Google Ads or Facebook ads for a countertop shop?
The question is usually framed as which one works. Both work. They do opposite jobs, fail in opposite ways, and demand completely different things from your shop after the lead arrives.
Google captures demand. Meta creates it. Google reaches people already searching for countertops - warmer leads, fewer of them, and every shop in town bidding for the same clicks. Meta reaches people who were not looking - far more volume, usually cheaper per lead, colder, and punishing if you reply slowly. Most small shops get more jobs per dollar from Meta. Most get better leads from Google.
The difference that decides everything
On Google, somebody has typed "quartz countertops near me". They have already decided they want new countertops; the only question is who does it. You are buying a place in a decision that is already happening.
On Meta, somebody is looking at photos of their friend's holiday and you put a beautiful kitchen in front of them. They had not decided anything. You are buying attention and turning it into a decision.
Every practical difference below follows from that one distinction.
Side by side
| Google Ads | Meta (Facebook & Instagram) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | Existing intent | Attention, converted to intent |
| Lead temperature | Warm - actively shopping | Cooler - was not looking |
| Cost per lead | Usually higher | Usually lower |
| Volume available in one city | Capped by search volume | Effectively uncapped |
| Competition | Every shop bidding the same terms | Whoever else wants that feed slot |
| How fast you must reply | Fast | Very fast - the interest fades |
| Creative required | Text, mostly | Real photos of finished work |
| Time to become efficient | Slower - needs keyword pruning | Faster, if the creative is good |
| Works with no reviews yet | Harder - people check | Easier - you control the story |
| Best single feature | Local Services Ads: pay per lead | The product is visual and this is a visual feed |
The case for Google
Intent is genuinely valuable. A lead who typed "granite countertop installers" into Google this morning is closer to a signed job than someone who liked a photo, and that shows up in booking rates.
Local Services Ads are the part worth knowing about. They appear above normal search ads, carry a Google Guaranteed badge after a background and licensing check, and - crucially - charge per lead rather than per click. For a trade business that is a much better shape of risk, and disputed leads can be challenged. Availability varies by country and service category, so confirm that countertop or stone work is eligible where you are before building a plan around it.
The honest limitation is arithmetic. Only so many people in your city search for countertops in a given month, and that number does not grow because you want more work. Once you are capturing most of that demand, more budget buys you nothing - you have bought the whole market. For a shop that wants to double, Google alone usually cannot get you there.
The case for Meta
Countertops suit a visual feed unusually well. It is a product people fall in love with by looking at it, in a room they already resent, and the purchase is far more emotional than a trade business usually admits. A photograph of a finished waterfall island does work that no text ad can do.
The audience is also not capped. Everyone in your service area who owns a kitchen is reachable, which is why volume and cost per lead are usually better.
Our own figures, from BedRock Countertops in Calgary - our own shop, which is why we have the numbers at all:
Roughly $1,440 in ad spend over a 30-day window. One shop, one city, one month. That is a data point, not an industry benchmark, and we will not present it as one. Your market, material mix and follow-up will move all three numbers.
It is almost never the targeting and almost never the platform. It is the ninety minutes between the form being submitted and someone replying.
A Google lead who is actively shopping will tolerate a wait. A Meta lead was not looking for you, felt a flicker of interest, and that flicker has a short life. The odds of qualifying a lead fall 21-fold between a 5-minute and a 30-minute reply - see the research on response time. If you cannot answer within minutes, including in the evening, Meta will look like it does not work when what is not working is the handover.
Which to start with
- You have almost no reviews and no website worth sending traffic to: neither yet. Finish the Google Business Profile and get reviews from your last ten jobs first. Ads amplify what already exists, including the nothing.
- You need work in the next fortnight and have capacity now: Local Services Ads if they are available for your category. You pay per lead, they are high intent, and setup is quicker than a search campaign.
- You want steady volume and you can reply fast: Meta. Most small shops find more jobs per dollar here, and the ceiling is much higher.
- You are already capturing the search demand and want to grow beyond it: add Meta. This is the most common reason a shop needs the second channel.
- You cannot answer the phone in the evening, and nothing will: fix that before spending anything. It is the cheapest improvement available and it changes what every other channel is worth.
How much to spend
Two constraints, and the second is the one shops forget.
The first is your break-even. Break-even cost per lead = gross profit per job × share of leads that become jobs. If you do not have those two inputs, work out your gross profit per job first, because without it you cannot tell a good channel from a bad one.
The second is install capacity. Leads you cannot template within a couple of weeks go cold, and you have already paid for them. A shop that can install four kitchens a week should not be buying enough leads for eight. Scale the budget to the saw, not to the ambition.
Running both
Shops with the budget for it usually should, because the two channels reach the same homeowner at different moments and the leads behave differently enough to be worth managing separately. Track cost per lead and, more importantly, cost per booked measure for each - the channel with the cheaper leads is not always the channel with the cheaper jobs, and measure rate is where that shows up.
For how these rank against the free and cheap channels, see where countertop leads actually come from, which puts paid ads and Google Business Profile at the top for a small shop and lead marketplaces close to last.
We run managed Meta ads as part of what we sell, so we have an obvious bias toward the channel our own numbers come from. Read the Meta section with that in mind. We do not run Google Ads for customers, which means we have no commercial reason to talk it down - and we would still tell a shop with no reviews and no evening cover to spend nothing on either until that is fixed. See the order of operations.
Common questions
Should a countertop shop use Google Ads or Facebook ads?
They do different jobs. Google captures people already searching, so leads are warmer and fewer and every shop bids for the same clicks. Meta reaches people who were not looking, so volume is much larger and cost per lead usually lower, but leads are colder and follow-up speed matters far more. Most small shops get more jobs per dollar from Meta; most get better leads from Google.
Why are Facebook leads cheaper?
Because you are not competing for scarce high-intent searches. Only a limited number of people search for countertop installers in your city each month and every shop bids on them, which sets the price. On Meta the pool is everyone in your area who might want a new kitchen, with much less competition for that moment of attention.
What are Local Services Ads?
Ads that sit above normal Google search ads and charge per lead rather than per click, with a Google Guaranteed badge after a background and licensing check. For trades they are often the best-value part of Google, since you pay for a contact and can dispute bad leads. Availability varies by country and category, so check eligibility for stone or countertop work in your area.
How much should I spend to start?
Enough to generate a meaningful number of leads in about a month, capped by what your install capacity can absorb. Capacity is the constraint shops forget - leads you cannot template within a fortnight go cold and you have paid for them anyway. Work out your break-even cost per lead first: gross profit per job multiplied by the share of leads that become jobs.
Do Facebook ads still work for countertops?
Yes, and the format suits the product because it is visual and the purchase is emotional. The usual failure is not the platform but the handover: a cold lead that waits hours for a reply is wasted, and that is where the money goes rather than in the ad account.