"Should I run Google Adsor Facebook Ads?" is the wrong question. The right question is which combination, in what proportion, for which products, at which stage. Both platforms work for different reasons. Here is how to think about them.
Fundamental differences
Facebook (Meta) Ads work on interruption, your ad appears in a feed where buyers are doing something else. You create demand. Performance hinges on creative quality and audience signal.
Google Search Ads work on intent, your ad appears when buyers are actively searching. You capture demand. Performance hinges on keyword strategy and landing pagerelevance.
These are different jobs. Most successful ecommerce brands use both: Google to capture existing demand, Meta to create new demand and retarget.
When Google Ads wins
High commercial intent products. Buyers searching "best running shoes for plantar fasciitis" are 30 days from purchase. Google captures them at the bottom of the funnel.
Established categories. If buyers know the category exists and search by name, Google has the audience.
Considered purchases. High-AOV items where buyers research before buying favor Google's intent-driven model. (See Google Ads Help on campaign structurefor the official documentation.)
Local commerce. "Near me" searches and store locator traffic skew heavily to Google.
When Facebook Ads wins
Visual products that benefit from in-feed discovery. Apparel, jewelry, home decor, beauty, categories where seeing the product creates the want.
Innovative or new product categories. If buyers do not know to search for your product, Google cannot help. Meta creates the awareness.
Lower-AOVimpulse purchases. Quick decisions on the feed without extensive research.
Content-rich brand stories. UGC, video testimonials, behind-the-scenes content all perform on Meta and underperform on Google Display.
Cost benchmarks
Meta CPM(cost per 1000 impressions): $8-25 in most ecommerce categories.
Google Search CPC: $1-15 depending on competition. Some categories (legal, finance, insurance) hit $50-100/click.
Google Performance Max, hybrid CPM/CPC pricing. Hard to compare directly to either Meta or pure Search.
What this means: comparing CPC vs CPMdirectly is meaningless. Compare CPA (cost per acquisition) instead.
Conversion rate benchmarks
Meta landing pageCVR: 1.5-3.5% for ecommerce. Strong creative + tight audience can hit 5-7%.
Google Search landing pageCVR: 3-8% for ecommerce, higher because search intentis stronger.
Google Performance MaxCVR: 2-5%, the algorithm finds incremental volume but at lower intent than pure Search.
Budget allocation by stage
Under $500K/year: pick ONE. Usually Meta for visual products or Google Search for known-demand categories. Master one before diversifying.
$500K-$5M/year: 60-70% to your primary channel, 30-40% to the secondary. The proportions depend on category, high-search-volume categories lean Google; visual categories lean Meta.
$5M+/year: roughly 40-50% Meta, 30-40% Google, 10-30% other (TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.). Diversification reduces platform risk.
Common mistakes
Running both platforms with the same creative and copy. The platforms reward different content. Meta wants short-form video and UGC; Google wants benefit-driven copy and clean landing pages.
Cross-attributing platforms incorrectly. Google Adsgets credit for sales that Meta Adscreated (because the buyer searches the brand name after seeing a Meta ad). Without proper attribution, you over-invest in Google and under-invest in Meta.
Pausing one platform when ROASdips. Both platforms have noise. Pausing prematurely loses the algorithm learning. Give underperforming campaigns 14-21 days to stabilize before major budget changes.
How they work together
Meta drives discovery. Google captures the searches that Meta creates (brand name searches, product comparison searches). Combined ROASis usually 30-50% higher than the sum of either platform alone.
Use Meta retargetingalongside Google Search for an effective full-funnel system: Meta creates demand, Google captures consideration, Meta retargets non-converters back to your site.
We run both platforms for most clients in our Performance Ads service. The optimal mix shifts quarterly based on category dynamics, seasonality, and brand maturity.
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