Google Ads vs. LinkedIn Ads: The Good, The Bad, and The ROI

Google Ads offer broader reach and diverse ad formats, while LinkedIn Ads delivers superior targeting for niche B2B audiences. The best platform for your brand comes down to your specific goals, target audience, and budget.

Google Ads vs. LinkedIn Ads: is one really better than the other?

When it comes to paid search marketing platforms, Google Ads is often at the top of the list.

Google Ads’ popularity, versatility, and simplicity make it an appealing choice for many marketers.

But when you put all your pay-per-click (or PPC) eggs in one proverbial basket, you could miss out on potential leads and revenue from other channels, like LinkedIn Ads.

Of course, both Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads are powerful paid search advertising tools for B2C and B2B companies. However, each has distinct benefits, pros, and cons.

So, which is right for your brand? With the help of our in-house lead strategist, Alyssa Galik, we take a closer look at how Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads stack up.

(Image: Rawpixel)

What are Google Ads?

Google Ads is Google’s online advertising solution for businesses that want to showcase their products and services via Google’s entire advertising network. This includes Google Search, YouTube, and the Google Display Network.

This PPC advertising platform operates on a bidding system where brands can bid for relevant keywords to compete for top ad placements.

Your company’s ads position on the search engine results page (SERP) will depend on your bid amount and other ranking factors like ad quality and relevance.

The world of Google Ads is vast and versatile, harnessing ad types like:

• Display ads: visually engaging ads on the Google Display Network that target searchers as they browse the web and other Google channels (like YouTube and Gmail).
• Dynamic search ads: ad content, like headlines and landing pages, are auto-generated using content from your website based on their relevance.
• Responsive search ads: ads whose content adapts to show more relevant messages based on audience search queries.
• Shopping ads: promote online and local inventory directly on Google Search results, increasing traffic to your ecommerce store.
• YouTube ads: displays video ads over YouTube content for direct exposure to a relevant audience.
• App promotion ads: use creative assets like images, ad copy, and video content to promote your app via the Google Ad network.
• Local search ads: feature your business locations whenever someone makes a location-based search.
• Call-only ads: similar to local search ads but only appear when someone makes a location-based search on a phone call device.
• Local service ads: connect you with audiences that search for similar services in your business’s local area.
• Gmail ads: interactive ads that appear within the Gmail inbox, usually in the Promotions or Social tabs.

What are LinkedIn Ads?

LinkedIn Ads is a digital advertising tool on LinkedIn, the professional social media network platform.

This channel comprises a wide range of ad features to help businesses and professionals promote their presence and cater to a primarily B2B advertising audience.

There are currently four ad formats available for LinkedIn ads, namely:

• Sponsored content: Displays contextual ads on an audience’s feed and appears as carousel ads, single image ads, or video ads with the label “Promoted” (also known as native ads).
• Sponsored messaging: Allows advertisers to speak directly to target audiences through messages in their inboxes (previously known as sponsored InMail).
• Text ads: Allow brand advertisers to share text-based ads on the top-right portion of each LinkedIn user’s desktop feed.
• Dynamic ads: Personalize ad content to include your photo, job title, and organization.

As you can see, both Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads have abundant ad types to promote your business. But how do they measure up against each other?

Key differences between Google Ads vs. LinkedIn Ads

While Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads aim to drive revenue and customer acquisition, the similarities end there. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily, says Galik:

“Being different platforms allows them to offer different opportunities to businesses,” she highlights.

In other words, it’s their differences that make each platform so valuable.

In addition to varying ad types, the biggest differences lie in:

• Target audience focus
• Segmentation opportunities
• Lead generation and intent
• Expenses
• Analytics and insights

Target audience focus

Think you’re the only one who can’t go a day without Googling something? Turns out 84% of the world is right there with you.

Because of this massive reach, it’s fair to assume almost every company’s target audience uses the search engine to some degree, which gives brands a major advantage in casting a wide net.

However, Google Ads’ vastness is a double-edged sword. Why? Its targeting settings might require more finesse for a niche. When it comes to your ad campaign dollars, precision is key.

On the other hand, LinkedIn has a much more niche focus: brands and business professionals.

While the platform only boasts 930 million LinkedIn users, it’s an ideal destination for B2B marketing, allowing marketers to target decision-makers and critical audiences in various ways.

However, brands outside of B2B with a broader focus shouldn’t undercut LinkedIn’s potential, either. While it might have a smaller audience, the platform has seen quite a growth spurt following the pandemic.

Galik says there’s a simple way to understand how each channel operates.

“In Google Ads, you’re meeting the user where they are, [amid] their search,” she explains.

“On LinkedIn, you’re looking to capture the audience where we are — on LinkedIn. This can be looked at as Google using intent-based targeting [whereas] LinkedIn uses user-based targeting.”

Segmentation opportunities

When you target an audience through Google Ads, you have several segments to work with, such as:

• Affinity (based on habits and interests)
• Custom (based on relevant keywords, URLs, or apps)
• Demographics (long-term life facts like age, location, household income, etc.)
• Life events (milestones like getting married or retiring)
• In-market (based on recent purchase intent)
• Data (from previous interactions with your brand)

But even with a crystal-clear understanding of your audience personas, the occasional unqualified click is an unavoidable reality of digital marketing. However, this is less common with LinkedIn Ads for a few reasons.

For one, when people sign up for LinkedIn, they typically share detailed information about their job titles, industries, companies, skills, interests, and more.

The platform also encourages members to join groups, engage in conversations, and cultivate followings. It even offers a Matched Audiences feature to help marketers find email subscribers on the platform.

All of this is valuable data to help you target highly specific audiences through segmentation options like:

• Company: name, size, industry, connections
• Demographics: age, gender, location
• Job experience: title, function, skills, tenure
• Education: degrees, fields of study
• Interests: groups, technology, entrepreneurship

Lead generation and intent

Google Ads’ extensive reach makes it a powerhouse for lead generation. You can tap into a vast pool of prospects without putting a hole in your marketing budget.

And since audiences turn to the search engine to find a product or service, your ads can appear right when they’re looking.

On LinkedIn Ads, lead gen can be somewhat trickier. Members often browse industry updates and job opportunities or network with like-minded professionals — they aren’t necessarily shopping.

No matter how well you design or place your ad, viewers may not be susceptible to it.

However, unlike Google Ads, LinkedIn allows you to target leads via direct messages. Known as Message Ads, you can cut straight through the noise and land right in key decision-makers’ inboxes.

(Image via Rawpixel)

Expenses

In terms of investment, LinkedIn’s ads are generally more expensive than Google Ads. Let me explain.

Like in Google, you can choose cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM) options. This means you can pay whenever someone clicks your ads or for every 1,000 times your ad is shown, even if nobody clicks (ideal for brand awareness).

The platform also offers a cost-per-send model for those Message Ads we told you about.

On average, you could expect to pay around $2-$3 per click, $3.01-$10 per 1,000 impressions, and $0.25-$0.75 per send for Sponsored InMail campaigns.

And don’t forget about the difference in reach and associated costs, says Galik:

“Google Search costs are based on [the amount of] competition in the space — the less competition [there is], the lower the cost,” she explains.

“[Meanwhile], all of LinkedIn’s costs are based on audience size and who else targets that audience. If you look to compare the Google Display Network to LinkedIn, you’ll see a much larger discrepancy in CPC and CPM.”

Google Ads boasts an attractive average CPC of $2.69 for search and $0.63 for display, but maximizing your investment requires more than cheap clicks.

Meticulous audience segmentation is crucial to take advantage of affordability. Without it, you could waste your budget on clicks that don’t translate into profits.

According to Galik, these differentiators will usually pave the way for your marketing strategy.

“Look at the budget at hand and the consumer you are looking to drive, between B2B and B2C, and which one is going to reach the right audience [more] efficiently,” she advises.

Analytics and insights

Both Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads offer robust analytics and reporting, with a few variations.

The beauty of Google Ads is its seamless integration with Google Analytics, which gives you a holistic view of your website’s performance.

This lets you go beyond basic ad tracking and focus on deeper behavioral metrics like session duration, bounce rate, revenue attribution, and more.

Other data touch points include:

• Search term reports
• Device reports
• Ad extension performance
• Geographic reports

In addition to conversions, demographics, impressions, and clicks, LinkedIn Ads gives you a Company Engagement Report, which lets you measure engagement across LinkedIn and your site. This includes:

• Ad engagement
• Website visits
• Organic post interactions

However, there’s no doubt that LinkedIn Ads’ audience insights are music to B2B marketers’ ears. For example, you can track job titles, company size, and even specific industries of anyone who engages with your ads.

Pro tip: At HawkSEM, we’re obsessed with data. That’s what led us to create ConversionIQ, a proprietary marketing tool that turns your metrics into a roadmap for more conversions and record-breaking ROI.

What are the pros and cons of Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads?

Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads each excel in their own ways. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of both will help you determine which vibes best with your marketing strategy:

Google Ads: benefits

Massive reach

Let’s face it — Google is everywhere.

As of February 2024, the search engine commands a staggering 91% share of the market.

For comparison, Bing’s market share is just around 3.74%. This translates to over 82 billion monthly visits to Google, cementing its reputation as the undisputed titan of online search.

Lower CPC

As discussed, the average CPC for LinkedIn Ads is about $2-$3 and $0.67-$3 for display ads and Google search, respectively. Based on average figures alone, it’s clear that LinkedIn Ads cost more than Google Ads, but there’s a reason for that.

LinkedIn requires a minimum daily budget of $10 for any ad format. That’s not the case in Google Ads. Instead, costs per bid are all determined through ad auction, which can go higher or lower, depending on how competitive a keyword is.

Even with the auction system in play, Google Ads consistently delivers a lower CPC than LinkedIn Ads.

Conversion-ready audience

If you look up the word “Google” in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, you’ll find it’s now defined as a verb that means “to use the Google search engine and obtain information [about someone or something] on the World Wide Web.”

We might have even used it in this article already.

This is a testament to the world’s reliance on Google Search for information. With the right keywords, you can target a purchase-intent audience and increase your likelihood of a conversion.

Galik says it’s all about targeting in the right place at the right time:

“In a way, the audience has already been defined for you,” she says.

“If they are looking for a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and your ad for a CRM appears, you have met the needs of that consumer, whereas [on] LinkedIn, that guarantee does not exist.”

Resources and guidance

The topic of Google Ads has been discussed at length online, but the platform itself set up a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about Google Ads.

From campaign types to troubleshooting tips and best practices, Google Ads Help is a trove of platform resources.

The only downside is it could feel like information overload, especially if you’re new to the platform.

The bright side is you can connect with others who may have encountered similar challenges through the Google Ads Community. Or, you can access Google Support via the contact form.

What if you need a little extra help? Count on HawkSEM, a Google Premier Partner and veteran in the digital marketing agency, to deliver the results you deserve.

Diverse ad types

Google Ads offers a versatile arsenal of marketing campaign types, including search, display, video, and shopping. It also gives you various formats, such as text, image, video, and shopping ads.

Let’s say you’re a SaaS start-up that wants to boost brand awareness and drive more downloads of your mobile app. You can launch a Search campaign with targeted text ads to reach anyone who searches for similar apps.

At the same time, you can create eye-catching Discovery Ads to reach potential customers across Google’s vast network.

With Google Ads’ wide range, you can create a comprehensive marketing strategy that reaches your target audience at multiple touchpoints.

Google Ads: drawbacks

Learning curve

Google Ads might be easy to pick up for basic campaigns, but the learning curve gets considerably steeper for more advanced features, like remarketing and automation.

Plus, Google is constantly evolving and rolling out new updates.

To get the most out of your ad campaigns, you’ll need to continuously learn and adapt right along with it.

Fewer segmentation opportunities

Google has unparalleled reach and various ad types to help you achieve your marketing goals. That said, it doesn’t quite live up to LinkedIn’s granular segmentation options for B2B targeting.

With Google Ads, you have versatile segmentation options to reach intended audiences, like custom segments and retargeting lists. However, it takes a nuanced understanding of each to maximize effectiveness and reach the right people.

Steep competition

A key element in the keyword auction system is that it gives you the chance to improve rankings with the right bids. The higher you bid, the higher your likelihood of securing the top spots.

Over the years, the level of competition on Google Ads has risen considerably, with over 80% of businesses vying for leads on the same platform. It gets even more intense when even slight variations in ad placement can significantly impact CTR.

In an auction system where bids determine placement, an oversaturated market can work to your disadvantage.

More competition for prime positions drives up the average CPC, forcing you to ramp up your ad spend if you want to stay in the game.

Ad design and content limitations

Despite the wide assortment of ad types, the design options for different Google Ads are quite limited. This is because Google is pretty strict when it comes to ad design.

“In order to provide a quality user experience, Google requires that all ads, assets, and destinations meet high professional and editorial standards,” Google states on its website.

“We only allow ads that are clear, professional in appearance, and [can] lead users to content that is relevant, useful, and easy to interact with.”

Some examples include limited use of special symbols and emojis, character limitations, image formats, video length, and even restrictions in capitalization or punctuation. This can leave advertisers with a somewhat limited range of options for designing ads.

However, violate any of Google’s rules, and you risk your ad getting the boot.

LinkedIn Ads: benefits

In-depth targeting

If you’ve advertised on other social media platforms, like Facebook Ads, you’re probably familiar with their targeting options. For instance, you know you can target people based on demographics and interests.

However, as we’ve discussed, LinkedIn’s targeting options are far more comprehensive than any other ad platform, including Google Ads.

It lets you target audiences based on professional attributes, which can include their job functions, companies, degrees, and more.

User-friendly

With its Campaign Manager platform, LinkedIn makes it easy to kick off your first ad campaign.

This dashboard provides everything you need to get your campaigns up and running, from budget allocation to ad duration and everything in between. All it takes is these six steps:

• Choose your advertising objectives
• Select targeting criteria
• Select your ad format
• Set your budget and schedule
• Set up ad creatives
• Measure and optimize your results

High-value prospects

One of LinkedIn’s biggest perks is its audience, which consists of educated individuals with higher incomes than other social platforms.

For companies that operate in the B2B space, LinkedIn is the go-to channel to generate leads. Reason being? Since it’s a platform built for professionals, you can connect directly with key decision-makers and establish valuable relationships.

Plus, about 73% of members are open to receiving commercial messages from company reps and thought leaders, making it prime for B2B marketing.

Account-based marketing (ABM)

LinkedIn’s targeting options offer more than meets the eye, most notably its seamless integrations with ABM technologies, says Galik:

“These integrations allow businesses to integrate their accounts lists, CRM data, and other customer data directly into the LinkedIn Ads platform,” she explains.

This lets you use LinkedIn’s comprehensive personalization features to create tailored ads that target your intended audience with laser-sharp accuracy.

70% of brands experience a significant boost in brand awareness with an ABM strategy. With its full suite of ad options, LinkedIn Ads is the perfect platform for companies that want to invest more in ABM efforts.

Budget-conscious

Although LinkedIn Ads costs can surpass those of Google Ads, LinkedIn campaigns can still deliver a better return on investment (ROI) in the long run — when configured properly, that is.

As a results-based ad solution, LinkedIn also lets you adjust your budget based on campaign performance, giving you more control over your ad spend.

LinkedIn Ads: drawbacks

Niche audience

Since most LinkedIn members are business professionals, advertisers that want to target specific audiences are confined to this demographic. Sure, it’s an excellent audience for B2B marketing, but if you’re in, say, B2C?

Galik thinks you might find more success with Google Ads:

“LinkedIn allows you to target very niche audiences,” she explains.

“You get to pick who sees your ads. And for certain businesses, that could be the most important factor for your marketing strategy. Google Ads has a variety of channels to advertise on — Search, Display, YouTube, etc. — which in turn creates a larger audience opportunity.”

Non-buyers

On that same token, most people on LinkedIn are interested in career development, industry insights, and networking opportunities, rather than shopping.

It is a professional networking site, after all.

This is something to keep in mind as you deliberate which ad channel suits your needs best, especially if you plan to target buyers.

Higher CPC and associated costs

We know that LinkedIn Ads can be more expensive than Google Ads. And as we shared, each click costs up to $3.00, about 63.5% higher than the average CPC for Google Ads.

When you factor in the higher cost per 1,000 impressions and message ad fees, LinkedIn might not make the most sense for brands with a limited budget.

Limited reporting

Lastly, LinkedIn simply doesn’t hold a candle to Google Ads’ robust reporting capabilities, which sync with Google Analytics and other reporting tools for even greater insights.

Don’t get us wrong; LinkedIn Ads offer valuable data, but its built-in reporting dashboard is relatively basic. It lacks a deeper analysis compared to Google Ads and even Facebook Ads.

Google Ads vs. LinkedIn Ads cheat sheet: Which is right for you?

Google Ads or LinkedIn Ads? Figuring out which is best for your business doesn’t have to be a headache.

Here are a few considerations to help you determine which ad platform is the right fit for your brand:

1. Who’s your perfect customer?

• Business professionals and decision-makers? LinkedIn is where you’ll find your corporate audience and niche further down by job titles, industries, and other relevant criteria.
• Everybody and their grandma? With its massive reach across search, display, and video, Google Ads is your best bet to capture a wide range of potential customers.

2. Where is your customer in the buyer journey?

• Early stage (awareness/research)? Since Google is likely their first stop, Google Ads puts you front and center as potential customers type in questions and search for solutions to their pain points.

• Later stage (consideration/decision)? Use LinkedIn Ads to meet the shot-callers where they are and target them with messages that show them you’re the expert they need.

3. How creative do you want to get?

• Need tons of ad formats to play with? Google Ads has you covered with everything from text ads to shopping ads to videos on YouTube.
• More into simple, straightforward ads? LinkedIn Ads keeps it profesh with sponsored content, text ads, and messages for a more streamlined approach.

4. What’s your goal?

• High-volume lead gen? Google Ads can bring in more leads with its wide net, which makes it better for broader campaigns.
• High-quality B2B leads? LinkedIn Ads lets you zero in on decision-makers and influencers in your industry for higher-quality leads.

5. How much can you spend?

• Budget-conscious? Google Ads’ lower CPC makes it a budget-friendly option for maximizing your reach without breaking the bank.
• Down to pay a premium for better leads? LinkedIn’s higher cost often translates to more precise targeting and better-quality leads in B2B.

6. What kind of data do you want?

• Comprehensive site analytics? Google Ads integrates with Google Analytics to give you a complete picture of audience behavior and website performance.
• Want the lowdown on your audience’s careers? LinkedIn Ads’ reporting offers valuable details on professional demographics for more refined targeting and analysis of your ideal customer profiles (ICPs).

The takeaway

So, Google Ads vs. LinkedIn Ads: is one really superior to the other? There’s simply no one-size-fits-all answer, so it helps to take a look at your goals:

• Want to reel in a global audience of B2C customers? Google Ads will get your brand in front of the masses.
• Want to win over the C-suite and close B2B deals? LinkedIn Ads is your direct line to the top.

Your choice depends on a myriad of factors, including your budget, type of brand offerings, target audience, marketing goals, and more.

Our advice is to not limit marketing efforts to just one platform. Many B2C and B2B companies use Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads, as well as Instagram, Facebook, and other digital advertising avenues.

Galik puts it perfectly:

“For every business, regardless of channel, it takes the right marketing strategy [and marketing agency] to create optimal performance,” she says.

“The best way to promote a B2B or B2C product or service is through a marketing mix across multiple channels.“

When you diversify your paid search strategy, you unlock significant ROI potential. And if you partner with HawkSEM’s multi-platform experts, that means an average of 4.5X ROI and next-level growth.

Ready to craft a winning strategy? You know where to find us.

This post has been updated and was originally published in November 2020.