Google Ads vs Facebook ads: which first?

Google Ads and Facebook ads (Meta, which includes Instagram) are where most Australian businesses spend most of their ad budget. They work in opposite ways. Google shows your ad to people searching for what you sell. Meta shows your ad to people who weren't looking, and gets them interested. Knowing that difference is most of the answer to which one to start with.

What's the difference between Google Ads and Facebook ads?

• Google Ads captures demand. Someone types "waterproof hiking boots" and your ad appears. They're already looking, so they're often close to buying.
• Meta creates demand. Someone scrolling Instagram sees your boots on a muddy trail and decides they want them. They weren't looking, so the ad has to do the convincing.

That has a big effect on how far each can grow. As Michelle Bourke, our founder, put it on the Critical Few Actions podcast: “Google ads can only be scaled until you hit the maximum of the number of people searching.” Meta can keep reaching new people for as long as your creative keeps working, which makes it the more scalable of the two.

Which should you start with?

Usually, start with the channel closest to the sale, which for most businesses is Google Ads. If people already search for what you sell, Google puts you in front of them at the moment they're deciding, and it's the quickest way to see what works.

Start with Meta instead when people need to see your product before they know they want it. That's usually true in three situations:

• Few people search for what you sell yet, because it's new, niche or an impulse buy. People will understand it when they see it, but they won't think to search for it.
• Your product sells on looks, and a great photo or video does the selling.
• You want to grow beyond the people already searching.

There's often no wrong answer. Michelle again: “most people find that Meta is easier to set up than Google and easier to understand.” What matters more is setting up whichever you choose properly, and judging it fairly.

How to run Google Ads well

• Tracking first. Get Google Analytics 4 and your conversions right before you spend. For ecommerce, connect your product feed to Merchant Centre.
• Know your break-even. Work out the return on ad spend or cost per lead you need to make a profit, and set your bidding targets from it.
• Structure around what you sell. For ecommerce, a Performance Max campaign for sales with an asset group for each product category, plus a search campaign pointed at your best collection pages. For lead generation, search campaigns by service, with their own landing pages.
• Give it enough budget to learn. As a starting point, around $60 to $80 a day per campaign. Spread too thin, campaigns never get enough data. Expect some daily swings: Google says a campaign can spend up to twice its average daily budget on a busy day, and no more than 30.4 times it across a month.
• Scale steadily. When a profitable campaign is limited by budget, raise it by about 10% every couple of weeks rather than doubling it overnight.
• Check search terms and products regularly. Use the search terms report to add irrelevant searches as negative keywords, and pull products or locations that spend without converting.
• Fix the fundamentals when results dip. Return on ad spend usually comes down to your conversion rate and average order value. Improve those and your results improve.

How to run Facebook ads well

• Creative is the targeting. Meta's algorithm finds buyers; your creative tells it who they are. Keep audiences broad and let the message pick out the right people.
• Test messages first. Start with hook tests: different openings, headlines and thumbnails, each tested on its own, to find what makes people stop.
• Move winners into conversion campaigns. Once you know what grabs attention, test it for sales or leads, then put the proven ads into a campaign built to scale.
• Put most of the budget behind what's proven. Keep the bulk of your spend on proven ads and a smaller share on testing new ones.
• Set budgets you can read. A useful rule: set each ad set's daily budget around your expected cost per conversion, so you can expect a result each day and spot problems fast.
• Keep creative fresh. Make new concepts regularly. Go deeper into what's working, and every so often try the opposite.
• Leave winners alone. If an ad or campaign is working, don't change it for the sake of it.

How they help each other

• Meta builds awareness, and people who see your ads later search for your brand on Google, where they convert at much higher rates.
• Videos that work on Meta can become assets in your Google campaigns. Performance Max runs across YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps from one campaign, and good video helps it on YouTube.
• Google search terms show you the words customers use, which make great Meta headlines.
• Judge each on what it adds to your business overall. Meta's own reports can make it look weaker than it is, because Google often takes the credit when someone searches after seeing a Meta ad. Our guide to marketing attribution explains how to see the true picture.

Once both are working, spread your risk with a third channel, such as YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest or programmatic advertising, so you're never relying on one platform.

Want help with either? Talk to our Google Ads or Facebook ads teams, or see what each costs in our guide to Facebook ads costs.

Intent: the biggest difference

Intent is how close someone is to buying at the moment they see your ad. It explains most of the difference in cost and results between the two platforms.

On Google, the search itself reveals the intent. "Emergency electrician South Melbourne" signals someone with a problem today. "How to reset a tripped safety switch" signals someone who may fix it themselves. You choose which searches to bid on, so you can put most of your budget on high intent searches and little or none on the rest.

On Meta there's no search, so there's no stated intent. You choose who can see the ad, or let Meta's algorithm find them, and the ad has to create the interest. That's why Facebook ads need stronger creative and an offer that appeals to someone who wasn't thinking about you five seconds ago.

In practice, Google gives you higher intent at a higher price per click. Meta gives you lower intent at a lower price, with far more people to reach. Each does a different job.

CPC and average CPC on each platform

CPC, or cost per click, is what you pay when someone clicks your ad. Average CPC is your total click cost divided by the number of clicks, and it's the figure both platforms show in their reports.

The two platforms arrive at it differently. Google Ads runs an auction every time someone searches: Google says Ad Rank "is calculated every time a user does a search", using your bid, the quality of your ad and landing page, and the competition. Meta usually charges by impressions (each time your ad is shown), so your average CPC there depends largely on how many of the people who see your ad go on to click it. A scroll-stopping ad brings your CPC down on Meta; a weak one pushes it up.

That's why average CPC tends to be higher on Google, especially in competitive local services such as legal, trades and finance, where a single click could become a big job. For Australian figures, see our cost per lead guide, built from Australian search data by industry, and our guide to Facebook ads costs.

A low CPC is only good news if those clicks turn into customers. Treat CPC as an early warning light, and judge each channel on what happens after the click.

Cost-effectiveness for small businesses

With a modest budget, the real question is which channel turns a limited amount of money into customers fastest. Here's a simple way to compare them, using made-up numbers.

Say a South Melbourne florist has $1,500 a month to spend on ads:

• On Google: if the average CPC were $2.50, that buys 600 clicks. If 5% of those people order, that's 30 orders, at $50 of ad spend each.
• On Meta: if the average CPC were $0.80, that buys 1,875 clicks. If 1.5% of those people order, that's about 28 orders, at about $53 each.

In this example, the much cheaper clicks on Meta didn't make it the cheaper channel: the cost per order came out close. Your own numbers will differ, so run the same sums on your real figures after a few weeks. Our cost per lead calculator does the maths for you.

A few rules of thumb for small budgets:

• Start with one channel and run it properly before splitting a small budget across two.
• On Google, focus your keywords on the highest intent searches and the areas you serve, so the budget isn't spread thin.
• On Meta, run fewer ads with more budget behind each, so the algorithm gets enough results to learn from.
• Count your time as well as your spend. Meta needs a steady supply of new creative; Google needs regular search term and negative keyword checks.

Measuring ROI on each

ROI (return on investment) is what you earn from your ads compared with everything you spend on them, including management and creative. Ecommerce businesses usually track return on ad spend; lead generation businesses track cost per lead and, more usefully, cost per customer.

To compare ROI on Google Ads and Facebook ads fairly:

1. Track the same conversion on both, such as a purchase or a qualified enquiry, with the same value.
2. Work out ROI from profit after product costs. Revenue alone flatters both channels. Our margin and markup calculator helps here.
3. Look at results over a full buying cycle. Meta often starts the journey and Google finishes it, so a short window favours Google. Google Ads counts a conversion within 30 days of a click by default, and you can set the conversion window anywhere from 1 to 90 days to suit how long your customers take to decide.
4. Check total sales or enquiries against total ad spend. If the business grows when you add a channel, it's earning its place, whatever each platform's own report says.

Google Ads pros and cons

• Pro: reaches people with high intent, at the moment they're looking.
• Pro: you control which searches you appear for, and the search terms report shows exactly what people typed.
• Pro: results come quickly for products and services people already search for.
• Con: growth is capped by how many people search.
• Con: a higher average CPC in competitive industries.
• Con: needs regular care: search terms, negative keywords, bids and landing pages.

Facebook ads pros and cons

• Pro: reaches people before they start searching, so it can create demand for new or niche products.
• Pro: lower CPCs and huge reach across Facebook and Instagram.
• Pro: video, carousels and Reels show products at their best.
• Con: lower intent, so the creative and the offer have to work harder.
• Con: creative wears out and needs regular refreshing.
• Con: harder to measure, because many people see an ad and buy later through another channel.

Google Ads, Facebook ads or both?

Most growing businesses end up running Google Ads, Facebook ads and often a third channel together. A sensible order:

1. Start with the channel that suits how people buy from you.
2. Once it's profitable and limited by budget or search volume, add the second.
3. Use Meta to build demand and Google to capture the searches it creates. Rising searches for your brand name are a good sign Meta is working.
4. Judge both on total results, then move budget towards whichever brings in customers at the best cost.

Key takeaways

• Google Ads captures existing demand from people with high intent. Facebook ads create demand among people who weren't looking.
• Start with Google if people already search for what you sell, and with Meta if they don't or your product sells on looks.
• Average CPC is usually lower on Meta, but cost per customer is the number that decides which is better value.
• Measure ROI with the same conversions, real profit and a full buying cycle on both.
• The two work best together: Meta builds interest, and Google captures the searches it creates.

A quick way to test the difference between Google and Meta

The quickest way to find out which platform suits you is a fair test on your own numbers, with both judged on the same result. Here's how it might look for a hypothetical South Melbourne bathroom renovator that already runs Google Ads and has an extra $1,200 a month to spend.

1. Write down the starting point. Say Google Ads spends $2,400 a month and brings 24 qualified enquiries, or $100 each, and the campaign is limited by budget.
2. Pick one option for two months. Either raise the Google budget by about 10% every couple of weeks, or put the $1,200 into Meta with each ad set's daily budget near the expected cost per enquiry.
3. Count enquiries in one place. Use your CRM or enquiry inbox, so each platform's own report can't double count. If total qualified enquiries rise from 24 to 33 a month, the extra 9 cost about $133 each.
4. Decide on value. If a bathroom job is worth thousands in profit, $133 an enquiry may be well worth paying. Watch branded searches on Google too: if they rise while Meta runs, Meta is starting journeys that Google finishes.

When we audit an account that runs both platforms, we check the same three things first: that both count the same conversion with the same value, that the conversion window covers the real sales cycle, and that branded search on Google is reported separately, so it doesn't take credit for demand Meta created.