It's the question I'm asked most by business owners, and the useful answer starts with what each platform is for.
Google Ads catches demand that already exists. Someone types "yacht hire dubai marina" or "pizza delivery near me" and your ad is the answer. The intent is high, which is why a well-built search campaign can convert a large share of its clicks. The limit is volume: you can only reach as many people as are searching.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) creates demand. Nobody searches for a new restaurant that opened last week or a property development they haven't heard of. Meta puts it in front of the right people before they've thought about it. Reach is cheap, and the results depend on creative and targeting more than on the platform.
Most businesses need some of both, but the split depends on how people buy from you.
When Google should lead
If people search for what you sell by name or by need, start with search. Boat hire, plumbers, solicitors, clinics, car repairs. For Boatastic, a yacht hire business in the UAE, the Meta campaign started 597 WhatsApp conversations in 30 days, and the Google search campaign brought 111 enquiries at AED56.47 with a 15.23% click-through rate. Both worked, but the search leads were people who had typed out what they wanted. The case study has both sides.
When Meta should lead
If the product is new, visual or impulse-led, or if the audience needs to be told it exists, Meta leads. Restaurants, brand building, events, fashion, consumer apps.
Tiger Bite opened a branch in Burton upon Trent that nobody could have searched for. A one-month Meta launch reached 118,463 local people at £0.13 per engagement, and the owners told me it was their biggest opening yet. The Tiger Bite case study covers it. For Rewayat Events, a new catering line, Click-to-WhatsApp ads on Meta started 2,805 conversations at as little as Rs61 each. Nobody was searching for a caterer that didn't exist yet.
When both earn their place
The strongest accounts I've run used both, with each doing the job it's good at.
For LandLife Properties, a developer in Islamabad I worked for in-house in 2022 and 2023, Meta lead forms with a qualifying question brought volume from people who matched a buyer profile, and Google Search picked up people already looking for plots and developments. Together they averaged 800+ qualified leads a month, 2,422 in three months, with every lead landing in the CRM and assigned to a salesperson in real time. Sales rose 16%. The LandLife case study has the full picture.
For Lit, a fast-food chain, a year of Meta campaigns in 2024 supported growth from two branches to five. When we tested Google in early 2025, Smart campaigns on Search and Maps produced 585 direction requests and 70 calls, with the best branch campaign at Rs15.99 per action. Meta built the brand; Google caught the people deciding where to eat tonight. Both case studies are on the Work page.
How I decide for a new client
- Is there search demand? If people search for it, Google gets a search campaign first, because those leads are the cheapest to prove.
- Does the product need showing? If it's new, visual or needs an introduction, Meta gets the launch budget.
- What's the budget? Below a certain size, splitting across two platforms means neither learns. I'd rather run one well than two badly, and add the second once the first is producing.
- What does the follow-up look like? Meta leads often need a faster reply than search leads, because the person wasn't looking for you five minutes ago. If nobody can answer a WhatsApp message within the hour, I'd start with search.
The honest answer
Google is better at converting intent that already exists. Meta is better at creating it. The businesses that grow use Meta to fill the top of the funnel and Google to catch what comes out of it, and judge both on what reached the till rather than on which platform's dashboard looks better.
If you're deciding between them for your own business, the services page explains how I run each, and a short message about what you sell is enough for me to say which I'd start with.
I run paid ads on Meta, Google and TikTok across the UK, the Gulf and Pakistan, and build the tracking and pages around them. Get in touch or find me on LinkedIn.