If you sell physical products, at some point you'll face a version of this question: Amazon or Google? Both platforms can put your products in front of people who are actively ready to buy. Both are worth serious consideration. But they work in fundamentally different ways, and the right answer depends heavily on your business model, your margins, and where you are in your growth journey.

This isn't a case of one being better than the other. It's a case of understanding what each platform actually does, where it excels, and — critically — what it costs you beyond the ad spend itself.

How each platform works

Google Shopping

Google Shopping ads appear at the top of Google search results when someone searches for a product — displaying an image, price, product name, and retailer. They're driven by a product feed submitted via Google Merchant Centre, with campaign management handled through Google Ads.

When someone clicks a Google Shopping ad, they're taken directly to your website — your own product page, your own checkout, your own customer relationship. Google takes a cut of your ad spend. You keep the customer.

Performance Max has become the dominant campaign type for Shopping in recent years, running product ads across Google's full inventory — Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, and Gmail — from a single campaign. Standard Shopping campaigns still exist and offer more control, and are worth running alongside PMax for high-priority products.

Amazon Ads

Amazon advertising works differently at a fundamental level. You're not driving traffic to your own website — you're competing for visibility within Amazon's marketplace. Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads all appear on Amazon itself, and when someone clicks, they go to your Amazon product listing.

The key distinction is that Amazon is both the advertising platform and the retailer. You're paying to be visible in a place where Amazon also takes a referral fee on every sale, charges for fulfilment if you're using FBA, and controls the customer data. Amazon knows who bought from you. You don't — at least not in any meaningful way you can act on.

That said, Amazon's buyer intent is arguably unmatched. When someone searches on Amazon, they're almost always ready to buy. The conversion rates reflect that.

The intent question: where are buyers in their journey?

Both platforms capture high purchase intent — people actively searching for products to buy. But there's a meaningful difference in the nature of that intent.

Google searches span a wider spectrum. Someone searching 'best running shoes for flat feet' might be researching. Someone searching 'buy Brooks Ghost 16 size 10' is almost certainly ready to purchase. Google Shopping captures both ends of that spectrum, which is why match type and negative keyword management matters so much.

Amazon searches tend to sit further down the funnel. When someone opens Amazon and types 'protein powder unflavoured 1kg', they're not researching — they're shopping. The platform is built for buying, and the user behaviour reflects that. This is one of the reasons Amazon typically delivers stronger direct conversion rates for product-level searches.

The practical implication: if your goal is capturing demand at the point of purchase for established product categories, Amazon is often more efficient. If you're trying to reach people earlier in the journey, build brand awareness, or capture research-phase traffic that you can then retarget, Google gives you far more to work with.

The true cost of each platform

This is where many comparisons fall short — they focus on CPC or ROAS without accounting for the full picture.

Google Shopping costs

With Google Shopping, your costs are primarily your ad spend. You set the budget, you control the bids, and you pay Google for the clicks. Beyond that, you need a functional website, a properly configured Google Merchant Centre feed, and someone to manage the campaigns. There are no platform referral fees on top of the ad spend.

Your margin on a Google Shopping sale is essentially: product margin minus ad spend for that sale. Straightforward.

Amazon Ads costs

Amazon's cost structure is considerably more layered. On top of your Sponsored Products ad spend, you'll typically be paying:

  • Amazon referral fees — typically 8–15% of the sale price depending on category
  • FBA fulfilment fees if you're using Amazon's warehouse and logistics network
  • Storage fees if stock sits in Amazon's fulfilment centres for extended periods
  • Potential subscription fees for a Professional Seller account

For some products, these combined costs mean Amazon is only viable at higher price points, or requires careful margin management to remain profitable. The headline ROAS from Amazon Ads can look strong whilst the actual profit per unit is thin. Always model the full cost stack before drawing conclusions.

Brand building: one platform gives you the customer, the other lends them to you

This is one of the most important strategic differences between the two platforms, and it's often underweighted in the comparison.

When someone buys through Google Shopping, they come to your website. They see your brand, your content, your experience. You get their email address. You can retarget them, email them, build a relationship with them. Over time, you're building an asset — a customer base that knows and trusts you.

When someone buys through Amazon, they buy from Amazon. They might not even notice your brand name. Amazon holds the customer relationship. You can't email them, you can't retarget them, and if Amazon changes its algorithm or fee structure, your business is directly exposed. You're building volume — but not necessarily an asset.

This doesn't make Amazon the wrong choice — for many product businesses, the volume and conversion rates justify the trade-off. But it's worth going in with eyes open about what you're getting and what you're giving up.

When Amazon Ads is the right choice

Amazon advertising tends to make most sense when:

  • You're already selling on Amazon and need to improve your organic ranking — Sponsored Products ads drive sales velocity, which in turn improves organic position
  • Your product category has strong Amazon search volume and established buyer behaviour on the platform
  • Your margins can absorb Amazon's fee structure and still remain profitable
  • You want access to a large, purchase-ready audience without the overhead of building and maintaining your own e-commerce infrastructure
  • You're a brand that can compete on price, reviews, and listing quality in a competitive marketplace

When Google Shopping is the right choice

Google Shopping tends to make more sense when:

  • You sell direct-to-consumer via your own website and want to own the customer relationship
  • Your products are differentiated — bespoke, branded, or not widely available on Amazon — where the comparison shopping environment works in your favour
  • You want to build retargeting audiences and grow a customer base over time
  • Your category is well-searched on Google but your competitors aren't dominating Amazon
  • You want cleaner data and more control over where your ad spend goes and how it's measured

Can you run both at the same time?

Yes — and for many product brands, that's the right long-term answer. Amazon captures high-intent buyers within the marketplace. Google Shopping drives traffic to your own site, builds your customer base, and gives you richer data and retargeting capability. They're not mutually exclusive, and they often complement each other.

The practical challenge is budget. If you're working with limited spend, trying to do both properly is difficult — you risk doing neither particularly well. In that situation, the better approach is to pick one, build a strong foundation, and expand from a position of confidence rather than spreading thinly across two platforms from day one.

The right starting point depends on where your products are currently listed, what your margins look like, and where the most immediate opportunity sits. That's a conversation worth having before committing budget.

The bottom line

Amazon Ads and Google Shopping are both powerful — but they serve different purposes, carry different cost structures, and produce different kinds of business outcomes. Choosing between them isn't about which platform is objectively better. It's about which one fits your business model, your margins, and your goals right now.

If you're a product brand trying to work out where your budget should go — or you're already spending on one platform and wondering whether the other deserves a share — get in touch. We work across both and can give you a clear-eyed view of what makes sense for your specific ecommerce paid media situation.

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