Online Advertising can be very chaotic. You may be unsure of what the best way to go about it. You might not know which channels will work best for your store nor what the benefits are. Or what benefits you’re giving up from choosing one over the other. Here’s some help! This blog post will help inform you about the main differences between running ads on Facebook vs Google or Bing. This can help you determine which is the best option for you and your business.
Targeting Methods
One large difference between the two advertising options is their audience targeting method. With a search campaign on Google or Bing, you will typically create a keyword list to target. These keywords should be as specific as possible to direct people searching for those products to your site. So, make sure they are very unique keywords that pertain to the products you’re selling.

With Facebook, you target more of an audience. You mostly target using demographic and behavioral information (age, gender, interests, and liked paged). You can also target by location, within so many radius’s. Using this method, you’ll gather a target market who will likely be interested in your products.
Search Intent
On Facebook, ads run to people as they are browsing the channels site, not when they are searching for specific products. Your ad has a higher chance of popping up in areas where you may not have identified specific keywords; but the ads may not be as targeted for search intent. For example, if your selling dishware, your ad may be targeted for people interested in cooking, but may not be looking for that specific product at the time. However, this can be a great way to introduce your company and site, and many merchants see significant success with these ads.

With paid campaign on Google or Bing, you’re targeting those people who search for the product you’re selling. This can be very beneficial because when someone searches for a product, the traffic is likely to click on your ad and then convert. For example, your dishware company is selling glass cake pans size 8×8 and using the keyword “8×8 glass pan,” then your ad has a chance to appear and target a customer who is looking for that exact product.
Ad Control
Lastly, another major difference between Facebook Ads and Google or Bing ads are the amount of control you have over how and where your ad is shown. On Google or Bing, you bid for a position. This takes many factors into account resulting in ad rank. Your ad will show on either the top or the right-hand side for keyword searches. Unfortunately, With Google or Bing you cannot specify where your ad will appear since its all a matter of ranking.

With Facebook, you can choose whether you’d like a text or an image ad and they are eligible to appear in multiple places. You can choose for your ad to be shown on the right column, in the newsfeed or even in the mobile newsfeed. With this functionality, you can choose which option works best for you earning you the most clicks and sales!
So Which is Better??
No business is the same or will perform the same on these channels, so it honestly depends. Depending on how your customers shop online or what products you sell, you may feel one way will work better for your company. A business who sells a lot of specific technical materials may exceed on Google or Bing and not perform as well on Facebook. Even so, a company who sells apparel may thrive using Facebook ads to build up clientele providing a visual ad experience.

For most businesses, a combination of both Facebook ads and keyword search will allow their business to cover and target different audiences maximizing your ad.

Have any questions or comments? Don’t hesitate to comment down below!