Google Ads vs Facebook Ads for Dropshipping: Reddit's Actual Take

A correction we owe you

Two claims on this page were the reverse of what the threads say.

One: "Most operators on Reddit end up running Google and Facebook together, not picking just one." We cited r/dropship's platform thread for it. That thread's top reply says: "If you're new, pick one platform and get it profitable before you touch the next. Running all three at once is basically paying for confusion." We claimed a room supported "run both" when its clearest advice was "don't."

Two: we said Google Ads is the beginner-friendly pick "per Reddit's edited consensus." That came from a 1-upvote thread. In the bigger thread on the same question, three separate people say Meta is easier for beginners and one says Google "is the hardest." We led with the small thread that agreed with us.

Here's the whole picture.

The thread we got backwards

"WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST PALATFORM TO RUN ADS FOR DROPSHIPPING. GOOGLE ADS/META ADS/ TIKTOK." (r/dropship, 18 January 2026, 5 upvotes, 13 comments). It's a three-way question, not two-way, and we'd been quietly dropping TikTok from the title.

The replies:

Meta first, usually. It's the easiest place to get traction fast for most dropship style products. Google can work, but it's less forgiving. If people aren't already searching for what you sell, you'll burn money learning keywords, feeds, and intent... If you're new, pick one platform and get it profitable before you touch the next. Running all three at once is basically paying for confusion.

• u/Tom-Law: "Google Ads takes more time to learn, and it's not always converting. For a startup business, meta ads are always the better option for a new business."
• u/Leading_Leading_2114: "Ran ads on all three and meta is by far the best for beginners."
• u/throwawayowl999: "Google is the hardest and only works for high-ticket items... pick one and master it."
• u/Special_Historian350: "It really depends on your target audience / what product you are selling."

So this thread says two things clearly: Meta first for beginners, and don't run several platforms at once. We used it to support "no single winner, just different jobs" and "most operators run both." Both are the opposite of its content.

The "burning $$$" thread is Facebook-first too

"google vs facebook ads for dropshipping, my honest results after burning $$$" (r/dropship, 9 June 2025, 43 upvotes, 13 comments) is a genuinely good write-up. We said "the conclusion lands on Google Ads being the stronger pick."

His actual conclusion, in his words: "my actual stack: launch on facebook to test, then scale with google search once i've got proof people want it. retarget fb clickers with google ads... most of my sales come from this combo." And: "bottom line: experiment with it. test cheap on facebook, scale smart on google, and always retarget."

That's Facebook first, Google second. He also gives Google a real downside we skipped: "cost per click can get brutal, and you're fighting on keywords with everyone else. i only scale here once i know what keywords convert and my margins can handle it."

And one line that cuts against a lot of what our industry sells, including some of what we do:

But make sure you use google search ads, other placements are just waste of money.

We disagree with that one, for what it's worth. Shopping is where most ecom stores make their money, in our accounts. But he burned his own cash to reach that view and we're not going to pretend he didn't say it.

The thread isn't unanimous either. u/biz_king_15: "I think FB is still better for ADS you can actually bring in more cash from there than Google."

The thread that does pick Google

"Facebook or Google Ads for Dropshipping" (r/dropship, 21 March 2025, 1 upvote, 8 comments). The edit is real and we quoted it correctly:

"EDIT: Thanks for the replies guys, looks like Google Ads seems to be the most beginner friendly and likelyhood of success."

What we didn't say: it's a 1-upvote thread, and that's the original poster summarising his replies, not a vote or a consensus. Set it beside the 5-upvote thread above where three people say Meta is the beginner pick, and the honest answer is that Reddit is split, leaning Meta.

The £120/day fashion store

We linked this as "Help - Google vs Meta Ads." The real title is "Help…." (r/dropshipping, 22 April 2025, 10 upvotes, 17 comments). We tidied up someone's title to make our citation look neater. Small thing, but it's the kind of small thing that adds up to a page you can't trust.

The content is real and useful. u/Direct-Anything3403 runs a fashion dropshipping store on Google Ads: "I get about 13.5k sessions/month with a £120 daily budget, averaging around 450 sessions/day." He's not splitting spend, as we said. He runs Google only and wants to know if adding Meta is smart. In the comments he reports his store is "Pretty Profitable about 2.7 Roas."

The top reply is the best four lines on this whole page:

Meta = awareness. Google = intercepting demand. Build awareness on Meta. Cash in on it with Google.

He wrote that as four separate lines. It's the clearest statement of the split on this page, and note the order: Meta first.

'Burning $$$' thread

43 upvotes

Fashion store thread

10 upvotes

Best-platform thread

5 upvotes

The one picking Google

1 upvote

Our take, from the Google corner

Here's ours, fenced off, from a party that only sells one of these two.

We think u/pjmg2020 and u/CommunicationOdd838 have it right, and note that both put Meta first. Meta is an attention platform. Google is a demand platform. If nobody searches for your product yet, Google has nothing to catch, and no bid strategy fixes that.

Fashion, home decor and jewelry, the categories we work in most, usually have both. A trending piece needs Meta to get noticed. A staple with a clear name has search volume sitting there already.

So our honest advice, which costs us work: if you're new, unproven, and testing products, the room is right. Go to Meta. Come to Google when something is proven and people start typing its name. We'd rather tell you that than take on an account with nothing for Google to harvest, because that account churns in three months and we both waste our time.

When your product is proven and the searches are there, Google Ads for dropshipping is the part we do. If you're not there yet, ask in the free Google Ads eCom Lab and we'll tell you straight.