This is one of the most common questions we get from new clients, usually phrased as “should we be doing Google or Meta?” The honest answer is that it's rarely either/or — but the right split depends entirely on what each platform is actually good at, and where your business fits.
What Google Ads is genuinely built for
Google Search captures existing demand. Someone typing “emergency plumber Mississauga” or “best CRM for real estate teams” already knows they want something — your job is to be the answer at the exact moment they're looking. That makes Google Search Ads the stronger choice when:
- You sell something people actively search for (services, high-consideration purchases, anything with clear buyer intent)
- Your sales cycle rewards being found at the moment of need, not top-of-mind awareness
- You can measure cost-per-lead or cost-per-sale cleanly against a known search volume
What Meta Ads is genuinely built for
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) doesn't wait for demand — it creates it, by interrupting someone's scroll with something relevant enough to stop for. That makes it the stronger choice when:
- Your product benefits from visual demonstration (physical products, before/afters, lifestyle positioning)
- You're building awareness for something people don't yet know they need
- You have (or can build) a retargeting audience worth nurturing over multiple touches
Where most businesses get the split wrong
The most common mistake isn't choosing the wrong platform — it's applying the wrong mindset to each. Businesses often expect Meta to perform like Search (immediate, high-intent conversions) and get frustrated when cost-per-lead looks worse, without accounting for the fact that Meta is doing top-of-funnel work Search never has to do. Flip that expectation, and the “underperforming” channel often turns out to be doing exactly its job.
A rough starting framework
Absent other data, here's the split we typically test first for a new account:
- High-intent service businesses (legal, home services, B2B with clear searches): 70–80% Google, 20–30% Meta for retargeting and awareness.
- Ecommerce and visually-driven products: closer to 50/50, often tilted toward Meta once creative is dialed in.
- New or low-awareness categories: heavier Meta weighting early to build the audience Search will later convert.
The question isn't “which platform wins” — it's whether you're using each one for the job it's actually good at.
The part nobody wants to hear
Budget allocation is a hypothesis, not a decision you make once. The right split shifts as your creative improves, your landing pages convert better or worse, and your category's search volume changes. Any account that hasn't had its channel mix revisited in the last two quarters is running on outdated assumptions — regardless of which platform it favours.
