Meta Ads or Google Ads - what suits your business?

The question "should I do Meta Ads or Google Ads?" is one we get regularly. The honest answer is that these are fundamentally different platforms that do different things. Choosing based on price or popularity is the wrong approach. Choosing based on where your customer is, is the right one.

The fundamental difference: push versus pull

Google Ads captures demand. When someone searches for "buy running shoes" or "accountant Amersfoort", that demand already exists. You just need to intercept it. That makes Google exceptionally well-suited to products and services people actively search for.

Meta Ads creates demand. Nobody scrolls through Instagram looking for your product. Meta interrupts, and does so as precisely as possible based on behaviour, interests and demographics. It works not because people are searching, but because the creative grabs attention at the right moment with the right person.

When do you choose Meta Ads?

Meta Ads works best for products or services that are visually appealing, where the purchase doesn't necessarily come from an active search. Think fashion, lifestyle, beauty, food, furniture or gadgets - categories where you can entice someone without them already looking.

Meta is also strong for:

• Retargeting website visitors and previous buyers
• E-commerce and D2C brands looking to scale
• Recruitment and job vacancy filling via persona-based audience targeting
• B2B lead generation for broader audiences with recognisable pain points

When do you choose Google Ads?

Google Ads works best when demand already exists, and that demand is large enough to advertise on. If your product or service is something people actively search for, Google is often the fastest route to conversion.

Google is particularly well-suited to:

• Service providers (lawyers, accountants, installers, clinics)
• Local businesses that want to be found for specific searches
• High-intent products with a clear purchase decision
• B2B with specific searches around a problem or solution

When do you use both?

For most growing businesses, the question ultimately isn't whether but when you use both. Meta and Google complement each other in the funnel: Meta builds awareness and attracts cold visitors, Google captures the warm intent, including people who were introduced via Meta but later search on Google before buying.

A customer who sees your Meta ad, visits the website, leaves and googles your brand name three days later gets reported in Google Analytics as "organic" or "direct". Without Meta, that search would never have happened. The platforms are complementary, not competing.

How do you make the choice?

Start with the question: does my customer actively search for what I offer? If the answer is yes and the search volume is there, start with Google. If your product is visual, prompts impulse purchases, or the audience is broad but well-targetable, start with Meta.

If in doubt: look at where your competitors advertise successfully - not to copy them, but to understand where the market converts.