Does Google Ads Work for Dropshipping? What Reddit Really Says
We sell Google Ads for dropshipping. The Reddit threads we cited are more negative than we let on, and one says start with Meta instead. The corrected read.
- 12,000+PMax campaigns audited
- 200+Live ecom clients
- €200M+Tracked sales
A correction we owe you
This page had three claims that don't survive a re-read. We checked every thread again on 16 July 2026.
One: we used the "7 months" thread as evidence for patience with Google Ads. Its actual headline lesson is "I'd start with Meta ads, not Google (if you're new)." We cited a post whose main advice is to avoid our product, and we presented it as support.
Two: we called the "$50k+ ad budget" thread "the most useful thread here" and "the biggest thread." It has 1 upvote and 1 comment.
Three: we wrote "nobody in threads like that argues Google Ads is broken." In the very thread we linked for that sentence, two people say Meta is better and one says the poster should use Meta instead.
Here is the honest version.
The thread we most misused
"What actually worked for me after 7 months in dropshipping (Meta and Google strategy)" (r/dropshipping, 5 May 2026, 105 upvotes, 28 comments) is the biggest thread on this page by a wide margin. u/ExtensionHumble29 hit his first $3k day and wrote up what he learned.
His lesson number one, verbatim:
I'd start with Meta ads, not Google (if you're new)... At the beginning, I tried going straight into Google Ads because it felt more "intent-based," but it honestly just burned money without enough data.
His reasons for starting on Meta, in his own list: "Easier to test products quickly", "You don't need existing demand", "Lower cost while figuring things out". And: "Most of the products that showed potential for me came from Meta first."
His other lessons are that creative matters more than anything, that your website matters more than you think, and to test fast and cut faster. Google Ads barely features except in that first warning.
We previously wrote that "he points to their first $3k day as the moment Google started pulling real weight alongside Meta" and that "Google Ads closed demand that Meta had already built." He never says either of those things. We invented a Google-shaped ending for a post that is mostly about Meta creative.
The "$50k budget" thread is one guy, unread
"Does paid ads still work for dropshipping in 2025?" (r/dropshipping, 3 October 2025, 1 upvote, 1 comment). u/Wasiffaisal20 does write "From my experience managing over $50k in ad budgets." That part is real and self-reported.
But his reframe isn't the one we gave him. We said his point was "how do I keep this working at real spend." His actual three questions are:
- "Is your product competitive and in demand?"
- "Are competitors already running ads successfully for it?"
- "Can you position your offer to be as good or better than theirs?"
That's a product and offer argument, not a spend-management argument. And he covers Meta and Google together, not Google specifically. His closing line is the useful one: "If yes, ads can definitely work. But if not, you'll probably just burn budget."
One upvote, one comment. It is not a landmark. We shouldn't have dressed it as one.
The beginner thread has real dissent in it
"Should i start doing google ads for my dropshipping store" (r/dropship, 3 November 2025, 14 upvotes, 29 comments) is a week-old store with zero sales asking whether ads will help.
We said "nobody in threads like that argues Google Ads is broken." Here's the thread:
- u/mjcponce (4 upvotes, top reply) says fix the store first: "I'd make sure your product pages, pricing, and site speed are solid before spending on ads because even good ads can't fix a slow or confusing checkout."
- u/Independent-Chain-83: "Meta ads are better. Google ads are for those who are looking for the product but meta ads create the need for your product."
- u/Alive_Plenty: "Meta ads work better."
- u/VillageHomeF is pro-Google and specific: "Google Shopping ads are great. we pay just 15 cents a click. if you are priced competitively it should be good. Max Clicks, No Pmax."
- u/AdministrativeEnd905 is emphatically pro-Google after being burned by Meta's Andromeda update: "Google ads is trustworthy, no bots no outages!"
So it's genuinely split, with real people on both sides. That's more interesting than the fake consensus we published, and it's closer to what we see in real accounts anyway.
The sceptic thread, read properly
"So, your chances to make it in dropshipping are essentially ... zero?" (r/dropshipping, 24 April 2026, 45 upvotes, 81 comments) is u/MindShaped arguing the model is much harder than gurus admit: "Earlier, if you were among the first who figured out about this ecom hack, your chances of getting at least to breakeven were let's say 1 to 10 with proper execution. Now, they're more like 1 to 10,000." His reason is Chinese sellers doing the same thing at scale.
We wrote that "plenty of stores in that same thread's comments are still profitable." We could not find those comments. We've deleted the claim rather than soften it.
What's actually in the replies is a systems argument. u/Impossible_Fennel236: "Most people look for one winning product, when often it's a bunch of 1% improvements compounding across offer, landing page, creatives, checkout, etc."
'Start with Meta, not Google'
105 upvotes
Sceptic thread
45 upvotes
'Should I start Google Ads'
14 upvotes
The '$50k budget' thread
1 upvote
Our take, which Reddit did not give us
Everything above is the reporting. This next part is ours, and the biggest thread on the page disagrees with part of it.
We still think the real split is search-intent products versus impulse products. If someone already types your product into Google, Google Ads catches demand that exists. If nobody's heard of it, there's nothing to catch yet, and Meta or TikTok has to create the demand first.
u/Independent-Chain-83 put the same idea better than we did: "Google ads are for those who are looking for the product but meta ads create the need for your product."
Which means u/ExtensionHumble29's advice and ours aren't really enemies. If you're new and testing unproven products, Meta first is reasonable, and we'd say the same. Where we'd push back: he concluded Google "burned money without enough data" from one attempt on a new store. That's a real result, and it is also exactly what happens when you point Google Ads at a product with no search volume.
| Product type | Where we'd start | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Named, searched-for product | Google Ads | The demand is already there to catch |
| Novel, never-seen product | Meta or TikTok | Nothing to catch yet, demand has to be built |
| Proven on Meta, now searched | Add Google | This is the case u/ExtensionHumble29 was heading toward |
We've watched this across 200+ ecom accounts since 2024. That's our evidence. It isn't Reddit's, and we shouldn't have blurred the two.
If your product sits in the search-intent column, Google Ads for dropshipping is worth building properly. If you're not sure which column you're in, ask in Google Ads eCom Lab. It's free, and the honest answer there is sometimes "not yet."