Google Ads VS Amazon Ads - Which one is the best for your e-commerce business?

Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of PPC advertising? Well, let me be your guide! As an experienced digital marketer, I'm excited to share my extensive experiences and insights on Amazon Ads and Google Ads with you.

Over the past 6 years, I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing companies and learn from the best in the business. One such company is Digital Mesh, where I spent 5.5 years honing my skills and expertise in the world of digital advertising.

As you read through my article, you'll discover valuable information that I've gathered through years of experimentation, analysis, and execution. I'm confident that you'll find my insights useful and informative, and I invite you to engage with me in the comment section.

If you have any questions or want to contribute your own experiences, please don't hesitate to comment below. I'm excited to hear from you and collaborate to make this article a valuable resource for everyone interested in PPC advertising.

Advertising Platforms: Google vs Amazon

Choosing the appropriate platform for advertising products can be a crucial factor for e-commerce store owners in determining the success of their business. With multiple locations available to promote their latest offers, the decision can be challenging. Google Ads, a well-known advertising giant, offers extensive reach and access to various demographics. E-commerce companies can use various ad types such as Google Shopping Ads and Search Ads to enhance their online presence. However, Amazon Ads are gaining popularity due to their impressive conversion insights and ability to target customers searching for specific products. Each platform has its own strengths and limitations, so it's essential to consider the differences before deciding on the best one for your campaigns. In this article, we will take a look at the pros and cons of both platforms to help you decide which one is the best for your e-commerce business.

The effectiveness of Amazon or Google for a business depends on the business's niche and target audience. Before launching a paid advertising campaign, it's important to develop a strategy and optimize it for revenue growth. In essence, the choice between Amazon Ads and Google Ads is heavily influenced by the objectives of the business and its target audience. If the business sells products on Amazon and aims to increase sales on the platform, Amazon Ads could be the preferred choice. On the other hand, if the goal is to attract a wider audience and drive traffic to a website, Google Ads may be more suitable. Ultimately, it's recommended to consider both platforms and conduct testing to determine which platform delivers the best outcomes for the business.

Audience & Demographic Targeting:

Audience targeting is an essential aspect of any advertising campaign, as it enables you to reach the right people with your message. The more accurately you can target your audience, the more likely you are to see success with your advertising efforts.

With Amazon Advertising, you can target your ads to customers who have previously shown an interest in specific categories. For example, if you sell technology products, you can target your ads to customers who have previously shown an interest in technology products. This interest-based targeting can help you reach customers who are more likely to be interested in your products and therefore more likely to convert.

Additionally, Amazon allows you to target specific categories on the platform, which can help ensure that your ads are seen by customers who are interested in similar products to yours. For example, if you sell clothing, you can target your ads to the "Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry" category on Amazon, which can help ensure that your ads are seen by customers who are interested in buying clothing.

Google Ads, on the other hand, offers a broader range of audience targeting options. In addition to demographic targeting based on factors like location, age, and gender, Google Ads allows you to use affinity targeting to reach customers with broad interests. For example, if you sell outdoor gear, you can use affinity targeting to reach customers with a broad interest in outdoor activities like hiking and camping.

Google Ads also allows you to use similar audiences to reach customers who are similar to those who have previously viewed your ads or visited your website. In-market targeting can help you reach customers who are actively researching or shopping for products similar to yours.

Ultimately, both Amazon Advertising and Google Ads offer powerful audience targeting options that can help you reach the right customers for your business. The best approach depends on your business objectives, target audience, and the products or services you offer.

Automatic Targeting:

The option of automatic targeting is available on both Amazon and Google Ads, which can help you in finding the right audience with ease. On Amazon, the automatic targeting strategy involves Amazon making the decision on where and when to place your ad based on the keywords it identifies from your product listing's title, description, and other sections. This is a useful strategy for PPC campaigns, especially if you're unsure about which keywords to use or which bidding strategy to apply.

In contrast, Google Ads' automatic targeting feature is available for the display network. This feature allows Google to display ads to audiences that are similar to the one you have specified in your targeting. You can choose between conservative or aggressive automation based on your requirements. With the conservative option, Google finds potential customers based on historical data, without going over your cost per customer. On the other hand, the aggressive option targets a higher number of people at an increased cost.

Both platforms' automatic targeting strategies can help you reach potential customers without going through the hassle of manually selecting keywords or audiences. However, it is still recommended that you review and adjust your campaigns regularly to ensure that you are getting the best results possible.

Keyword Targeting:

Both Amazon and Google Ads provide advertisers the ability to target their ads to specific audiences using keywords. The difference between them is the keyword match types available.

With Amazon, advertisers can choose from the broad match, phrase match, and exact match, and no specific formatting is required for each type. When adding new keywords, advertisers just need to add the specific match type they want.

On the other hand, Google Ads offers broad match, phrase match, exact match, negative keywords, and broad match modifier. However, using these match types requires proper formatting for each keyword added to the list. This means that advertisers may need more training and practice to use keyword targeting effectively on Google Ads compared to Amazon.

In summary, both platforms offer keyword targeting, but Amazon's interface is more straightforward with fewer options, while Google Ads offers more advanced options that require more skill and experience to use effectively.

Product Targeting:

In terms of product targeting, Amazon has a unique advantage over Google Ads. Amazon’s product targeting feature lets advertisers target specific products, brands, price points, and ratings. This is especially useful for businesses that want to capture the attention of customers looking for a particular product. Advertisers can use this feature to target ads to customers who have viewed specific products or to those who are searching for similar items on Amazon.

On the other hand, Google Ads does not offer a product targeting option, but it provides other alternatives. For example, advertisers can use custom intent audiences, topics, or similar audiences to target customers who have shown interest in a specific product or service. Custom intent allows advertisers to reach customers who are searching for products or services that are similar to what they offer. Topics targeting is based on website content, while similar audiences allow advertisers to target customers who have shown interest in products or services similar to theirs.

In summary, while Google Ads provides options for advertisers to target specific audiences, Amazon’s product targeting feature is a unique advantage for businesses looking to target customers based on their interest in a particular product or brand.

Automated Bidding:

Automated bidding is a feature provided by both Amazon and Google to simplify the bidding process and maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your ad campaigns. With Amazon, you can choose between dynamic bidding and placed bid adjustments. Dynamic bidding allows Amazon to increase or decrease your bid automatically to win sales or increase brand awareness. Placed bid adjustments enable Amazon to adjust bids for sponsored products automatically based on the competition level for the product's ad placement. Additionally, Amazon offers a simple cost-per-click (CPC) bidding strategy for more control over your ad spend.

On the other hand, Google offers a wide range of automated bidding options, such as enhanced CPC, ROAS targeting, and CPA targeting. Enhanced CPC automatically adjusts your bids to maximize clicks and conversions while staying within your set budget. ROAS targeting allows Google to manage your bids to achieve the best return on ad spend (ROAS) for your campaign. CPA targeting optimizes your bids to acquire new customers at the lowest possible cost per acquisition.

Automated bidding can save you time and effort by allowing the ad platform to manage your bids for you, based on your desired outcomes. It's worth noting that while automated bidding can be effective, it's important to monitor your campaigns regularly to ensure they are meeting your goals and adjust your bidding strategy.

Manual Bidding:

Google and Amazon also offer a manual bidding strategy, which allows advertisers to set and adjust their own bid amounts for keywords and products which can be an effective way to have more control over your ad spend and ensure you’re getting the best value for your budget.

In Amazon Advertising, manual bidding is available for sponsored products, sponsored brands, and sponsored display campaigns. With manual bidding, you set the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each click on your ad. This allows you to control your ad spend and ensure that you’re not paying more than you want to for each click.

Amazon also offers bid adjustments for targeting specific audiences, such as by location or device. This allows you to fine-tune your bidding strategy based on the specific audience you want to target.

In Google Ads, manual bidding is available for all campaign types. You can set bids at the campaign, ad group, or keyword level, allowing you to control your ad spend at a granular level. Google also offers bid adjustments for targeting specific audiences, such as by location, device, or time of day.

One unique feature of manual bidding in Google Ads is the ability to use bid simulators to help determine the best bid for your ad. The bid simulator tool provides estimates of the number of clicks, impressions, and cost for a given bid, which can help you make more informed decisions about your bidding strategy.

Overall, manual bidding can be a powerful tool in both Amazon and Google advertising. It allows you to have greater control over your ad spend and optimize your campaigns for maximum effectiveness.

Advertising Cost:

Both Amazon and Google allow you to set a maximum budget for your ad campaign, which can help you keep your costs under control. However, Amazon also requires you to set a minimum bid for each campaign, which is the minimum amount you are willing to pay for each click on your ad. If you set a bid that is too low, your ad may not appear in front of your target audience.

In contrast, Google doesn't have a minimum bid requirement, but your ad spend will directly impact your ad's performance. This is because Google uses an ad auction system that takes into account your maximum bid, ad relevance, and expected click-through rate to determine the Ad Rank of your ad. The Ad Rank determines where your ad will appear on the search engine results page or other platforms, such as the Google Display Network.

Both Amazon and Google offer different bidding strategies to help you optimize your ad performance. These strategies use data and algorithms to automatically adjust your bids based on your advertising goals, such as maximizing conversions or achieving a target return on investment (ROI). However, manual bidding is also available on both platforms, allowing you to set bids manually based on your specific needs and goals.

In summary, while Amazon requires a minimum bid for each campaign, Google doesn't have such a requirement but uses your bid to determine your ad's position on the search engine results page. Both platforms offer different bidding strategies, including manual bidding, to help you achieve your advertising goals.

The Final Verdict:

Both Google Ads and Amazon Ads can be effective advertising platforms for e-commerce businesses, but they have different strengths and target different areas.

Google Ads can be beneficial for building brand awareness and reaching a broader demographic. Google's search network and display network give businesses the opportunity to reach potential customers across the internet. In addition, Google Ads' various targeting options allow businesses to hone in on specific demographics or customer behaviors that align with their products or services.

On the other hand, Amazon Ads is more focused on driving sales and conversions. Amazon is a popular platform for customers who are already in the buying process, which means businesses have the potential to reach customers who are further along in the sales funnel. Additionally, Amazon's advertising options allow businesses to target specific products, brands, and price points, which can be helpful for businesses with a particular niche or market.

Ultimately, the ideal strategy for an e-commerce business will depend on their goals and budget. Using both platforms can provide businesses with a comprehensive advertising strategy that targets both brand awareness and sales.