Google Ads vs Amazon Ads: Where Should a Brand Spend First?
Google Ads ยท October 26, 2026
Most brands we talk to ask some version of the same question: should the next ad dollar go to Amazon or to Google? We manage both, so we have no reason to push one over the other. The honest answer depends on where your customers already buy, what your margins look like, and what you want to own at the end.
The intent difference
The two platforms catch shoppers at different moments.
On Amazon, the person is already in a store. They opened the app or the site to buy something, and a search there is usually a shopping query with a card in hand. Ads appear next to organic listings, reviews and prices, and the next click is often an add to cart. That makes Amazon advertising close to the point of purchase.
On Google, the person is searching an open web. Some queries are shopping queries, such as a product name plus a size or a brand. Many others are research: how to fix something, what is the best type of something, is this worth buying. The same platform therefore covers a much wider range of intent, from someone who has never heard of your category to someone typing your brand name.
This has a practical consequence. Amazon ads tend to reward a strong listing: good images, reviews, price and delivery speed. Google ads reward a strong offer and a strong landing page, because the click leads to your own site, where you control the whole experience.
Brands that sell on both
Many of our clients sell on Amazon and on their own store. For them the channels interact, and it is worth planning for that rather than treating the two as separate worlds.
Shoppers often discover a product in one place and buy in another. Someone might see a product on Google, look it up on Amazon to read reviews, and buy there because of free delivery or because they already have an account. Someone else might find you on Amazon and later search your brand name on Google to buy direct. We would be skeptical of anyone who claims a precise figure for how often, but the pattern is common enough to shape how you read your numbers.
Two effects are worth thinking about qualitatively:
- Halo. Advertising in one place can lift sales somewhere else. Google ads that build awareness may show up as more branded searches and more Amazon orders. Amazon ads that build reviews and rank may make your own store convert better. These effects are real but hard to measure, so avoid judging either channel purely on last click return.
- Brand search. If you do not bid on your own brand name in Google, a competitor or a reseller may. Branded campaigns look better than they are, since those customers were already coming to you. Report branded and non-branded results separately so the blended number does not flatter you.
Amazon-first brands versus direct-to-consumer brands
Where you start usually depends on where you already sell.
Amazon-first brands. If most of your revenue comes through Amazon, your reviews, rank and fulfillment are there, and ads on Amazon are the natural first lever. Adding Google makes sense once the Amazon listing is solid and you want to reach people who are not searching inside Amazon, or when you want to start building a direct channel.
Direct-to-consumer Shopify brands. If your store is your main channel, Google is usually the first paid channel to build, because it captures people already searching for what you sell and sends them to a page you control. Amazon becomes interesting when you want an additional sales channel and you have the inventory, pricing room and brand registry to support it. Our post on Google Ads for Shopify stores goes into the setup.
Margins and fee structures
Profit per sale differs between the channels, and ad performance only makes sense once you account for it.
On Amazon, you pay referral fees, and if you use fulfillment, fulfillment and storage fees too. Those come out of every order before advertising does. The ad cost then sits on top. A product that looks profitable on a unit basis can have little room left for ads once the platform's own charges are subtracted. This is why we work out break-even ACoS carefully, as described in our guide to break-even ACoS and target ACoS.
On your own store, you do not pay a marketplace referral fee. You do pay payment processing, shipping, the store platform and your own customer service, and you carry the cost of any returns. The margin per order is often higher than on Amazon for the same product, though you also bear the cost of everything Amazon would otherwise handle.
The right comparison is contribution margin per order on each channel, after every cost except advertising. That number, not the platform's reported return, tells you which channel has the better ceiling.
Who owns the customer
This difference is easy to overlook and matters a great deal over time.
When someone buys through Amazon, Amazon owns the customer relationship. You receive limited information, and you cannot freely market to that buyer by email. Your listing also sits next to competitors, and the platform controls the rules.
When someone buys through your own store, you get the customer's details, subject to your privacy policy and local law. You can build an email list, run retention campaigns, and measure lifetime value. A first order that barely breaks even can still be a good deal if the customer buys again.
That does not make Amazon a bad channel, since for many brands it is the largest source of sales. It does mean a brand relying only on Amazon has little control.
A simple decision framework
Here is how we usually walk through it.
- Where does most of your revenue come from today? Start by protecting and growing that channel.
- Is the foundation sound? Amazon needs a competitive listing with reviews and stock. Google needs working conversion tracking and a landing page that converts.
- Where is the margin? Compare contribution margin per order on each channel and favor the one with more room to advertise.
- What is the goal? If it is near term sales, favor the channel closest to purchase. If it is building a durable brand and customer list, favor your own store.
- Can you support another channel? A well run single channel beats two neglected ones.
Testing the second channel with a capped budget
Once the first channel is working, test the second without betting the business on it.
- Set a hard cap. Pick a monthly amount you can lose without distress, and treat it as the cost of learning. Do not raise it mid test because early results look good or bad.
- Define success before you start. Decide what cost per order or return relative to break-even you need, and how many weeks you will run it.
- Start narrow. On Google, begin with brand and your clearest high intent product searches. On Amazon, begin with your best sellers and exact match terms.
- Track the interaction. Watch whether your overall sales and branded search move, not just the new channel's own report.
If the test clears your bar, increase the budget in steps. If it does not, you have spent a fixed amount to learn something specific.
Want help with your account?
We run Amazon PPC and Google Ads side by side, so we can help you compare the two on your real margins and decide where the next dollar should go. If you would like a straight view of your options, we would be glad to help.