"Should I do Google Ads or Facebook Ads?" is one of the most common questions small businesses ask — and it's slightly the wrong question. The two platforms aren't competing versions of the same thing. They serve completely different moments in a customer's decision, and choosing well means understanding which moment matters most for what you sell.
The core difference: intent vs interruption
This single distinction explains almost everything else.
Google Ads is intent-based. When someone searches "emergency boiler repair Manchester," they have a problem right now and are looking for a solution. Your ad meets existing demand. You're not convincing anyone they want a plumber — they already know.
Facebook (and Instagram) Ads are interruption-based. Nobody opens Instagram looking to buy your scented candles. Meta's ads appear in a feed people are scrolling for entertainment, so your job is to create demand — to make a scrolling stranger stop and want something they weren't looking for.
When Google Ads usually wins
Google tends to be the stronger first choice when:
- People actively search for your service. Trades, legal, dental, B2B services, "near me" businesses — there's existing search demand to capture.
- The purchase is urgent or considered. Someone needing a locksmith or comparing accountants is in solving mode, not browsing mode.
- You want fast, measurable leads. Search ads convert higher because you're catching people at the decision point.
The trade-off is cost. Competitive keywords in sectors like law or insurance can cost £10–£50 per click in the UK, so a small budget gets spent quickly. Tight targeting and a strong landing page are essential, which is why many businesses hand search campaigns to a specialist digital marketing agency rather than burning budget learning on the job.
When Facebook and Instagram Ads usually win
Meta tends to be the stronger choice when:
- Your product is visual or impulse-friendly. Fashion, homeware, food, lifestyle brands thrive on imagery and video in the feed.
- There's no existing search demand. A genuinely new product nobody knows to search for needs to be shown to people, not waited for.
- You're targeting by who people are, not what they typed. Meta's strength is demographic and interest targeting — reaching, say, new parents in a specific area.
Clicks are typically cheaper than Google, but conversion rates are usually lower because you're interrupting rather than meeting intent. For ecommerce brands especially, the platform shines when paired with a fast, well-built store — there's no point driving cheap traffic to a checkout that loses people, which is where good ecommerce developers pay for themselves.
A simple way to decide
Ask yourself one question: do people already search for what I sell?
| Situation | Start with |
|---|---|
| People search for your service by name or need | Google Ads |
| People wouldn't know to search for it | Meta Ads |
| Visual, impulse, lifestyle product | Meta Ads |
| Urgent or high-intent service | Google Ads |
| You're not sure | Test the cheaper one first to learn |
The honest truth about cost comparisons
You'll see people argue endlessly about which platform is "cheaper." It's a distraction. Facebook's lower cost-per-click means nothing if those clicks don't buy. Google's higher cost-per-click is a bargain if every fifth click becomes a £2,000 customer.
The only number that decides the winner is cost per acquired customer relative to that customer's value. A £45 Google click that wins a £3,000 contract is cheaper, in any sense that matters, than a 30p Meta click that wins nothing. Track to the sale, not the click.
Why most growing businesses end up running both
Once you've proven one channel, the two start to complement each other. A common, effective pattern: use Meta to build awareness and plant the idea, then use Google Search to catch the people who later search for your brand or category. Meta creates the demand; Google harvests it.
But don't start there. Pick the platform that matches how your customers buy, give it a real budget for a few weeks, and judge it on customers won. Once it's working, layer in the second.
If you'd rather not learn this the expensive way, compare vetted UK PPC and paid-social specialists in our directory, check their reviews, and shortlist a couple who've run campaigns in a sector like yours.