What's the difference between Google Ads and Meta Ads?
Google Ads mostly works on intent. Someone types "emergency plumber Leicester" and your ad appears. You're catching demand that already exists.
Meta Ads works on attention. Your ad appears in Facebook and Instagram feeds, Stories and Reels, to people Meta thinks are likely to respond. You're creating demand, or reminding people who've visited before.
Which is better: Google Ads vs Meta Ads?
Neither, in general. It depends on how your customers buy.
- Google first: people already search for what you do, the need is urgent, or the service is hard to show in a picture. Trades, legal, B2B services and repairs often fit.
- Meta first: the product sells on sight, it's an impulse or gift buy, or people don't know to search for it yet. Fashion, homeware, food, events and new products often fit.
- Both: ecommerce brands, and anyone whose customers research for a while before buying. Meta builds interest, Google catches the search later.
How do Google Ads and Meta Ads charge?
On Google Search you mostly pay when someone clicks. The price depends on competition for that keyword and the quality of your ad and page.
On Meta you mostly pay for impressions, and the cost rises and falls with how many advertisers want the same audience at the same time. Neither platform has a fixed price, so we don't quote one. Our guides to Google Ads costs and Meta Ads costs explain what drives each.
What does each platform need from you?
Each one has a different bottleneck. Know yours before you start.
- Google Ads: tight keyword lists, negative keywords, ads that match the search and landing pages that answer it.
- Meta Ads: a steady flow of creative, especially short video, plus a clear offer and a pixel and Conversions API that record sales.
- Both: conversion tracking you trust, and someone checking the account at least twice a month.
How do you choose between them, step by step?
Work through these in order. It takes half an hour and saves a lot of wasted spend.
- Search for your own service the way a customer would. If there are ads and plenty of results, there's search demand.
- Check Google Keyword Planner for rough search volume on your main terms.
- Ask how customers found you last time. Searching, or seeing something?
- Look at your creative. If you have good photos or video of the product in use, Meta has something to work with.
- Check your tracking on both platforms before you spend.
- Start with the platform that fits best, on a budget you're happy to test with.
- Give it a few weeks, judge it on enquiries or sales in your own records, then decide whether to add the other.
Should you run Google Ads and Meta Ads together?
Often, yes, once one of them is working. Meta introduces people; Google catches them when they search your name or product later. Retargeting on Meta can bring back people who clicked a Google ad and left.
Running both from day one splits a small budget too thinly. Get one channel paying its way, then add the second.