Is Google Ads or Facebook ads better for a small business?

Neither is better in general. Google Ads is usually the better start if people already search for what you sell, such as a plumber or a dentist. Facebook and Instagram ads are usually better if people do not know they want your product until they see it, such as a new café, clothing or gifts.

Are Facebook ads cheaper than Google Ads?

Facebook ads often cost less per click or per view, but that does not make them cheaper per customer. People clicking a Google ad are often ready to buy, so a more expensive click can still give a lower cost per customer.

Can I run Google Ads and Facebook ads at the same time?

Yes, and many businesses do once the first channel is working. A common setup is Google Ads to catch people who are searching, and Facebook or Instagram ads to remind recent website visitors and reach new people locally.

Which should I start with if I can only afford one?

Start where your customers' first step happens. If they typically google you or your service, start with Google Ads; if they discover businesses like yours while scrolling, start with Meta. Give the first channel at least one to two months before adding the second.

Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads: Which Is Right for You?

Google Ads and Facebook ads solve different problems. Google Ads shows your ad to people who are actively searching for what you sell, so it suits services people look up when they need them, like plumbers, lawyers or dentists. Facebook and Instagram ads show your ad to people who are scrolling, chosen by location and interests, so they suit products and places people did not know they wanted until they saw them, like a new café, a clothing brand or an event. Most small businesses should start with the one that matches how their customers find them, then add the other once the first is working.

What is the real difference between Google Ads and Facebook ads?

The simplest way to think about it is intent versus discovery.

Google Ads (intent): someone types “emergency plumber near me” or “wedding cake Bristol”. They have a need right now. Your ad appears next to the search results, and you usually pay only when someone clicks. This is called pay per click, and the price of one click is the CPC (cost per click). Google explains the basics in its guide to Google Ads.
Facebook and Instagram ads (discovery): nobody is searching. Someone is scrolling through photos from friends, and your ad appears in between. Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram) picks who sees it based on your settings and what it knows about people’s interests and behaviour. You can pay for views, clicks or results, depending on the goal you choose.

That one difference shapes everything else: what a good ad looks like, what it costs and what you should expect from it.

	Google Ads	Facebook and Instagram ads
Person’s mindset	“I need this now”	“I’m relaxing and scrolling”
You reach people by	The words they search for (keywords)	Location, interests, behaviour and similar audiences
Typical ad	Text answering the search, plus phone number, address and links	Image or video that makes people stop scrolling
Strength	Catches existing demand	Creates new demand and builds familiarity
Weakness	Only works if people search for what you sell	Most viewers are not ready to buy today
What decides success	Good keywords, relevant landing page	Eye-catching creative, clear offer

Which is right for my type of business?

Here is how I would think about some common types of small business. These are starting points, not rules.

Business type	Where I would usually start	Why
Plumber, electrician, locksmith	Google Ads	People search when something breaks, and they call the first good option
Dentist, physio, vet	Google Ads	High intent searches like “dentist [town]”; Meta can help with reminders and new-patient offers
Café or restaurant	Meta (Instagram)	Food is visual and people rarely search for “new café”; combine with a strong Google Business Profile
Hairdresser or beauty salon	Meta, with Google as support	Before-and-after photos work well on Instagram; some people also search “hairdresser near me”
Webshop with distinct products	Meta first, Google Shopping next	Meta is good for showing products people did not know about; Google catches people searching for a product by name
Webshop with commodity products	Google Ads (Shopping)	People compare prices on Google before buying
B2B consultant or accountant	Google Ads, then LinkedIn or Meta retargeting	Business buyers search for specific services; social ads work better for staying top of mind
Event, gym or course launch	Meta	Time-limited offers to a local audience are exactly what Meta does well
Roofer, renovator, landscaper	Both	People search for quotes, but seeing your finished projects on Instagram builds trust

Say you run a hypothetical bike repair shop in a mid-sized city. People search “bike repair near me” when the chain snaps, so Google Ads would bring in urgent jobs. But a spring Instagram ad saying “Get your bike ready for summer, book a service this week” reaches people who were not searching at all. Over time, both could pay off. The question is just which one first.

Which is cheaper: Google Ads or Facebook ads?

This is the question I hear most, and the honest answer is that cost per click is the wrong thing to compare.

On Google, clicks for competitive local services can be expensive, because many businesses bid on the same searches and the people searching are close to buying. Industry benchmarks for 2025, mostly based on US accounts, put the average search click at around $5, and often $7–9 for services such as legal help and home improvement. Prices in your country and industry can differ a lot.
On Meta, clicks and views are often cheaper, but fewer of those people are ready to buy today.

What actually matters is cost per customer: how much you spend in ads for each person who gets in touch, books or buys. A conversion is the action you care about (a call, a form, a purchase), and the cost per conversion is total ad spend divided by the number of conversions. For webshops, you can also look at ROAS (return on ad spend): revenue from ads divided by what you spent. A ROAS of 4 means you got 4 in sales for every 1 you spent.

What drives the cost on each platform:

Cost driver	Google Ads	Meta
Competition	How many others bid on the same keywords	How many others target the same people at the same time
Quality	How relevant your ad and landing page are to the search	How much people engage with your ad
Season	Peaks when people search most (for example heating repairs in winter)	Peaks in busy shopping periods, such as November and December
Your goal	Calls and leads cost more than clicks	Sales and leads cost more than views

For budgeting help, see my separate guide on how much to spend on Google Ads. The same thinking, working backwards from what a customer is worth to you, applies to Meta.

How do you decide where to start?

If you can only afford one channel right now, answer these questions honestly:

Do people search for what you sell? Type your service and town into Google. If you see other ads and lots of results, there is demand to catch. Google’s free Keyword Planner can give you a rough idea of search volume.
Is your product visual or new? If people need to see it to want it (food, interiors, fashion, a new place), Meta has the edge.
How urgent is the need? Urgent needs (“my boiler broke”) belong on Google. Nice-to-haves (“treat yourself”) belong on Meta.
Do you have good photos or video? Meta ads live and die by creative. If you have none and no time to make any, Google’s text ads are easier to start with.
Can you measure the result? Make sure you can track calls, form submissions or sales on your website before you spend anything. Both platforms need this to learn who your customers are.
How fast do you need results? Google can bring enquiries quickly if demand exists. Meta often needs a few weeks of testing creative before it settles.

If most answers point one way, start there. If they are split, I would usually lean toward Google Ads for service businesses and Meta for product and hospitality businesses.

How do you combine Google Ads and Facebook ads?

Once the first channel is working, the two platforms complement each other well:

Google catches, Meta reminds. Someone clicks your Google ad, looks at your prices and leaves. With the Meta Pixel on your site, you can show them an Instagram ad a few days later with a reason to come back. This is called retargeting.
Meta creates, Google captures. Someone sees your café on Instagram, then a week later searches your name on Google. A small brand campaign on Google, plus a well-kept Google Business Profile, makes sure they find you and not a competitor.
Use what you learn. The search terms that bring customers on Google tell you what words to use in Meta ads. The images that work best on Meta can become your Google display and Performance Max images.

A rough way to split a budget once both are running is to keep most of it on the channel that is already bringing in customers, and give the other a smaller test budget. Move money between them based on cost per customer, not clicks or likes.

Common mistakes when choosing between them

Copying a competitor without knowing their numbers. You see their ads, but not whether they pay off.
Comparing clicks instead of customers. Cheap clicks that never call are expensive.
Running both at once with too little budget. Two underfunded tests usually tell you less than one properly funded one.
No tracking. Without conversion tracking, neither platform can optimise and you cannot compare them.
Giving up after a week. Both platforms need a learning period. Judge on several weeks of data.

For a deeper dive into each platform, read Google Ads for small businesses and Facebook and Instagram ads for small businesses.

Where Pufflo fits in

The hardest part of running both platforms is not setting them up, it is comparing them fairly every week and moving budget to what works. Pufflo is an AI marketing service for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that shows your Google and Meta results side by side in plain language and suggests changes you can approve with one click. Plans start at €49 a month excl. VAT, and if you start during the launch period you get 50 % off the first three months. See pricing to get started.