# Facebook ads vs Google ads: which is better for a small business?

> Facebook ads vs Google ads for a UK small business: how each one works, which kinds of business suit which, how they charge, and how to test both on a small budget.

- Source: https://nerdsharks.com/blog/facebook-ads-vs-google-ads
- Publisher: Nerdsharks (Exeter, Devon, UK)
- Updated: 2026-09-26

**Short answer:** Google ads reach people already searching for what you sell, so they suit urgent or high-intent services like trades, legal work and repairs. Facebook and Instagram ads interrupt people who were not looking, so they suit visual, impulse or discovery purchases like salons, restaurants, events, gifts and new products. Many businesses test both, with small budgets, and keep whichever costs less per paying customer.

Published 2026-09-26. 7 min read. Category: Marketing and AI search.

The Facebook ads vs Google ads question comes up constantly, and the honest answer is that they are different tools rather than competitors. One catches demand that already exists. The other creates demand that did not. Which one fits your business depends mostly on how your customers decide to buy.

Here is how to tell which suits you, what each costs, and how to find out cheaply rather than by guessing.

## The core difference: intent versus interruption

Google ads appear when someone types a search. The person has a need, often right now, and is comparing options. Your job is to be visible and convincing at that moment. You cannot create more searches than exist; you can only win a share of them.

Facebook ads (run through Meta, which also places them on Instagram, Messenger and other apps) appear while someone scrolls. They were not looking for you. Meta picks who sees the ad based on location, age, interests and behaviour, and increasingly on its own prediction of who will respond. Your job is to stop the thumb and make someone want something they were not thinking about a second ago.

That single difference drives almost everything else: which businesses each suits, how the ads look, and what you should expect them to deliver.

## Which one suits your kind of business

Use this as a starting point, not a rule. Plenty of businesses sit in the middle and do well with both.

**Facebook ads vs Google ads by type of business**

| Type of business | Usually better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency trades (plumber, locksmith, drainage) | Google | People search urgently and ring the first credible result |
| Planned home improvements (kitchens, roofing, driveways) | Google first, Facebook second | Search catches active buyers; Facebook can show finished projects to local homeowners |
| Salons, barbers, beauty and aesthetics | Facebook and Instagram | Visual results sell, and many bookings are prompted rather than searched |
| Restaurants, cafés, pubs | Facebook and Instagram | Menus, events and offers work as images; few people search a specific café by need |
| Solicitors, accountants, financial advisers | Google | People search a specific problem at the moment they have it |
| Gyms, classes, personal trainers | Both | January and summer searches on Google; motivation and offers on Facebook |
| Shops and product brands | Both | Google Shopping for known products; Facebook for gifts, new ranges and impulse buys |
| Events, workshops, venues | Facebook and Instagram | Nobody searches for an event they have not heard of yet |

## How each one charges

Google search ads normally charge per click. You pay when someone clicks through to your site or taps your call button, and the price is set by an auction for that search. Competitive local services cost more per click; quiet niches cost less.

Meta usually charges per thousand impressions by default, meaning you pay for the ad being shown, whether or not anyone clicks. You choose an objective (such as traffic, leads or sales) and Meta tries to show the ad to people it predicts will do that thing. Clicks are generally cheaper than on Google, but each click is typically from a less ready buyer.

The only comparison that matters is cost per paying customer. A £4 Google click that becomes a job one time in fifteen can be far better value than a 40p Facebook click that becomes a sale one time in three hundred. Track both properly and compare like with like.

## What the ads themselves need

Google search ads are text. You need good keywords, clear headlines that echo the search, and a landing page that matches. You can be up and running with no photography at all.

Facebook and Instagram ads live or die on the image or video. Stock photos of smiling models perform poorly for local businesses; real photos of your work, your team and your premises usually do better. Short vertical video filmed on a phone often outperforms polished graphics. You also need a steady supply of new creative, because the same ad shown to the same local audience for weeks gets tired and costs rise.

- For Google: a keyword list, negative keywords, two or three ad variations, and a service-specific landing page.
- For Meta: three to five images or short videos, a clear offer or reason to act now, a simple headline, and a landing page or lead form.
- For both: a way of recording which enquiries came from which ads.

## Rules that catch people out

Meta treats some subjects as special ad categories. Ads about housing (including property lettings and sales), employment (including recruitment), and credit or financial services must be declared, and the platform then limits targeting such as age, gender and detailed interests, and may restrict how tightly you can target by location. Estate agents, letting agents, recruiters, mortgage brokers and anyone advertising finance should expect this. Check the current rules in Ads Manager before planning a campaign around narrow targeting.

Both platforms have policies on health claims, before-and-after images and certain products. In the UK, prescription-only medicines such as botulinum toxin cannot be advertised to the public, which matters for aesthetics clinics on both platforms. The Advertising Standards Authority's CAP Code applies to paid social ads just as it does to print.

## Tracking: know which one actually produced customers

Both platforms report their own results generously. Google counts conversions its way; Meta counts people who saw an ad and later visited, even if they came via Google. If you add up both dashboards you may find they claim more enquiries between them than you actually received.

Keep your own record. Ask every new enquirer how they found you, use separate phone numbers or tagged links for each platform, and compare against your actual bookings or sales. The Meta Pixel and Google tags both rely on cookies, so under UK rules you normally need consent for them; our guide to tracking enquiries covers simpler options.

## How to test both on a small budget

Rather than guessing, run a short, honest test.

- Pick one service or product with a healthy margin. Do not advertise everything at once.
- Set a fixed test budget per platform, for example a few hundred pounds each over four weeks, and decide in advance what cost per customer counts as success.
- On Google, start with a search campaign on a handful of phrase and exact match keywords, limited to your real area.
- On Meta, run one campaign with a clear offer, a local radius, and three pieces of creative using real photos or phone video.
- Send both to a page built for that service, with tap-to-call and a short form.
- At the end, count customers, not clicks or likes. Keep the winner, adjust or drop the loser.

> Whichever wins, it wins because the landing page is doing its job. We build websites at Nerdsharks rather than managing ad accounts, and the page your ads land on is the part we care most about.

## Questions

### Are Facebook ads cheaper than Google ads?

Facebook ads usually cost less per click than Google ads, but that does not make them cheaper per customer. Google clicks tend to come from people ready to buy, so fewer are needed per sale. Compare the cost per paying customer on each platform using your own tracking before deciding.

### Should a local tradesman use Facebook ads?

Facebook ads can work for tradespeople doing visual, planned work such as kitchens, landscaping, driveways or loft conversions, where photos of finished jobs persuade local homeowners. For emergency work such as blocked drains or lockouts, Google usually wins because people search at the moment of need.

### Do Facebook ads also show on Instagram?

Facebook ads are created in Meta Ads Manager, and by default Meta can place them across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and its partner network. You can choose placements manually, for example Instagram only, if your audience or creative suits one platform better.

### What is a special ad category on Facebook?

A special ad category is a label Meta requires for ads about housing, employment, credit and some financial services, and for social issues or politics. Declaring it limits targeting options such as age, gender and detailed interests. Letting agents, estate agents, recruiters and finance brokers are the businesses most often affected.

### Can I run both Google and Facebook ads at once?

You can run Google and Facebook ads at the same time, and many businesses do. The key is tracking each separately, with different phone numbers or tagged links and asking every enquirer how they found you, so each platform is judged on the customers it actually produced.