Google Ads vs. Google Search Console

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Ads
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Google Ads (formerly AdWords) is Google's pay-per-click online advertising program. With Google Ads users set their budget and choose where their ads appear in search listings, and on partner websites. Google Ads uses cost-per-click (CPC) bidding.
$500
in Ads credit in the first 60 days
Google Search Console
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Google Search Console is a search engine optimization software solution offered by Google.N/A
Pricing
Google AdsGoogle Search Console
Editions & Modules
Offer A
$500
in Ads credit in the first 60 days
Offer B
$1500
in Ads credit in the first 60 days
Offer C
$3000
in Ads credit in the first 60 days
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google AdsGoogle Search Console
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google AdsGoogle Search Console
Considered Both Products
Google Ads
Chose Google Ads
Audience demographic reach is more when compared to the microsoft advertising. Google has massive reach and high search volume. It has a very great ecosystem and ad formats which means it supports multiple systems and has various tools integration google analytics helps track …
Chose Google Ads
I find the Google products easier to use, and with the ease of use it is quicker to get my message out in front of my customer. I think with the other platforms we have also tried (Meta) that the approval process is so much longer that if you want to get something out NOW when …
Chose Google Ads
Google Ads is by far the best PPC advertising mechanism I've used especially when compared to the Microsoft/Bing platform. It's easier to navigate and the budgets are spent more effectively and efficiently. The display of the search results is easier to read and the quality of …
Chose Google Ads
Google Ads remains at the top advertising channel within our business for both lead volume and revenue generation, whilst maintaining a reasonable cost per lead (CPL). Both Meta Ads and Microsoft Ads have a much lower CPL, those channels don't contribute as much revenue and …
Chose Google Ads
Google Ads is one of the more advanced tools, all the above tools listed are great and provide very advanced features for advertising on those platforms. Usually a business would use multiple tools. Google Ads is great as it is very fined and established so you know what you …
Chose Google Ads
Google is a lot better at not just banning you for no reason. The platform is very intuitive and gets you in front of many people. Meta Ads is notorious for banning people and not giving them any reason. Google is very reasonable and has guidelines. Google clicks are also much …
Chose Google Ads
These are different channels, with different audiences and targeting options. It is important to first understand your objective, who you want to reach and at what stage of the journey.
Chose Google Ads
Well, I use Facebook/Meta pixels sometimes. But it is not as good as Google Ads. There are a lot of people searching on Google for good web development firms but how many are there finding the same sort of person on Facebook or Linkedin?
Thus, I like the abundance of users …
Chose Google Ads
It's gives me better results than the other platforms, cause by setting up keywords that are relevant to my business I can really target people who are actively searching for the topic. This really filters leads and brings better results.
Chose Google Ads
It is part of the Google suite of tools for content management for advertising and ads in the Google search engine.
Chose Google Ads
Google Ads is more robust and has more features as compared to Microsoft Advertising, aka Bing Ads. Google has better and more reach than other search engines in the market. Google stands well against all its competitors when it comes to media planning and buying. Go for it any …
Chose Google Ads
Google Ads can be more useful than LinkedIn & Facebook Ads because it is reaching a larger pool of users. Both platforms have even better/more targeting options, but they limit the amount of reach you will receive. Google Ads catches users at the top of the sales funnel.
Chose Google Ads
Google ads provide no customer service.
Chose Google Ads
We had to stop using Bing as the results were all over the place and so we couldn't trust the service.
Chose Google Ads
We have observed that the Bing Ads performs better than the Google Ads when we target the older audience. The cost per conversion is also better than the Google Ads on Bing because of low competition possibly. However, Google Ads is preferred by us mostly because of the …
Chose Google Ads
Google Ads clearly has high potential as more users search for their product when compared to other channels hence getting the desired audience.
Chose Google Ads
Neither platform seems to perform in my opinion. Google Ads is much more complicated while Facebook Ads are simpler to implement and run. No positive ROI on either though!
Chose Google Ads
We would use Facebook advertising often to generate strong reactions online. The benefit of using Google Ads is that people are always searching on Google and it's quick to pull your name first in a search ranking, where a majority of people are likely to click on compared to …
Chose Google Ads
In most cases, it's better between features, usability, performance (though Bing can sometimes cost less). Google is also smarter about its keywords. Bing is more similar to how Google was five or more years ago (needing to add variations to those keywords). I will say, though, …
Chose Google Ads
Google Ads is pretty strong when it comes to search and shopping campaigns. It's a great tool to target people who are ready to buy and actively looking for products we have to offer. On the other hand, Facebook has been a great tool for raising awareness, brand uplift, and …
Chose Google Ads
Other platforms like Facebook Business Manager or Twitter Ads do not allow the same level of optimization and control of targeting as Google Ads. In same cases it may have less reach, but being more precise is better to see a ROAS sooner.
Chose Google Ads
Google is the largest search engine with the most users so this is the first choice. Other advertising options can give results but not to the same degree that Google Ads does. They have a better platform than other types of platforms available. This makes it the best option …
Chose Google Ads
Google Ads has far more reach/audience capabilities than Microsoft Ads. More users use Google than Microsoft products.
Chose Google Ads
While it is still important to be present in those engines, Google Ads still offers the largest inventory, which helps reach more users and drive bigger volumes of conversions and achieve higher ROI.
Google Search Console
Chose Google Search Console
I think these tools are a lot better than GSC, to be honest, because they bring everything together in one place and offer better keyword analysis capabilities. However, I would select GSC over these tools because it is Google's proprietary data, and ultimately, I am optimizing …
Chose Google Search Console
It's a product from the same team as the no. 1 search engine. It's free, so there's no burden, and you can use it for as long as you want and for as big a company as possible. Others are very expensive, and data can be inaccurate sometimes. Google Analytics serves a different …
Chose Google Search Console
GSC does not give you as much information as a paid tool, but it does give you direct clicks to keywords which these other tools have no way of knowing.
Chose Google Search Console
Semrush, Ahrefs, Botify and Sistrix
Chose Google Search Console
Google Search Console needs to be used alongside other tools like that ones I mentioned. By itself, it's only able to provide basic information for baseline issues. Thankfully, it does integrate well with a lot of other services and can be useful when linked up to those tools. …
Chose Google Search Console
The best part about Google Search Console is it is FREE to use. However, the performance report shared by Google Search Console may not be as detailed as the one shared by Ubersuggest. Ubersuggest also has tons of other additional features and they have a free version too. I …
Chose Google Search Console
Bing helps us to submit websites to our bing search engine, manage sitemaps crawl status help to disallow URLs. However it is only for the Bing search engine, obviously, we need to use the Google search console for Google indexing.
Chose Google Search Console
The search console provides more detailed data on actual real-world performance. The search console also helps with submitting new websites for indexing whereas other tools only analyze existing SERP results. The search console also gives additional data of keywords that a page …
Chose Google Search Console
All of these other tools have positives and negatives. We use Google Search Console along with SEMRush in the past and are using it with Ahrefs right now. Search Console is like the foundation of monitoring our search presence and these other tools are what lets us do the heavy …
Chose Google Search Console
Semrush costs money to obtain the full range of data that Google Search Engine doesn't supply. Start with GSC and then move to Semrush, is my opinion.
Chose Google Search Console
Google uniquely provides specific data that is important for optimizing SEO and performance for websites. While it doesn't provide as comprehensive an analysis as other tools like Ahrefs and Moz, it provides Google performance-specific data that can't be found elsewhere. When …
Chose Google Search Console
I don't know other such tools.
Chose Google Search Console
The data is more accurate in Google Search Console and you can communicate back with Google using this tool.
Chose Google Search Console
If you need advanced SEO information, then of course you need to use expensive tools. Google console will give basic information, but most importantly, it will give promptly and free of charge. So do not ignore the possibilities of this great free tool, because all webmasters …
Chose Google Search Console
There is a lot to learn on how to do SEO properly. As a freelance photographer, I don't have enough time to do this properly. I usually use the options and tips that my web host (Squarespace) provides. It is much easier and simpler to use, but I am sure the results will not be …
Chose Google Search Console
We use both SEMrush and Google Search Console. Google Search Console and SEMrush share some similar features, but they're two very different software suites. SEMRush is a more robust platform for SEO and SEM. It offers a lot more features than Google Search Console, …
Chose Google Search Console
Although Statcounter is more like Google Analytics than Search Console, it still has a lot of overlap. Statcounter is relatively small, so it does not provide anywhere near the functions of SC. But, it's good to have a secondary source of traffic and other related data, one …
Chose Google Search Console
We are using Ahrefs and SEMRush along with the search console. Ahrefs helps in creating our backlink strategy while SEMRush for content gaps and opportunities. Search console is more preferred as it is completely free and data comes straight from Google. But you cannot see …
Chose Google Search Console
We also use SEMrush for our sites to get a better overall picture of our backlinks, keywords, rankings, etc for all our search engine optimization needs, but at a cost of $99/month, it can be quite expensive and does what Google Search Console does for free, albeit in a more …
Chose Google Search Console
Google Search Console offers more information than Google Analytics alone (though they can be integrated together). Google Search Console is also a free tool, so that can be an attractive facet when compared to Moz or other SEO programs (though the information provided is …
Chose Google Search Console
Google Search Console is obviously not as robust as a paid service like SEMRush, but it provides quick, easy, at-a-glance insights to make our jobs easier.
Chose Google Search Console
I wouldn't really call Google Search Console a competitor of these major SEO software that has backlink management, competitive research, keyword research, PPC research, and so much more a part of them. It's just a bare-bones SEO tool and sitemap submission specifically for …
Chose Google Search Console
Google Search Console does a lot more than most webmaster tools and is easier to navigate than Bing Webmaster Tools. One other tool that we predominately use is SerpCheetah, which provides real-time organic keyword positioning rank in the SERP and can be broken down by device, …
Features
Google AdsGoogle Search Console
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
7.1
Ratings
10% above category average
Google Search Console
-
Ratings
Ad campaign creation7.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad deployment7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Display advertising7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Sequence targeting6.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Contextual advertising7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Social advertising5.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
7.3
Ratings
6% above category average
Google Search Console
-
Ratings
Ad dashboards7.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad performance reports7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking7.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization6.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Auctions
Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
7.9
Ratings
6% below category average
Google Search Console
-
Ratings
Ad bidding7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
-
Ratings
Google Search Console
4.8
Ratings
46% below category average
Keyword analysis00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Backlink management00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Page grader00 Ratings3.30 Ratings
Competitive analysis00 Ratings1.30 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Site recommendations00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Task management00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
-
Ratings
Google Search Console
7.2
Ratings
5% below category average
Local SEO00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Social SEO00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Mobile SEO00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Global SEO00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
-
Ratings
Google Search Console
8.0
Ratings
5% below category average
Multi-domain support00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Integration with web analytics tools00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google AdsGoogle Search Console
Small Businesses
WordStream
WordStream
Score 6.9 out of 10
Nozzle
Nozzle
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
WordStream
WordStream
Score 6.9 out of 10
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
Dupli Checker (DupliChecker.com)
Dupli Checker (DupliChecker.com)
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google AdsGoogle Search Console
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.6
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.6
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
6.1
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google AdsGoogle Search Console
Likelihood to Recommend
Clients who are selling products such as dresses, clothes, jewelry, beauty products, etc., generally work well. Also, in some cases, it doesn't fetch a good ROAS for very small business owners. If a client is already doing well in SEO, the probability for it to perform well over Google Ads is always enhanced, and if it doesn't have a good organic reach, Google Ads also suffers.
Read full review
If you just want to understand how much traffic you're getting from Google organic search results, and study the queries and landing pages that make up this traffic, this is a great tool. If you also want to figure out where you may be missing opportunities or making it hard for people to find your site, this can help with that. However, GSC is not going to give you step by step instructions for how to fix SEO issues, and won't help prioritize anything either. It's essentially like a car dashboard, but doesn't do any driving or tell you how to drive.
Read full review
Pros
  • Keyword Research - Google Ads has a handy built in tool that helps determine important keywords to target both for Ads & SEO
  • Intuitive Analytics Dashboad - Google Ads makes it fairly simple to see and analyze important metrics on how your ads are running week after week
  • Intuitive Setup - Google Ads makes it easy to figure out how to run ads with little to no training (although training is highly recommended to run effective ads), as their interface is clean and easy to figure out (unlike competing products).
Read full review
  • Provides details on what other sites contain backlinks to your site, along with the page they direct to within your site
  • Displays impressions and click throughs for Google search queries
  • Individual page performance by location and device category as it pertains to generating clicks leading to your site
  • Basic indexing and readability issues within your site
  • The new interface that just rolled out is much easier on the eyes
Read full review
Cons
  • Google's heavy dependence on AI makes many of the campaign behavior inscrutable and, often, it performs poorly as a result.
  • Their responsive ads, for example, which are heavily recommended by them, often perform significantly worse than normal text ads.
  • Their support, while relatively quick, becomes useless if you need any deep insight/help.
Read full review
  • It can be a little difficult to navigate
  • More training resources would be an asset. A beginner is given the power to completely destroy a sites search results at the push of a button. Likewise it is a powerful tool to enhance search results also.
  • An option to take care of multiple versions of the same site simultaneously would be helpful. An option to use the same validation script across all versions and administer them simultaneously would be a time save (i.e. non-www, www, http://, and https:// versions of the same site).
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
As of today Google AdWords leads approximately 90% of paid searches globally. There is practically is no other network that can offer such a relevant and engaging audience at the price. The PPC model is also unique in that no media dollars are wasted, since PPC models ensure brand interaction versus traditional media which has heavy ad avoidance and clutter but still charges a hefty amount for ads.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Usability
This is more of a subjective rating, because I think it can be increased with how much our ad spend is. The more of an ad spend, the more visibility we can get, and therefore all features can climb. With an overall larger presence the usability is that where we can get messages out quick, and that's the main thing we try to do with our campaigns.
Read full review
It's easy to use, but some features are lacking a clear explanation. Somethings don't always match up. For example, the Core Web Vitals often doesn't match what you would see in the Chrome Lighthouse report or the Google Page Speed Insights tool. The tool itself is a little too basic and has to be used alongside other SEO tools and other Google properties such as Analytics
Read full review
Support Rating
We have not yet had an account rep who hasn't tried to bully me or other employees to raise our budgets. At the same time, several years ago, one attempted to help refine our ads and ended up changing the ads to be something we were not affiliated with
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As with all Google software, your primary source of help is their forums, their knowledge base articles, or whatever tutorials you can find on the web. Often answers on their forums are not straightforward and may not address the actual issue you're experiencing. The KB articles are typically written like instruction manuals - for better or for worse. Tutorials on the web may vary, but the odds are good someone out there had the same questions as you and was kind enough to document their experience.
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Online Training
Daily use with advanced account structures. Familiarity with reporting/api and complex setups.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Google Ads remains at the top advertising channel within our business for both lead volume and revenue generation, whilst maintaining a reasonable cost per lead (CPL). Both Meta Ads and Microsoft Ads have a much lower CPL, those channels don't contribute as much revenue and lead generation.
Read full review
It's a product from the same team as the no. 1 search engine. It's free, so there's no burden, and you can use it for as long as you want and for as big a company as possible. Others are very expensive, and data can be inaccurate sometimes. Google Analytics serves a different usecase altogether.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Once we got the hang of it and had everything setup, it was a great monthly expense that we could count on ROI from. Either by obtaining new customers or literally staying above our competition in search rankings.
  • We also started consulting on ads for customers and helping them set things up, which created a new revenue stream for us.
Read full review
  • It has helped a lot in optimizing our webpages for the right keywords.
  • It has an overall positive impact on our business in terms of better rankings and CTR.
  • After the successful submission of our sitemap, we saw a sudden boost in our SERPs.
Read full review
ScreenShots