Guides · Google Ads
Google Ads vs Facebook Ads: Which Should You Run First?
By Josh Croom · October 27, 2026 · 10 min read
Google Ads shows your ad to people who are already searching for what you sell, and Facebook ads reach people who aren't looking yet. For a local business with a phone to answer, Google Search usually comes first, because it meets demand that already exists. Facebook earns its place once you can count what Google brings in, and then it gets a small test with a stop rule.
How two customers found the same business
Thursday, 2:10 PM. A homeowner's air conditioner quits in the middle of a hot afternoon. She searches ac repair near me, taps the first ad and calls.
Across town, a man scrolls Instagram on his lunch break and sees a photo of a crew finishing a new install, with a fall tune-up offer under it. His own system still runs fine, so he doesn't call today. He sends the short form instead, and two weeks later he books the tune-up. The same business won both jobs, one from a search ad and one from an Instagram ad.
ac repair near me
Google Ads and Facebook ads, side by side
Google meets a need someone has already typed, while Facebook and Instagram meet people in the middle of something else.
| Question | Google Search ads | Facebook and Instagram ads |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees the ad | People who search for what you sell | People in the area you pick, while they scroll |
| What starts it | A search someone types | Meta's auction, which weighs bids and how well each ad performs |
| How you usually pay | Per click, with cost-per-click bidding | By impressions, the number of times the ad appears |
| What the ad looks like | Words on a page of search results | A photo or a short video with a few lines of text |
| Daily budget | Can spend up to 2 times your average daily budget on a busy day, but Google won't charge past 30.4 times it in a month | Aims to spend evenly, and typically won't charge past your budget |
| Learning period | Google's Learning status never lasts more than 7 days | About 50 results in the week after the last big edit |
| Best fit | Urgent needs and services people already search for | New offers, seasonal work and events people don't know to search for |
How each one charges you
Google Search and Meta charge in different ways, so you can't line up a cost per click on one with a cost per view on the other.
On Google Search, cost-per-click bidding means you pay only when someone clicks your ad and comes to your site. Google runs an auction every time an ad space opens, and Google says higher quality ads can lead to lower prices and better positions. Your spend can reach twice your average daily budget on a busy day, but Google won't charge more than 30.4 times that budget in a month.
Meta also runs an auction for Facebook and Instagram ads. It usually bills by impressions, the number of times your ad appears, unless you pick another option when you build the ad. Meta aims to spend your budget evenly over the time the ad runs, and it typically won't charge you past the budget you set.
So compare the two by the cost of each call or form, because that's the one number that means the same thing on both. A click that never turns into a call is money spent, however cheap the click was.
Numbers to know before you choose
Each platform needs time and data before you can judge it.
- 50results in a week, about what Meta needs before an ad set leaves learningMeta Business Help Center
- 7 daysthe longest Google's smart bidding Learning status lastsGoogle Ads Help
- 20unpaid search visits for every unpaid social media visitOn the median client site we track
- 4%of full weeks on our paid ad accounts brought no conversionJuly to September 2026
Meta needs a steady flow of results to learn. It says ad sets are less stable and usually cost more per result while they learn, and frequent budget changes can send an ad set back into learning. When you split a small budget across many ad sets, each one learns less, and some may never finish.
Google has a learning window too. Its Learning status ends within 7 days, and Google says to judge a bidding change over two conversion cycles or two weeks, whichever is longer.
The 20 to 1 figure counts unpaid visits, not ads. Still, on the typical site we track, search sends far more people than social media does, and that's a big reason we start most local businesses on Google.
How to judge either one
Both platforms report plenty of numbers, but only a few of them tell you whether the ads paid off.
Numbers that look good
- Likes, shares and comments on an ad.
- A low cost per click.
- Lots of views on a short video.
- Traffic to your site that never calls or sends a form.
Numbers that pay the bills
- Calls and forms, counted by tracking you trust.
- What each call or form cost.
- Which of those turned into booked work.
- Whether the channel still pays after a fair test.
When Facebook should come first
Google Search can only show your ad when someone searches, so a few kinds of business do better starting on Facebook and Instagram.
- Something new: if people don't know your product or service exists, they can't search for it, so a photo or a short video has to show them first.
- An event with a date: people won't search for a festival, an open house or a grand opening until someone tells them it's happening.
- Work that sells in a picture: a feed can show a finished patio or a custom cake, where a search ad can only describe it.
How to test Facebook beside Google
A new channel should start small, with one number that decides it and a stop rule you write down before the first dollar.
Step 1
Count what Google brings now
Write down last month's calls and forms from Google and what each one cost. That's the bar Facebook has to clear, and you can't judge a test without it.
Step 2
Set up tracking first
Make sure Meta can see each form your ads bring in, and tag every ad link so your reports split Facebook visits from the rest. Meta can only learn from the results it can count.
Step 3
Pick one offer and one area
Choose a single offer, like a seasonal tune-up, and the towns you really serve. Meta reviews each ad before it runs and says most reviews finish within 24 hours, so build the ads a day early.
Step 4
Write the stop rule
Decide the date and the cost per lead that end the test, and write both down before the ads go live. Experts often guess wrong about which new ideas will work, and only about 10% to 20% of the online tests run at Google and Bing came out ahead.
Step 5
Leave it alone while it learns
Hold edits and budget changes during the learning phase, because a big edit sends the ad set back to the start. Meta says results usually cost more until learning ends.
Step 6
Judge it by calls and forms
At the stop date, compare what each Facebook lead cost against your Google number. Only 4% of full weeks on our paid accounts brought no conversion at all, so weeks of spend with nothing to show are rarely bad luck.
Answer a Facebook lead fast
A person who sends a form from a feed was scrolling a minute ago, not searching, so reply while the ad is still fresh in their mind. Our speed to lead guide has the full callback routine.
Hi (their name), this is (your name) from (your business). You asked about our fall tune-up. Would tomorrow morning or afternoon work better?
Afternoon is better. After 1?
Great, I'll have a tech there at 2. You'll get a text when they're on the way.
Is Google Search the right place to start?
Answer four questions about your business. Your answers stay on your device.
Do people search Google for the service you sell, in words you could name?
Do most customers need you soon after a problem starts?
Do you serve a set area, like a few towns or a county?
Can someone answer your phone within a few minutes during business hours?
Start with Google Search. People already look for what you do, and an ad there meets them at the moment they need you.
Google is likely still your starting point, but look at your No answers first. A No on the first question means few people search for you, and Facebook may suit you better.
Facebook and Instagram may suit you better as a first channel, because they can show people an offer they didn't know to search for. Start small, and write your stop rule first.
What we charge to run them
Open Spots Search runs Google Search for $497 every 4 weeks, plus a $997 setup paid once, or $0 on the 13-cycle plan.
Facebook and Instagram run inside Growth, which starts at $1,750 every 4 weeks, plus a $3,997 build paid once, or $0 on the 13-cycle plan. Growth puts Google, Local Services, Microsoft, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok on one budget, and we put each dollar where your calls and forms cost least. We recommend it for a business ready to spend $3,000 or more a month on ads.
A nonprofit can run Facebook and Instagram as its one paid channel beside a Google Ad Grant, at the same price as paid Search: $750 every 4 weeks plus the Grant fee, up to $1,500 a bill. The $1,500 Grant setup and the $1,997 build are paid once, and our Google Ad Grants page explains the Grant side.
Stop anytime in your first 30 days, and the fee never starts. The 13-cycle plan has no 30-Day Stop. We bill every 4 weeks, so a year is 13 bills, and every price we charge is on our pricing page.
Talk it through with us
If you're weighing Google against Facebook for your own business, book a call with Miguel. He'll ask where your work comes from today and how much more you can take on, and he'll tell you which channel he'd start with.
Questions people ask
Is Google Ads better than Facebook Ads?
Neither one wins for everyone. Google Search reaches people who are already searching for what you sell, so it suits urgent, local services. Facebook and Instagram reach people who aren't looking yet, so both suit new offers, events and work that shows well in a photo.
Which is cheaper, Google Ads or Facebook Ads?
They charge in different ways, so you can't line up their prices one to one. Google Search usually charges per click, and Meta usually bills by impressions, the number of times your ad appears. Compare the cost of each call or form instead.
Can I run Google Ads and Facebook Ads at the same time?
Yes. Add the second channel once the first one is working, track calls and forms on both, and move money to whichever one brings leads at the lower cost.
How long does it take to know if Facebook ads work?
Meta says an ad set leaves its learning phase after about 50 results in the week after its last big edit, and costs usually run higher until then. Set a stop date and a target cost per lead before you start, and judge the test on that date.
Do Facebook ads work for local service businesses?
They can, especially for seasonal offers, new services and people who visited your site but didn't call. Start them after Google Search brings in steady calls, so you can tell what Facebook adds.
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