Head to head · retail
Amazon PPC vs Google Ads
By Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Digital Signet. Updated July 2026.
Both sell clicks on product searches; the searcher's state of mind differs. On Google they are looking; on Amazon they are shopping, wallet already open. That difference, not the click price, should place your first £750.
What can be priced
Google's side has a 2026 benchmark; the closest category row is Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts:
Google retail category · worked $750
LocaliQ, 2026 data. Amazon's side: cost-per-click auction, no rate card Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products, and no public benchmark that clears our sourcing bar, so no Amazon number appears here. Your seller account's measured CPC after a capped test is the honest figure.
ACoS and ROAS are the same idea, inverted
Google advertisers target ROAS (revenue over spend); Amazon sellers target ACoS (spend over revenue). A 25% ACoS is a 4x ROAS. Whichever vocabulary you use, the ceiling comes from margin: the bridge maths is worked on the Amazon page and generalised in the break-even calculator.
Where the first £750 goes
Sell where your buyers already are. Products people habitually buy on Amazon (commodity goods, replacements, gifts) usually earn their first budget there, because retail intent converts hardest. Products bought direct (bespoke, brand-led, subscription) fund Google Shopping first and keep the customer relationship. Either way, run the fortnight, compute your real CPC and cost per order, and let the online-shop scenario template the maths. Category context: the ecommerce benchmark page.