 3.82% 0.37% 1.66% 1.68% 1.73%
2026/03/02 22.75% 10.85% 14.14% 3.74% 8.72% 3.64% 0.48% 2.82% 2.77% 1.65%
2026/03/03 25.38% 14.96% 13.48% 4.12% 6.8% 2.94% 0.53% 2.6% 1.63% 1.73%
2026/03/04 25.57% 11.56% 14.04% 6.03% 5.34% 2.88% 0.36% 2.25% 2.66% 1.76%
2026/03/05 24.07% 10.73% 12.24% 6.98% 7.61% 3.1% 0.33% 3.31% 4.03% 1.63%
2026/03/06 22.84% 10.85% 12.06% 9.59% 9.77% 3.49% 0.61% 1.01% 2.19% 1.58%
2026/03/07 21.24% 9.65% 11.36% 5.74% 11.55% 4.21% 0.51% 1.22% 2.05% 1.47%
2026/03/08 24.72% 14.08% 11.97% 5.53% 6.81% 5.86% 0.49% 0.1% 1.76% 1.91%
2026/03/09 26.25% 12.93% 13.51% 2.93% 6.72% 2.7% 1.28% 2.17% 1.27% 1.69%
2026/03/10 25.82% 13.83% 12.36% 3.55% 6.39% 2.12% 3.15% 3.01% 2.34% 1.9%
2026/03/11 25.32% 12.2% 13.34% 5.94% 5.78% 4.36% 4.31% 1.11% 2.14% 1.53%
2026/03/12 24.03% 15.88% 9.56% 3.56% 7.68% 4.28% 3.26% 1.29% 3.02% 1.66%
2026/03/13 23.42% 11.26% 14.08% 7.26% 6.97% 3.65% 3.88% 1.68% 2.93% 1.78%
2026/03/14 21.15% 11.74% 13.65% 11.58% 5.62% 5.04% 2.9% 1.58% 3.48% 1.71%
2026/03/15 21.2% 12.75% 12.88% 9.04% 5.66% 4.2% 2.69% 1.79% 3.13% 1.93%
2026/03/16 22.95% 13.4% 15.25% 6.03% 7.13% 3.46% 3.07% 1.85% 2.82% 1.7%
2026/03/17 22.89% 10.79% 14.51% 5.59% 8.03% 2.98% 3.71% 2.08% 3.79% 1.71%
2026/03/18 24.87% 16.61% 14.29% 4.78% 3.86% 2.96% 2.99% 2.09% 2.78% 1.43%
2026/03/19 22.89% 16.53% 16.11% 3.76% 6.62% 0.98% 3.07% 2.06% 2.25% 1.59%
2026/03/20 24.27% 16.61% 15.47% 3.73% 5.53% 1.79% 3.46% 1.74% 2.16% 1.26%
2026/03/21 24.42% 16.92% 12.79% 2.43% 5.32% 4.09% 3.1% 0.28% 3.77% 1.88%
2026/03/22 22.88% 16.7% 14.82% 2.13% 6.82% 2.72% 3.09% 0.8% 3.92% 1.87%
2026/03/23 23.72% 15.11% 14.99% 2.64% 5.37% 2.73% 3.11% 1.42% 2.65% 1.7%
2026/03/24 25.75% 19.16% 13.55% 4.27% 3.74% 4.78% 2.13% 1.69% 3.14% 1.91%
2026/03/25 23.69% 16.77% 13.68% 2.23% 6.58% 5.45% 2.44% 1.74% 4.84% 1.82%
2026/03/26 22.96% 17.52% 14.1% 2.57% 4.03% 6.83% 2.98% 1.99% 4.43% 1.73%
2026/03/27 21.79% 14.92% 14.71% 3.69% 4.96% 6.7% 3.15% 2.4% 4.88% 1.49%
2026/03/28 21.26% 13.32% 14.34% 4.36% 4% 6.58% 3.28% 2.46% 3.4% 1.45%
2026/03/29 20.89% 15.42% 13.45% 5.36% 5.32% 5.65% 3.19% 2.93% 2.2% 1.48%
2026/03/30 23.46% 5.38% 16.65% 8.17% 2.61% 4.23% 4.65% 5.38% 1.77% 1.78%
2026/03/31 23.18% 19.22% 11.51% 5.98% 4.77% 3.84% 3.17% 2.67% 1.47% 1%
  • turbotax.intuit.com
  • freetaxusa.com
  • quickbooks.intuit.com
  • taxact.com
  • adp.com
  • xero.com
  • freshbooks.com
  • taxslayer.com
  • gusto.com
  • paycom.com

Copyright © Adthena. All rights reserved.

In March 2026, TurboTax led with fluctuating impressions, peaking mid-month. FreeTaxUSA surged late, while QuickBooks maintained steady visibility. TaxAct and ADP showed varied trends, with Xero and FreshBooks gaining momentum. Gusto and Paycom had modest shares.

Campaign Efficiency

Google Text Ad Copy Insights & Creative Trends for US Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting

Ever wondered how your rivals’ ads are doing? Here we can see the top-performing ads in the industry over the last month.

Google Text Ad Copy Insights & Creative Trends for US Software & Technology Payroll / Accounting - Last month
  1. 1
    FreeTaxUSA®—Free IRS Filing - Federal is Always $0 (Free) https://www.freetaxusa.com

    Flat pricing for all tax situations - federal tax return $0.00, state tax return $15.99.

  2. 2
    Not Just Another Software | Ideal for 10+ Employees https://www.netsuite.com

    76% of NetSuite customers experienced increased visibility & control over their business. See why 43,000 companies trust NetSuite®, an AI-powered cloud...

  3. 3
    QuickBooks® Online https://quickbooks.intuit.com › quickbooks › online

    Grow Your Business — Leverage QuickBooks® AI Powered Tools To Increase Accuracy And Minimize Reporting Errors. Accounting Agent Automates And Categorizes Transactions And Preps Your Books For Tax Time.

  4. 4
    File Fed & State For $29.99 - Easy Tax Filing + Low Price https://www.taxact.com

    File 1040 Fed & State For Only $29.99. Offer Valid For New Customers & Must File By 3/31.

  5. 5
    TurboTax® https://turbotax.intuit.com › official-site

    TurboTax® Official Site — We're Committed To Finding Every Deduction You Qualify For. Get Your Tax Refund Today!

Copyright © Adthena. All rights reserved.

In the competitive landscape of Google PPC, FreeTaxUSA stands out with its promise of $0 federal tax filing, appealing to cost-conscious users. NetSuite highlights its AI-driven solutions, trusted by 43,000 companies, emphasizing enhanced business control. QuickBooks leverages AI for accuracy, targeting businesses aiming to streamline accounting. TaxAct offers a budget-friendly $29.99 filing for new customers, while TurboTax focuses on maximizing deductions, ensuring users get the best refund possible. Each ad uniquely addresses user needs, from affordability to advanced technology.

Frequently Asked Questions

Customer Success Stories

Get the full picture

See this data specific to your brand performance

The data on this page is just a sample of the billions of data points we hold at Adthena. The insights generated by Ask Arlo, leverage real-time GenAI to answer questions about your search data.

Our search consultants can introduce you to Whole Market View data that is specific to your organization, based on the size of the relevant search term and competitor universe, and the locations that you need monitoring.

Related reports