The short answer — both, in a specific order
Run Google Shopping first if you sell physical products with images, a working feed and at least £1,000/month to spend; add Google Search Ads once Shopping has a 90-day ROAS baseline and you want to defend brand terms or capture long-tail "best" queries. On our UK managed book, Shopping delivers an average 6.2x ROAS at £0.66 CPC versus Search at 4.1x and £1.43 — so Shopping carries the volume and Search backs it up.
The rest of this guide walks through where each format wins, the CPC/CTR/ROAS data behind the recommendation, and a Recommender widget at the end that takes your product type, AOV and budget and tells you which to run. New to the format? Shopping ads explained in plain English first, or jump to the complete Google Shopping for UK ecommerce guide for the strategic depth.
When Google Search Ads win
Google Search Ads still win in four specific UK ecom situations, and we'll name them before defending each in turn.
Long-tail, problem-led and "near-purchase information" queries
Use Google Search Ads instead of Shopping when the searcher's query is a problem rather than a product — for example "best office chair for lower back pain" or "are tempurpedic mattresses worth it". Shopping ads index on product names; Search ads can match the user's actual phrasing through keywords and ad copy. Per our 12.4M-impression CTR-by-position study, long-tail Search positions 4–10 still earn ~11% of clicks even post-AI Overview; Shopping has no equivalent slot for these queries.
Service-led ecom (subscriptions, mobile contracts, classes)
Per Google's own help docs, Shopping is designed for online retailers, not for services. Subscription boxes, language classes, mobile contracts, hotel rooms, course providers — Shopping rejects all of these; Search is your only paid-search route. We run Search-led campaigns for service-tier ecom and SaaS brands too — see our Google Ads service for that side of the book.
Brand defence and competitor conquest
Brand defence keeps competitors from buying your brand name. Shopping can't do this — brand-name ads bid the product, not the brand term. Search lets you sit at #1 on your own brand. Competitor conquest works the same way: bidding on "[competitor] alternative" or "[competitor] vs [you]" is Search-only. Shopping ads can't bid on competitor names except indirectly via product titles — and trademark rules make that a brittle game in the UK.
Local-store and click-and-collect drivers
Search ad extensions (location, call-out, sitelinks) carry physical-store information that Shopping ads structurally don't (Local Inventory Ads excepted — but that's still a Shopping format with a feed dependency). For UK omnichannel brands with high-street footfall, Search ads serve the "shops near me", "open now", "click and collect" intent that Shopping can't.
When Google Shopping wins
On managed UK ecom accounts, Shopping delivers 60–70% of paid-search revenue on the average book — and four query / product profiles drive that share.
Product-named, comparison-stage queries
Google Shopping performs better than Search when a shopper already knows the product they want and is comparison-shopping on price, brand or image — "nike pegasus 41 size 9 uk", "kettle russell hobbs textures", "samsung qe65q60c". The image, price and store name in the Shopping ad let the buyer pre-qualify before clicking, which lifts conversion rate and lowers CPA. Across our managed UK ecom accounts Shopping CPA runs ~12% below Search on equivalent budgets.
On the Strictly Beds & Bunks account, the first 90 days of our rebuild saw Shopping carry 87% of revenue — text ads filled in the long-tail brand-defence gaps but Shopping's image + price stack was the volume driver.
Visual-first categories (fashion, furniture, beauty, homeware)
Conversion psychology: the buyer assesses price-image-brand before the click, which raises CR per click. Per our conversion benchmarking, visual-first categories on Shopping see 1.8–2.3x the per-click CR of the same advertiser's Search campaigns.
Long-SKU catalogues you can't keyword-map by hand
At 5,000+ SKUs, manual keyword mapping for Search becomes intractable. Shopping auto-generates the queries from feed attributes, so the more granular your feed, the more "keywords" you cover for free. That's a huge structural advantage for long-tail catalogues — how Google Shopping actually works under the bonnet covers the matching mechanics.
Mobile-first shoppers and the carousel real estate
The Shopping carousel on UK mobile occupies the full above-fold slot. Mobile clicks: 71% of UK Shopping traffic on our managed book; 58% of Search. Up to 30 Shopping ads on desktop, 15 on mobile (per Google's own docs); one Search ad per advertiser per query.
The hybrid model — running both and what the maths looks like
We've talked about where each format wins. The third option — and the one we actually recommend on 78% of our UK ecom managed accounts — is running both.
What the Google + Wordstream studies actually say
Yes, you can run Google Shopping and Google Search Ads at the same time, and on most UK ecom accounts you should. A Google study (citing Wordstream's 2013 work) found that shoppers who see both a Shopping ad and a text ad from the same retailer are 90% more likely to visit that retailer's site. The study is old, but the directional finding has held in our 2024–2026 internal replication. On our own £4.7M managed-spend dataset, accounts running both formats average 23% higher blended ROAS than accounts running either alone. For the wider channel-mix view, see our SEO vs PPC data comparison.
What we see on managed accounts when both run together
The mechanism: brand-defence Search catches the post-Shopping-discovery branded query before a competitor does. On Oh My Cream we found 14% of Shopping-driven new sessions returned within 7 days via a branded Search query — Shopping seeded, Search closed. That's the canonical hybrid pattern, and it's why the way we run Shopping accounts always pairs them where the budget supports it.
When NOT to run both (the budget-floor argument)
Below ~£1,000/month total ad spend, splitting between two formats starves both of learning data. At that budget tier, pick one (usually Shopping, per the section above), get the data, then add Search at month three.
CPC, CTR and conversion rate by UK industry — Shopping vs Search
This is where the comparison gets specific. Numbers below are from our 2026 Google Ads benchmark study across 240 UK accounts and £4.7M of managed spend.
Average CPC by campaign type across 12 verticals
Average UK Google Shopping CPC across 240 managed ecom accounts is £0.66, with a typical range of £0.28 (homeware) to £1.42 (beauty). Google Search Ads on the same accounts average £1.43, ranging £0.62 (homeware) to £3.10 (legal-adjacent ecom). Shopping is cheaper per click in 11 of 12 verticals we track — the exception is fashion accessories, where Shopping CPC has caught up to Search after Performance Max bidding pressure.
Source: Visionary Marketing 2026 Google Ads Benchmark — 240 UK accounts, £4.7M managed spend. Cross-validated against our paid advertising costs benchmark.
Click-through rate by format and position
The CTR comparison gotcha: Search CTRs look higher because the denominator (a single keyword impression) is different from Shopping (a feed impression). Apples-to-oranges. Where the comparison is valid: at the same SERP position, the Shopping carousel slot 1 averages 8.4% CTR on UK ecom vs Search ad slot 1 at 6.11% post-AIO (per our CTR-by-position study). Shopping wins position-for-position on visual SERPs.
Conversion rate by format — and why Shopping usually wins on CR
Per-click CR: Search 3.75% > Shopping 1.91% on our managed book. Search wins per-click because keyword intent is narrower. Per-£ CR (what actually matters): Shopping wins because the £-per-click is half. Worked example: £1,000 Shopping spend at £0.66 CPC × 1.91% CR = 29 conversions. £1,000 Search spend at £1.43 CPC × 3.75% CR = 26 conversions. Shopping wins by 12% on CR-per-£.
ROAS and AOV by format
ROAS: Shopping 6.2x vs Search 4.1x on UK ecom average. AOV: Shopping £108 vs Search £92 — Shopping shoppers are pre-qualified by price visibility and convert on slightly higher-ticket items. For the deeper cost picture, see how much Google Shopping ads actually cost in the UK.
| Dimension | Google Shopping | Google Search Ads |
|---|---|---|
| You bid on | Products (via the feed) | Keywords (you choose) |
| Feed required | Yes (Merchant Centre) | No |
| Ad shows image | Yes | No (image extensions limited) |
| Avg UK ecom CPC | £0.66 | £1.43 |
| Avg UK ecom CR per click | 1.91% | 3.75% |
| Avg UK ecom ROAS | 6.2x | 4.1x |
| SERP slots per query | Up to 30 (carousel) | 1 per advertiser |
| Eligible verticals | Physical products only (a few exceptions) | All (services + products) |
Cost comparison — what £1,000, £5,000 and £20,000 a month buys you
Budget shapes the answer to Shopping-vs-Search more than any other input.
The Shopping CPC saving from a CSS partnership (20% headroom)
Inside the EU/UK Comparison Shopping Services programme, advertising via a CSS partner reduces the auction floor for Shopping ads by roughly 20% — full breakdown in our 2026 PPC cost breakdown. Search ads have no equivalent lever — the CSS programme is Shopping-only. Worked example: £5,000/month Shopping spend through a CSS partner ≈ £6,000 of equivalent reach via Google Shopping default. On Search, the same £5,000 buys £5,000 of clicks. The way we run Shopping via our CSS partner bakes that saving into the management price.
Predicted reach by format at each budget tier
| Monthly budget | Shopping (CSS) clicks | Search clicks | Hybrid split |
|---|---|---|---|
| £1,000 | 1,520 | 700 | 100% Shopping |
| £5,000 | 7,580 | 3,500 | 80% Shopping / 20% Search |
| £20,000 | 30,300 | 13,990 | 65% Shopping / 25% Search / 10% YouTube |
Numbers derived from Shopping £0.66 / Search £1.43 average CPC and the 20% CSS saving.
Cost comparison calculator
Shopping vs Search at your budget
Move the slider, pick your vertical, see the maths.
| Google Shopping | Google Search | |
|---|---|---|
| Avg CPC | £0.53 | £1.43 |
| Predicted clicks | 5,682 | 2,098 |
| Predicted conversions | 109 | 79 |
| Predicted revenue | £11,720 | £7,238 |
| Predicted ROAS | 3.9x | 2.4x |
Managed-account averages — your actual numbers depend on feed quality, bid strategy and seasonality. Get a forecast for your account →
Match-type and keyword-control considerations
How Search match-type maps onto Shopping (it doesn't — and what to do instead)
Search has exact / phrase / broad match. Shopping has none of those. The Shopping-side equivalents:
- Product title precision is your "keyword intent control" — write the title for the searcher, not for SEO.
- Campaign priority (low / medium / high) lets you route a query toward a specific Shopping campaign — the closest analogue to match-type segmentation.
- Custom labels + bid adjustments let you over- or under-bid on segments — by margin, season, brand, custom intent.
Negative keywords across both formats
Both formats accept negatives. The UK-specific wrinkle: spelling variations. UK ecom Shopping campaigns should add US-spelling variants as negatives (color, tire, fiber) unless you ship US — otherwise you'll waste budget on irrelevant US-spelling queries that match your feed. Search ads via exact/phrase don't have this problem by default, but broad match introduces it.
A decision framework — which to run when
- Sell physical products with images and a working Shopify/WooCommerce/Magento store? Start with Shopping.
- Sell services, subscriptions, classes, hotel rooms, mobile contracts, course access? Search only.
- Budget under £1,000/month and physical products? Shopping only, no Search split.
- Budget £1,000–£5,000/month and physical products? Shopping at 80%, Search at 20% for brand defence.
- Budget £5,000+/month and physical products? Shopping at 65%, Search at 25%, leave 10% for testing YouTube / Demand Gen / Discovery.
- Already running Search with a positive ROAS and not touching Shopping? Add Shopping — your managed-account ROAS will lift, every time. This is the most common audit finding we make on takeovers.
Drop your specifics into the Recommender below for a tighter answer.
Try the Search-vs-Shopping Recommender
Search-vs-Shopping recommender
Which format should you run?
Four inputs, one verdict, no upsell.
Frequently asked questions
Should I run Google Shopping or Google Search Ads first?
If you sell physical products and have a working Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento store with a clean product feed, run Google Shopping first. It has a lower CPC, higher ROAS and pre-qualifies clicks via the image, price and brand visible before the click. Across our managed UK ecom accounts, Shopping delivers an average 6.2x ROAS at £0.66 CPC versus Search at 4.1x and £1.43 CPC. Add Google Search Ads at month two or three for brand defence and long-tail capture.
Can I run Google Shopping and Google Search Ads at the same time?
Yes — and on 78% of our managed UK ecom accounts we do. Google's own study found that shoppers who see both a Shopping ad and a text ad from the same retailer are 90% more likely to click through. On our £4.7M-managed-spend dataset, accounts running both formats average 23% higher blended ROAS than accounts running either alone. The exception is sub-£1,000/month budgets — at that tier, split focus starves both formats of learning data.
Which is cheaper — Google Shopping or Google Search Ads?
Google Shopping is cheaper per click in 11 of the 12 UK ecom verticals we benchmark. Average UK Shopping CPC across 240 managed accounts is £0.66; Search is £1.43. The exception is fashion accessories, where Shopping CPC has caught up post Performance Max bidding pressure. Shopping costs can drop a further ~20% when routed through a Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) partner — a UK/EU programme that doesn't apply to Search Ads at all.
When should I choose Google Search Ads over Google Shopping?
Choose Google Search Ads over Shopping when you sell services rather than physical products (subscriptions, classes, mobile contracts, hotels), when your buyers search problem-led long-tail queries ("best office chair for back pain"), when you need brand defence on your own brand name, or when you run a physical-store-led omnichannel brand that needs location, call and click-and-collect extensions. Google Shopping rejects service-tier verticals entirely; Search Ads accept everything.
Why does Google Shopping have a higher conversion rate than Search Ads on my account?
Google Shopping ads pre-qualify the click. The buyer sees the product image, price, store name and brand before they click, so the people who click already know they want the product at that price. Search Ad clicks are higher-intent per click (the buyer typed a specific keyword) but Shopping wins on conversion rate per £ of spend because Shopping CPCs are half of Search CPCs on average — £1,000 spent on Shopping converts ~12% more buyers than £1,000 on Search on equivalent UK ecom accounts.
Is Google Shopping affected by AI Overviews more than Search Ads?
Less, not more. AI Overviews have compressed organic CTR for Search positions 1–3 by roughly 34.5% year-on-year on AIO-present queries, per our 12.4M-impression GSC study. Shopping carousels typically sit above the AIO block on commercial-intent queries, so they have retained their visual prominence. Paid Search Ads above the AIO retain CTR, but Search Ads below the AIO lose more than Shopping does. The net is that Shopping has become more important relative to Search in 2024–2026, not less.
Do I still need keywords if I'm running Google Shopping?
You don't bid on keywords in Google Shopping — Google pulls "keywords" from your product titles, descriptions and feed attributes automatically. But keyword research still matters: it tells you what to put in those titles. The high-volume buying-intent keywords for your category belong in the product title (within Google's 150-character limit). Negative keywords are also available in Shopping campaigns — they're how you stop your ads showing for irrelevant queries like "free" or "DIY" when you don't want them.
If you'd rather we run the comparison on your actual data, see our managed Shopping service or the Search-led Google Ads service. For the next layer of detail on Shopping economics, see the cost guide. For the Amazon Ads angle, see Google Shopping vs Amazon Ads for UK ecom.
Written by Chris Coussons, Founder of Visionary Marketing.
