The short answer
Run Google Ads first if people already search for what you sell, because you capture demand that exists today. Run Facebook (Meta) Ads first if your product is new, visual, impulse-driven or sold on an offer, because you have to create the demand. Most growing businesses end up running both: Meta to create interest and retarget, Google to capture people who are ready to buy.
"Should we do Facebook or Google?" is the question I hear most often on strategy calls, from restaurant owners in Dubai to e-commerce founders in the US and service businesses in Australia. The honest answer depends on one thing: whether your customers are already looking for you.
The core difference: creating demand vs capturing it
Google Ads captures demand. Someone types "emergency plumber Sydney" or "lunch buffet near me" and your ad appears at the moment they want to buy. You pay for intent that already exists.
Facebook and Instagram (Meta) Ads create demand. Nobody opens Instagram looking for your product. Meta shows your ad to people who are likely to care, based on behaviour and interests, and the ad has to make them want it. You pay for attention and have to turn it into intent.
Everything else, from budget to creative to the type of business that wins on each platform, follows from that difference.
Facebook Ads vs Google Ads side by side
| Factor | Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Ads | Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer state | Not searching yet, scrolling | Actively searching |
| What wins | Offer, creative, hook | Keywords, relevance, landing page |
| Typical cost per click | Lower | Higher, especially in competitive services |
| Best for | New products, visual products, offers, e-commerce, lead magnets, events | Urgent needs, local services, high-intent B2B, known product categories |
| Scale | Large, limited by creative and offer | Limited by how many people search |
| Main risk | Cheap leads with low intent | Paying for irrelevant searches |
What the numbers look like on each platform
These results come from accounts I have run. They are not averages, but they show the different shape of each platform.
Meta Ads
- An e-commerce store returned 7.58x ROAS on $322,897 of Meta spend, with 35,201 tracked purchases.
- A US and Canada webinar funnel bought registrations from $4.31 to $19.06 across $78,949 of spend.
- A Dubai education institute generated 69,667 WhatsApp leads at AED 1.41 and AED 3.8M in revenue from AED 98K of spend.
Google Ads
- A Dubai lunch buffet restaurant got 918 calls and 53,600 direction requests from AED 13.5K of spend.
- A lead generation account produced 4,830 conversions at AED 2.57 each from AED 12.4K of spend.
- An e-commerce account generated 2,920 conversions at 2.87x conversion value on $45.1K of spend.
Meta tends to win on volume and scale for offers and products people did not know they wanted. Google tends to win on intent for needs people already have.
When to start with Google Ads
- People search for your service with clear words: "dentist near me", "accountant for small business", "AC repair Dubai".
- The need is urgent or local, so the first good result gets the call.
- Your average sale is high enough to afford higher costs per click.
- You have a landing page that answers the search and makes it easy to call or book.
When to start with Facebook and Instagram Ads
- Your product is new, visual or easy to want once someone sees it.
- You sell with an offer: a launch price, a free consultation, a webinar, a limited menu deal.
- Search volume for what you sell is small, so Google cannot give you enough customers.
- You need volume: many leads or purchases at a lower cost per result.
How to run both together
For most businesses past the testing stage, the strongest setup uses both platforms for different jobs:
- Google captures ready buyersSearch and local campaigns pick up people who are already looking, often at the highest conversion rates.
- Meta builds demand and remarketsMeta reaches new people with offers and content, and retargets website visitors who did not buy.
- One tracking setupGA4, Google Ads conversions and the Meta Conversions API all report the same leads and sales, so you can compare cost per customer fairly.
- Budget follows cost per customerEvery month, more budget goes to whichever channel brings customers at the lowest cost, not the one with the cheapest clicks.
How to split a starting budget
If you are unsure, start where intent is clearest. A service business with real search demand might put most of its first budget into Google search and keep a smaller share for Meta remarketing. An e-commerce brand or an offer-led local business might do the opposite. After 60 to 90 days of clean data, move budget toward the channel with the better cost per customer.
Whichever you choose, fix tracking first. If the platforms cannot see which clicks became customers, neither will optimise well and you will not be able to compare them.
Not sure which fits your business? Book a free strategy session and I will look at your market, your current campaigns and where your first dollar should go.
Performance marketing consultant based in Dubai. $5M+ in Meta and Google ad spend managed for 50+ businesses in the UAE, USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand. About Mubeen · LinkedIn