Facebook Ads vs Google Ads: Which Should You Pick?

. By Ads Daddy.

Business owner comparing two advertising platforms

Google Ads catches people who are already searching for what you sell. Facebook Ads (Meta Ads, which also runs on Instagram) puts you in front of people who didn't know they wanted it yet. Pick Google when demand already exists. Pick Facebook when you need to create it. Most growing businesses end up running both.

That's the short answer. The rest of this guide covers the money, the mistakes and the decision.

TL;DR

  • Google Ads = intent. Someone types "emergency plumber Parramatta". You show up. They're ready to buy.
  • Facebook Ads = interruption done well. You target people by interests and behaviour, then earn their attention with a good creative.
  • Cost per click is usually lower on Facebook. Cost per sale depends on your offer. A cheap click that never buys is just an expensive hobby.
  • Management fees are separate from ad spend. Budget for both, and ask how any agency charges before you sign.
  • Starting with one platform? Pick based on whether people already search for your product. If yes, start with Google. If no, start with Facebook.

Table of Contents

The dating app analogy

Google Ads is walking into a bar where everyone has just said out loud what they're looking for. "Anyone know a good accountant?" You raise your hand. Easy conversation.

Facebook Ads is being a great-looking stranger at a party. People weren't looking, but you're interesting. Some will chat. A few will say yes. It takes more charm and a better opener.

Neither is better. They're different rooms. Your job is to work out which room your customers are standing in.

How the two platforms actually work

Google Ads: you bid on what people type

Google Ads is an auction. You pick keywords, write ads, and Google decides who shows based on your bid and the quality of your ad and landing page. Search is the core, but the platform also reaches YouTube, Maps, Gmail, Shopping and the wider Display network. Our breakdown of how Google Ads actually works goes deeper.

What that means in practice:

  • Your audience is active. They have a problem right now.
  • Clicks cost more, because competitors are bidding on the same high-intent phrases.
  • If nobody searches for what you sell, Search has nothing to show.

This is the engine behind intent-based marketing: meeting people at the exact moment they raise their hand.

Facebook Ads: you build the audience

Meta's platform runs on profile data and behaviour. You choose who to reach (location, age, interests, lookalikes of your existing customers, people who visited your site) and then show them image, video or carousel ads in feeds, Stories and Reels.

What that means in practice:

  • Your audience is passive. They were scrolling, not shopping.
  • Clicks are usually cheaper, and the reach is huge.
  • Creative does the heavy lifting. A dull ad gets scrolled past in under a second.

Want to see real numbers for our market? We've broken down Facebook and Instagram ad costs for Australian SMBs.

Side by side

Google Ads Facebook Ads
Customer mindset Searching, ready to act Browsing, open to discovery
Targeting based on Keywords, location, intent Interests, behaviour, demographics, lookalikes
Best formats Text, Shopping, video Image, video, carousel
Typical click cost Higher Lower
Sales cycle Shorter Often longer
Best for Services, urgent needs, high-intent products New products, visual brands, brand building, retargeting
Biggest risk Paying for broad keywords that never convert Paying for clicks from people who were never going to buy

Which one is cheaper?

This is the question everyone asks. The honest answer: Facebook is usually cheaper per click, Google is often cheaper per qualified customer for businesses with existing search demand.

Here's why. A click is a vote of interest, not a sale. Say Facebook costs you a third of what Google does per click, but only a small fraction of those people are ready to buy this week. You've bought a lot of window shoppers.

Click cost also swings hugely by industry. Legal, finance and insurance keywords are brutal. A local café bidding on "coffee near me" is a very different game.

So stop asking which platform is cheaper. Ask this:

What does it cost me to win one customer, and what is that customer worth?

That's your ROI. Everything else is noise.

Which one is cheaper?

Is $10 a day enough for Google Ads?

Google doesn't force a minimum budget, and small daily budgets are allowed. But there's a catch. A tiny budget on a competitive keyword burns through in a handful of clicks, and you won't collect enough data to learn what works.

The workable approach on a small budget:

  1. Choose a narrow location, such as your suburb or service area.
  2. Target specific, high-intent phrases, not broad ones.
  3. Send traffic to a page built for one action.
  4. Judge results over weeks, not days.

If your product sells for a few hundred dollars or more, a modest budget can work. If your profit per sale is tiny and clicks are pricey, the maths gets ugly fast.

What budget actually does on each platform

Both platforms let you set a daily budget. Both can spend a little over it on a given day and even it out across the month. Don't panic when you see a high-spend day. Watch the monthly total and the cost per result.

One trap: spreading a small budget across too many campaigns. Five campaigns each getting scraps teach you nothing. One focused campaign gets a real shot. Our guide on optimising ad spend across Facebook and Google walks through how to split it sensibly.

What does management cost?

This is the part nobody likes to talk about. Running ads has two separate costs:

  1. Ad spend. The money that goes to Google or Meta.
  2. Management. The people who build, run and improve the campaigns.

Mix those up and your budget goes sideways. Agencies usually price management in one of a few ways:

  • Percentage of ad spend. Simple and common. The fee grows as your spend grows.
  • Flat monthly fee. Predictable. Good when scope is clear.
  • Flat fee plus percentage. A hybrid that covers setup work and scaling.
  • Performance-based. You pay per result, such as a lead or a sale.

Published industry guides put management fees anywhere from a few hundred dollars a month up to several thousand, depending on scope, number of channels and how much strategy and creative is bundled in. The same range applies whether you're asking about Google Ads management cost or Facebook Ads management fees. Platform doesn't set the price, workload does.

Questions to ask before you sign

  • Is the fee on top of ad spend, or included?
  • Do I own the ad accounts? (You should. Always.)
  • What's included: creative, landing pages, tracking, reporting?
  • Is there a lock-in contract?
  • What do I see each month, and in what format?

If an agency dodges the account ownership question, walk.

Where we're different on pricing

For some industries we skip the retainer maths entirely. Our pay-per-lead service charges per lead delivered. Consumer car finance leads start from A$70 per lead, and commercial ABN finance leads start from A$170 per lead. If you need a bigger, owned system, a custom-built lead gen setup starts from A$17,500 one-off. Details are on our pay per lead page.

For Meta, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn and Microsoft campaign management, we don't publish a price because scope varies a lot. Tell us the goal and we'll scope it.

When to choose Google Ads

Go Google first if:

  • People already search for what you sell. Plumbers, accountants, lawyers, dentists, mortgage brokers, tradies.
  • Your service is urgent. A burst pipe doesn't wait for a nice Instagram post.
  • You sell products people compare. Google Shopping puts image, title and price right in the results, so shoppers can judge fit before they click.
  • You're local. Local ads can drive calls, directions and store visits from Search and Maps.
  • You want faster, more predictable leads.

Google also suits businesses that need to capture demand they've already created elsewhere. Someone sees your ad on Instagram, then googles your brand a week later. Without a Google presence, a competitor can sit right above you.

When to choose Facebook Ads

Go Facebook first if:

  • Nobody is searching for your product yet. New category, new gadget, new concept.
  • Your product is visual. Fashion, food, homewares, beauty, fitness.
  • You need to build an audience, not just harvest one.
  • You want retargeting. Remind people who visited your site but left.
  • Your offer is impulse-friendly and your price point is lower.

A Shopify store selling a clever new product is the classic case. Nobody searches for a thing they don't know exists. Facebook and Instagram create the spark. Our e-commerce ad campaign setup guide shows how to structure it.

The B2B twist: don't forget LinkedIn

Selling to other businesses? The Facebook versus Google question gets a third player. LinkedIn lets you target by job title, industry and company size. It's pricier per click, but the audience can be exactly right. We compared it head to head in LinkedIn Ads vs Facebook Ads.

Independent analyses of B2B software companies have suggested Google tends to hold up better closer to revenue, while Meta works earlier in the journey. That matches what we see: Meta warms people up, search closes.

Using both: the full-funnel play

Here's the plan most successful accounts end up with:

  1. Meta creates demand. Video and carousel ads introduce your brand to cold audiences.
  2. Google captures demand. Search ads catch people who go looking after seeing you.
  3. Retargeting closes the loop. Both platforms remind site visitors why they came.
  4. Customer lists feed back in. Upload your customers and use them for exclusions, re-engagement and lookalike audiences on both platforms.

Think of it like a restaurant. Facebook is the smell drifting down the street. Google is the menu in the window when they've stopped walking. You need both if you want a full dining room.

You also need to match the campaign to the goal. Awareness, traffic, leads and sales are different objectives, and picking the wrong one tanks results. We cover that in demystifying ad campaign objectives and the types of online campaigns for growing brands.

Common mistakes (we've seen them all)

  • Judging by clicks. Clicks don't pay invoices. Track leads, sales and revenue.
  • No tracking. If you can't tell which ad produced which customer, you're guessing with a budget.
  • Sending traffic to your homepage. Give each ad a landing page that matches its promise.
  • Broad Google keywords. "Shoes" will drain your wallet. "Women's wide-fit running shoes" will not.
  • One ad and a prayer on Meta. Creative fatigues. Test several angles and refresh them.
  • Quitting after a week. The platforms need data to learn. Give them a fair run, then adjust.
  • Ignoring policy. Ads get rejected or accounts get restricted when the rules are ignored. Finance, health and housing categories are especially strict.

A simple decision guide

Answer these four questions:

  1. Do people search for what I sell? Yes: lead with Google. No: lead with Facebook.
  2. How fast do I need leads? This month: Google. Building for the next quarter: Facebook plus Google.
  3. Is my product visual or emotional? Yes: Facebook and Instagram earn their keep.
  4. Do I have a creative team? No: start with Google text ads, where the words matter more than a polished video.

Still stuck? Run a small test on each for four to six weeks, with tracking in place, and compare cost per lead or sale. Let the numbers argue.

Promo: let us run it for you

We run Meta, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn and Microsoft campaigns for businesses that would rather spend their time running the business. You don't have to learn the platforms. We handle setup, creative direction, tracking and optimisation, and you see leads and sales, not jargon.

Adsdaddy

Want ads managed across platforms? See our Meta, Google and multi-platform ad management. Need a steady stream of enquiries? Look at our lead generation service. Book a call and we'll tell you where your first dollar should go.

Perspective

We get asked "Facebook or Google?" about ten times a week. Usually the owner wants us to crown a winner. We don't, because that's the wrong fight.

What we've seen is that businesses stall when they treat ad platforms like rival football teams. Pick a side, cheer, ignore the other. Meanwhile their customers use both all day long. They see you on Instagram, they google you on the train, they buy from whoever was easiest to find.

So we start with the customer's path, not the platform. Where do they first hear about you? What do they type when they're ready? Where do they hesitate? Then we build campaigns, tracking and lead delivery around that path, and we handle the ad accounts so you never have to become a part-time media buyer.

That's the whole pitch: hands-on management, honest reporting, and an eye on return from the first dollar. If the numbers say shift budget from Meta to Google, we shift it. If it's the other way round, we shift that too.

Adrian

FAQ

Which is better, Facebook Ads or Google Ads?

Neither wins outright. Google Ads works best when people already search for your product or service. Facebook Ads works best when you need to introduce something and build interest. Most businesses get the strongest results by running both, with each doing its own job.

Is Google or Facebook Ads cheaper?

Facebook usually has the lower cost per click, while Google clicks cost more because of competition on high-intent keywords. But cost per click isn't the number that matters. Compare cost per lead or per sale, since a pricier Google click can be the cheaper customer if it's closer to buying.

How much does it cost to have an agency manage my ads?

It depends on scope, number of platforms and how much creative and strategy is included. Common models are a percentage of ad spend, a flat monthly fee, a hybrid of the two, or pay per result. Management fees are on top of what you pay Google or Meta, so ask for both figures up front.

Is $10 a day enough for Google Ads?

It's allowed, since Google has no required minimum. Whether it's enough depends on your keywords and your profit per sale. On a narrow local search with a high-value service it can generate some enquiries. On competitive keywords it will run out quickly and give you little data to learn from.

Should I start with Facebook or Google if I have a small budget?

Start where your buyers are. If they search for your service, begin with tightly targeted Google Search ads. If your product is new or visual, begin with a focused Meta campaign using a few creative angles. Either way, set up conversion tracking before you spend a cent.

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