Paid Media Comparison
Should you spend your ad budget on Meta or Google? The answer depends on whether your customers know they want your product yet.
Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) create demand. They show your product to people who did not know they wanted it. Google Ads capture demand. They show your product to people actively searching for it.
Both are essential for eCommerce. The question is allocation — and it depends on your product type, brand awareness, and growth stage.
150+
Brands Managed
$23M+
Revenue Driven
3-8x
ROAS Range
Both
Use Together
Like email vs. social, this is not an either/or. Most eCommerce brands should run both. The split depends on your product and audience.
Facebook/Meta Ads vs Google Ads — feature by feature
| Feature | Facebook/Meta Ads | Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Demand Type | Creates demand. Shows products to people who were not actively searching. | Captures demand. Shows products to people actively searching for them. |
| Best For | New/novel products, impulse purchases, visual products, building awareness. | Products with existing search demand, comparison shoppers, high-intent buyers. |
| Targeting | Interest, behaviour, lookalike audiences. AI-driven broad targeting (Advantage+). | Keyword intent, Shopping feeds, remarketing. Targets based on what people are searching for. |
| Creative | Visual-first. Video and image creative drive performance. Creative quality is the #1 lever. | Shopping images and text ads. Product feed quality is the #1 lever. |
| ROAS | 2-5x typical for eCommerce. Higher ROAS at lower scale, diminishing at higher spend. | 3-8x typical for eCommerce. Higher ROAS on branded and high-intent searches. |
| Scaling | Massive audience pool. Can scale spend significantly. Creative fatigue is the main scaling challenge. | Limited by search volume. Cannot create demand that does not exist. Scales with product catalog breadth. |
Our recommendation
Early stage or novel products: start with Meta to build awareness and create demand. Add Google Shopping once search volume exists for your product.
Established brands: allocate 50-70% to Google (capturing existing demand) and 30-50% to Meta (creating new demand and retargeting).
Pick Facebook/Meta Ads if...
Prioritise Meta when your product is visual, impulse-driven, or novel. When you need to create awareness. When creative is your competitive advantage.
Pick Google Ads if...
Prioritise Google when search demand exists for your product category. When comparison shoppers are your buyers. When Shopping ads can showcase your product.
Questions our best clients asked first
Get your ad budget working on both platforms
Book a call and we will audit your paid media, recommend platform allocation, and show you where budget is being wasted or under-allocated.
Pick a Time15 minutes. No pitch deck. Just your data and our honest take.
More comparisons
Paid Media Comparison
Microsoft Ads CPCs are 35% cheaper than Google. But Google has 10x the volume. The answer is not either/or.
Google Ads vs Microsoft Ads — 92% market share vs. lower CPCs and older demographics. When to use both for maximum ROAS.
Learn moreChannel Comparison
SEO traffic costs decline over time. Paid social costs increase. This fundamental difference should shape your budget allocation.
SEO compounds over time. Paid social stops the moment you stop spending. Here is when each channel makes sense for eCommerce brands.
Learn moreeCommerce Growth Consulting
A Shopify store owner came to us doing $40K/month. Six months later, $127K. Here is what we changed.
eCommerce growth consulting. Full-funnel strategy from a team that has driven $23M+ in revenue for 150+ stores. Traffic, conversion, retention — the complete growth system.
Learn moreNot sure which to pick?
Book a free call