Google Ads vs. Google Analytics

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Ads
Score 8.3 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 Analytics
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Google Analytics is perhaps the best-known web analytics product and, as a free product, it has massive adoption. Although it lacks some enterprise-level features compared to its competitors in the space, the launch of the paid Google Analytics Premium edition seems likely to close the gap.
$150,000
per year
Pricing
Google AdsGoogle Analytics
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
Google Analytics 360
150,000
per year
Google Analytics
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google AdsGoogle Analytics
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google AdsGoogle Analytics
Considered Both Products
Google Ads
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
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.
Chose Google Ads
Facebook can be less expensive but everyone uses Google, so you have to run ads on Google. Other search engines also have similar features. The traffic on Google is significantly higher than its competition. Facebook ads can be an alternative but it doesn't quite work like a …
Chose Google Ads
I have used all forms of online ad platforms. In my experience, Google is by far the most expensive on a per-click and per-impression basis. None of these major players have much or any concern for small businesses.
Chose Google Ads
Everyone uses Google. They have and will always be the leader when it comes to search engines. Not only was Bing Ads more difficult to use, but the results didn't even come close to what we were (are) getting from Google Ads. It also seemed easier to get support from Google …
Google Analytics
Chose Google Analytics
Wix and other website platforms have a built-in analytic tool, but it is not as sufficient as Google Analytics, so I always use GA as the main source of information about sales. Most of the analytic tools on web platforms can't visualize user flows, which is very important when …
Chose Google Analytics
The entry threshold is lower and Google Analytics can be used to grant access even to technically intermediate users who can draw basic conclusions on their own.
Chose Google Analytics
We use google analytics instead of other tools for customer usage data and behavioral. It is better to connect with some sources.
Chose Google Analytics
Adobe analytics is better in almost all aspects except for it's complexity in implementation.
Chose Google Analytics
Microsoft Clarity is speedy, extremely tidy, and straight to the point, and it contains everything a SME would need to maintain a healthy SEO without the need for technical understanding; its UI is far superior to GA, and it also provides additional capabilities like as …
Chose Google Analytics
Webtrends as a platform is older than Google Analytics and still quite good. If you have a company that is used to using Webtrends, it's likely still a good fit for you. Google Analytics has a lower entry cost and more accessible training to new Users, so that's why I would …
Chose Google Analytics
Adobe Analytics is good but it is more suited to people who are fully and technically into reporting and the solutions it provides. Google Analytics on the other hand provides a much easier way of setting up the Analytics. Most of the data reporting, charts and visualisations …
Chose Google Analytics
Ease of use: Google Analytics is known for its user-friendly interface and straightforward setup process, making it accessible for beginners. Adobe Analytics has a steeper learning curve and requires more technical expertise.
Features: Adobe Analytics offers a more comprehensive …
Chose Google Analytics
Universal GA is free to use, offers a good amount of data, and is relatively easy to use. Other products may not offer the detail needed (Google Tag Manager), or require payment (Adobe Target)
Chose Google Analytics
Google tag manager is the best tool to use with Google analytics as it provides more in-depth analysis where users interact on the website.
Chose Google Analytics
Built-in reports are beneficial but you can create custom reports if you need more details with different dimensions and metrics it also provides insights which is just little data about your site traffic in sentence format its the best way to know which strategy you are on …
Chose Google Analytics
Adobe and Google Analytics are fairly similar. Google Analytics was more widely known among my team. Most of us have used it in some capacity in the past. It's also easy to navigate, and there are loads of free training out there on how to use the platform.
Chose Google Analytics
Google provides a wide suite of products that all tie into Google Analytics. Some that I use most often are Tag Manager, Ads and Datastudio. All of these connect directly with Analytics and allow me to accomplish my goals. For example, Ads will connect and show me what Ads are …
Chose Google Analytics
I have not used Adobe Analytics as much, but I know they offer something called customer journey analytics, which we are evaluating now.
I have used Semrush, and I find them much better than Google Analytics. I feel a fairly nontechnical person could learn Semrush in about a …
Chose Google Analytics
Adobe Analytics and Google Analytics 360 are both paid/premium options for website tracking. Though there are certain use cases when these might make sense (you operate entirely in the Adobe suite, you're a massive company/site that doesn’t mind the price tag on Google …
Chose Google Analytics
Google Analytics provides everything you need in terms of straight forward analytics needs. The tool is not very flexible compared to other software such as adobe, and if you want to upgrade to premium or add in a bunch of custom situations, that can be become very [tedious] …
Chose Google Analytics
Google Analytics had the best price (it's free for major of our clients), and it was easy to find professionals that had experience on using it.
Chose Google Analytics
Google Analytics is easy to use and widespread, it's a must-have software for all businesses. The price point compared to other software that we use is very reasonable, and the suite of services and training tools/certifications available for free is hard for other software …
Chose Google Analytics
Adobe Analytics has been in the market for a long time; some people still know it as Omniture or SiteCatalyst. It seems that some great ideas from Google Analytics, such as Enhanced Ecommerce and the new way of measuring events with GA4, are adapted from the traditional Adobe …
Chose Google Analytics
GA will always have an advantage with data, because it's the source, but other companies do a better job of specializing in certain areas or providing better UX/UI. HubSpot is the king of the latter and SEMrush is ideal for making organic improvements based on data. Ahrefs are …
Chose Google Analytics
We have been using Adobe Analytics for a while but the system seemed to be more complex when compared to super user friendly Google Analytics. Moreover, the option to add custom metrics and dimensions is lacking in Adobe Analytics. Google Analytics is good with transactional …
Chose Google Analytics
Google Analytics is really unique so it's hard to have competitors - especially when Google Analytics is free (unless you are part of a huge company so in the case you will need the Premium version). Other products like SemRush are good as third party tools and figure out the …
Chose Google Analytics
I used Facebook Analytics for mobile and web games but Facebook Analytics was discontinued. Google Analytics is more universal and is suitable for both web and native mobile applications. Facebook Analytics is more suitable for apps and games on web and mobile. For mobile …
Chose Google Analytics
[Google Analytics] provides a broader appeal, combining what would usually require several different platforms, and as such is a bit of a jack of all trades in comparison, although often to a "good enough" level. If there is a particular aspect that you then find you would like …
Features
Google AdsGoogle Analytics
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
3.8
Ratings
5% below category average
Google Analytics
-
Ratings
Ad campaign creation2.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad deployment2.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Display advertising9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation8.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Sequence targeting1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Contextual advertising2.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Social advertising1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
6.3
Ratings
19% above category average
Google Analytics
-
Ratings
Ad dashboards2.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad performance reports9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization2.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Auctions
Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
7.0
Ratings
3% above category average
Google Analytics
-
Ratings
Ad bidding7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Web Analytics
Comparison of Web Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Google Ads
-
Ratings
Google Analytics
8.2
Ratings
2% above category average
Lead Conversion Tracking00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Bounce Rate Measurement00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Device and Browser Reporting00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Pageview Tracking00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Event Tracking00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Reporting in real-time00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Referral Source Tracking00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Customizable Dashboards00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google AdsGoogle Analytics
Small Businesses
WordStream
WordStream
Score 6.9 out of 10
StatCounter
StatCounter
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
WordStream
WordStream
Score 6.9 out of 10
Siteimprove
Siteimprove
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.6 out of 10
Optimal
Optimal
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google AdsGoogle Analytics
Likelihood to Recommend
5.7
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.6
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
1.0
(0 ratings)
7.5
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
1.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google AdsGoogle Analytics
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.
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Honesty, there is no reason that a company wouldn’t want to implement Google Analytics. The regular version is completely free, is very easy to configure, and provides immense volumes of website data. There are also tangible benefits to the other Google tools it can connect to, and it integrates with any BI/data platform that you might use. The only time I’d advise not using standard Google Analytics is if you’ve purchased Google Analytics 360.
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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
  • Multiple reports to see website use and behavior
  • Allows you to customize reports with days, weeks, months, and years
  • You can build out a dashboard to easily view stats from multiple websites in one place
  • You can share analytics reports via the dashboard, automatically emailed PDFs or in other formats
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
  • While raw data is nice to have, I do wish there was an easier way to provide reports from Google Analytics directly. Something that could answer questions straight-forward for people.
  • I would appreciate "helpful hints" or a cheat sheet of some sort, so when quickly searching for something such as time on a certain page, I can find it quickly.
  • I really don't have a third point!
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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.
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Having used Google Analytics for the last 9 years, I have no intention of discontinuing my service. Google Analytics is a fantastic product that provides me with almost everything I could wish for. The positives in this product outweigh any negatives that you might find. I can not think of a single reason to not immediately start using Google Analytics for your business.
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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.
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Google Analytics provides a wealth of data, down to minute levels. That is it's greatest detriment: find the right information when you need it can be a cumbersome task. You are able to create shortcuts, however, so it can mitigate some of this problem. Google is continually refining Analytics, so I do not doubt there will be improvements
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
We all know Google is at top when it comes to availability. We have never faced any such instances where I can suggest otherwise. All you need is a Google account, a device and internet connection to use this super powerful tool for reporting and visualising your site data, traffic, events, etc. that too in real time.
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Performance
No answers on this topic
This has been a catalyst for improving our site's traffic handling capabilities. We were able to identify exit% from our sites through it and we used recommendations to handle and implement the same in our sites. We have been increasing the usage of Google Analytics in our sites and never had any performance related issues if we used Analytics
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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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The Google reps respond very quickly. However, sometimes they can overly call you to set up an apportionment. I'm very proficient and sometimes when I talk to reps, they give beginner tutorials and insights that are a waste of time. I wish Google would understand my level of expertise and assign me to a rep (long-term) that doesn't have to walk me through the basics.
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Online Training
Daily use with advanced account structures. Familiarity with reporting/api and complex setups.
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love the product and training they provide for businesses of all sizes. The following list of links will help you get started with Google Analytics from setup to understanding what data is being presented by Google Analytics.
  1. How to Use Google Analytics for Beginners – Mahalo’s how-to guide for beginners.
  2. A beginner’s guide to Google Analytics – A free eBook walking you through Google Analytics from setup to understanding what data is being presented.
  3. Getting to Know Your Google Analytics Dashboard – The title says it all! This is a brief post with one goal: to introduce you to the Google Analytics dashboard.
  4. Google Analytics for Beginners: How to Make the Most of Your Traffic Reports– This guide doesn’t cover setup, but it does a great job of helping you to better understand the data being presented.
  5. Google Analytics Video Tutorial 1: Setup – A video presentation that walks you through Google Analytics setup.
  6. Google Analytics Video Tutorial 2: Essential Stats – A video presentation that introduces you to some of the most important data being presented in Google Analytics.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
Make sure to put the tracking code on every page. Ideally this would be part of a template or "include" so you can update the code on all pages (or at least within pages of the same category) at once.
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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
I have not used Adobe Analytics as much, but I know they offer something called customer journey analytics, which we are evaluating now. I have used Semrush, and I find them much better than Google Analytics. I feel a fairly nontechnical person could learn Semrush in about a month. They also offer features like competitive analysis (on content, keywords, traffic, etc.), which is very useful. If you have to choose one among Semrush and Google Analytics, I would say go for Semrush.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
Google Analytics is currently handling the reporting and tracking of near about 80 sites in our project. And I am not talking about the sites from different projects. They may have way more accounts than that. Never ever felt a performance issue from Google's end while generating or customising reports or tracking custom events or creating custom dimensions
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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
  • Great for visualizing website drop-off pages to theories and test update/iterations.
  • Bounce rates on pages to pinpoint bugs and issues.
  • Inaccuracy can lead to incorrect conclusions and decisions around CRO.
  • Segments can be very useful for validating split testing, providing a free tracking of variation vs. control - great ROI.
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ScreenShots