Google Ads vs Facebook Ads for lead generation — which to fund first, and when to run both
For most UK service businesses, Google Ads is the better first channel for lead generation, because it captures people already searching for the work — Facebook interrupts people who were doing something else. But "most" is not "all": where the job is visual, discretionary or slow to decide, Facebook can produce the cheaper customer. Here is how the two platforms actually charge, why cheap leads mislead, and a verdict by business type.
Intent versus interruption: the difference that decides it
The mechanism behind google ads vs facebook ads for lead generation is stated plainly: Google Ads shows your ad to someone who has just typed the problem into a search box — demand capture. Facebook Ads shows your ad to someone chosen by audience signals while they scroll — demand creation. Everything else in the comparison — cost, lead quality, follow-up speed — is downstream of this one difference.
The lead-quality consequence follows directly: a search lead has self-qualified by describing the job; a Facebook lead responded to a prompt and may be days or years from buying — so speed-to-contact and nurture matter far more on Facebook leads.
There is a format consequence too. Facebook's instant lead forms remove friction and intent together — volume rises, qualification falls; Google clicks land on a page where the visitor still has to choose to enquire. Neither is "better" — they are different products called by the same name, which is why comparing raw lead counts misleads.
search = demand capture · social = demand creation
How each platform charges
Google: pay per click, priced keyword-by-keyword in an auction where your bid and ad quality set what you actually pay; there is no price list. Full mechanics live at what Google Ads costs in the UK.
Facebook: you buy impressions, not clicks — the auction charges mostly per 1,000 impressions and optimises delivery towards your chosen objective, so cost per click and cost per lead are outputs of your audience, creative and objective, not a rate card. There is no fixed answer to "how much do 1,000 clicks cost on Facebook" — any table quoting one is a snapshot of someone else's account. The drivers, one line each: audience size and competition · creative quality and fatigue · placement mix · campaign objective · season (retail quarters inflate auctions for everyone).
Why there's no reliable UK benchmark for either platform
No trustworthy published sterling CPC/CPL benchmark exists for Google or Facebook; the comparison tables in circulation are mostly unverified, US-dollar tool samples repackaged for UK readers — the currency is rarely what the page implies. Our own keyword dataset holds no priced rows at all for this topic, so this page prints no dataset figures.
The only cost table on this page is the labelled worked example below — plug in your own numbers.
google: pay per click · facebook: pay per impression
Compare cost per customer, not cost per lead
The trap, named: Facebook usually produces the cheaper lead; that is not the same as the cheaper customer. Interruption leads qualify at a lower rate and close at a lower rate — the gap often reverses once you track to sale. This is the "…for lead generation cost" search's real answer.
A worked example
| Channel | Cost per lead | Leads that become conversations | Cost per conversation | Conversations that close | Cost per customer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £15 | 1 in 5 | £75 | 1 in 4 | £300 | |
| £40 | 1 in 2 | £80 | 1 in 2 | £160 |
The "cheap" channel costs nearly twice as much per customer in this example.
Run the same maths for a renovation firm with strong photography and a considered purchase cycle and the columns can flip — which is why the verdict table in the next section exists, and why the qualification and close rates (yours, not the market's) are the numbers to measure.
For what a lead should cost in your industry, see what a good cost per lead looks like in the UK.
The verdict by business type
A declaration of interest before the table: GrowthLine builds and runs Google Ads, not Facebook Ads. Where Facebook is the better first channel for your kind of business, the table says so — a comparison you can trust has to be able to go against its author.
| Business type | Fund first | Why (one line) |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency and urgent trades | The job is searched for at the moment of need — nobody scrolls their way out of a burst pipe. See Google Ads for plumbers. | |
| Legal services | High-value, problem-led searches; Facebook prospecting rarely matches the intent of "solicitor near me". See PPC for law firms. | |
| Dentists and clinics | Google first | Urgent and insured work is searched for; Facebook earns a place later for cosmetic and elective treatments, which are visual and discretionary. See Google Ads for dentists. |
| Estate agents | Both | Valuation intent lives on Google; vendor awareness works on Facebook because moving house is visual and slow to decide. See Google Ads for estate agents. |
| Renovation and home improvement | Facebook often earns its place | Portfolio-led, discretionary, long consideration — the strongest genuine Facebook case in UK lead generation. |
The pattern behind the table: the more urgent and searched-for the job, the stronger Google; the more visual and discretionary, the stronger Facebook.
Running both: the sequence that works
Yes, you can run Google Ads and Facebook Ads together — mature accounts usually do, but in sequence, not simultaneously from day one.
| Step | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1 · Capture | Buy the existing search demand first; it is finite, highest-intent, and caps out at your impression-share ceiling. |
| 2 · Retarget | Add Facebook retargeting of site visitors; small budgets, warm audience, the cheapest genuine Facebook win. |
| 3 · Create | Only then fund Facebook prospecting to create new demand, measured on cost per customer from day one. |
Splitting a small budget across both platforms from the start usually starves each of conversion data — for what "small" means in practice, see what's a good Google Ads budget for lead generation.
This channel-allocation work — deciding what to fund first and proving it with tracked cost per lead — is the job of a lead generation agency, and it is the work we publish our method for.
Alternatives to Google Ads, honestly assessed
If you are wondering what to use instead of Google Ads, there are four honest answers.
Google Local Services Ads — genuinely pay-per-lead for eligible trades; the UK-specific detail lives at Google Local Services Ads in the UK.
Facebook/Meta — this post; strongest where the verdict table above says so.
Trade directories and lead resellers — the same lead is often sold to several competitors, so the quoted price per lead understates the real cost per job won.
SEO — compounds over years where paid search starts in days; a budget question, not an either/or.
If Google Ads "didn't work" for you before, the cause is usually diagnosable — broken tracking, wrong keywords or a weak landing page — and a free Google Ads audit will name it before you move channels.
Frequently asked questions
Are Facebook Ads or Google Ads better for lead generation?
For most UK service businesses, Google Ads is the better first channel, because it reaches people actively searching for the job you do — and that intent carries through to lead quality and close rates. Facebook Ads win where the work is visual, discretionary or slow to decide (renovation, cosmetic treatments), or where you need to create demand rather than capture it. The honest answer is conditional: judge the channels on cost per customer for your business, not on a universal winner.
Is Facebook or Google cheaper per lead?
Facebook usually produces the cheaper lead — but that is not the same as the cheaper customer. Facebook leads come from interrupted scrolling, so they qualify and close at lower rates, and the gap often reverses once you track both channels through to sale. No reliable UK cost-per-lead benchmark exists for either platform — the published comparison tables are mostly unverified, US-dollar tool samples — so run the cost-per-customer maths on your own figures, and see what a good cost per lead looks like in the UK for how to judge the result.
Can I run Google Ads and Facebook Ads together?
Yes, and mature accounts usually do — but in sequence, not from day one. Capture existing search demand first, because it is finite and highest-intent; add Facebook retargeting of your site visitors next; fund Facebook prospecting last, once search impression share is effectively bought out. Splitting a small budget across both platforms from the start usually starves each of the conversion data it needs to optimise.
How much do 1000 clicks cost on Facebook?
There is no fixed rate: Facebook sells impressions in an auction, so what a click costs is an output of your audience, creative, objective and season — not a price list. Any article quoting an exact figure is describing a snapshot of someone else's account, usually in US dollars, and the number can differ several-fold between two businesses in the same town. The only way to know yours is a small controlled test with your own creative and audience.
What is the Facebook 20 rule?
The "20% rule" was Facebook's old policy of restricting ads whose images carried more than 20% text — text-heavy creative had its delivery limited or rejected. Meta stopped enforcing it as a hard rule in 2020, so it is no longer live policy. It survives as a creative guideline: image-led ads with minimal overlaid text still tend to perform better, which is why the folklore persists in marketing guides.
Related reading
Get the channel decision made on your numbers, not ours
Our lead generation agency work starts with a free, read-only audit of your account or your market — if search demand for your service is too thin to fund, it says so.