Google Ads vs Facebook Ads: Which Should You Choose?
Written by Aron Anderson · Founder & Chief Growth OfficerWritten by Aron Anderson · Founder & Chief Growth Officer
The difference between Google Ads and Facebook ads comes down to one sentence: Google Ads reaches people actively searching for what you sell, while Facebook ads reach people who were not looking but might want it. Everything else, costs, formats, targeting, creative, follows from that single distinction. Neither platform is "better"; they do different jobs, and the right choice depends on how your customers buy.
We manage both daily. Here is the honest comparison, then a decision framework you can apply to your own business.
| Google Ads | Facebook Ads (Meta) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reaches people who are | Actively searching for it now | Scrolling, not looking to buy |
| Best at | Capturing existing demand | Creating demand and awareness |
| Typical UK cost | £0.50 to £5 per click | £5 to £15 CPM; clicks often under £1.50 |
| Ad formats | Text search ads, Shopping ads, display, YouTube | Image, video and carousel ads across Facebook and Instagram |
| Targeting built on | Keywords and intent | Demographics, interests and lookalikes |
| Time to results | Fast when demand exists | Needs creative testing cycles |
| Suits best | Services, emergencies, high-intent purchases | Visual products, impulse buys, local awareness |
Google Ads intercepts demand at its strongest moment: a search ad appears precisely when someone types "emergency electrician birmingham" or "buy running shoes size 9". That intent does three things. It converts at rates social ads rarely touch. It suits services and considered purchases, where people research before buying. And it makes results fast, because the demand already exists; the ad campaign just captures it. Google Shopping ads extend the same logic to product searches with images and prices, and the Google Display Network and YouTube add cheaper awareness reach when you want it. The trade-off is cost per click in competitive markets, covered in our Google Ads cost guide, and the hard ceiling of search volume: Google Ads cannot make people want something nobody searches for.
Facebook advertising's superpower is demand creation. Across Facebook and Instagram, visual ads, video and carousel ads put products in front of precisely-modelled audiences: demographics, interests, behaviours and lookalikes built from your existing customers. That makes Meta the platform for visual products, impulse purchases, launches and local awareness, and its lower costs make small tests affordable: a few pounds a day is a real campaign. The trade-offs mirror Google's strengths: intent is low, so conversion journeys are longer; results depend heavily on creative, which needs constant refreshing; and measurement is fuzzier since privacy changes reduced tracking precision.
Most businesses land on a weighted answer rather than a winner: perhaps 70/30 toward search for a service firm, the reverse for a fashion brand. The best structure we run pairs them: Google Ads captures existing demand, Meta creates and retargets it, and each platform's retargeting closes the other's traffic. That full-funnel approach is what our paid ads management builds, alongside the landing pages that decide whether any click converts, covered in our landing page guide.
Choose Google Ads when demand exists and you want to capture it; choose Facebook ads when demand must be created or your product is inherently visual; run both, with honest cost-per-acquisition tracking, once either one is profitably working. And whichever you pick, remember the platform is only half the outcome: the ad gets the click, your website gets the customer. If your campaigns click but do not convert, that is the audit to ask us for.
Facebook ads usually cost less per click and per thousand impressions, but Google Ads clicks carry far more intent, so cost per customer is often similar or better on Google. Judge both on cost per acquisition, never on click price.
Yes, and mature accounts usually do. A common structure: Google Ads captures people searching for the solution, Facebook builds awareness with new audiences, and retargeting on both closes the people who visited without buying.
Start where your customers start. If people search for your service ('plumber near me'), Google Ads first. If your product is visual or impulse-led, Facebook and Instagram first. Many local businesses run a small budget on each and let the cost per enquiry decide.
Aron founded Rank Craft in 2013 and leads growth and marketing strategy. He works with owners and marketing teams on the numbers that matter: leads, sales and return on marketing spend. More articles by Aron.