The Google Ads vs Meta Ads debate comes up in almost every conversation we have with Australian mortgage brokers who are serious about growing their pipeline. And the debate is almost always framed as an either/or question. Which one should I use?
The honest answer is that they are not competing products. They are different tools that solve different problems at different points in the buyer journey. But if you have a limited budget and need to pick one first, there is a clear answer, and we will get there.
First, let's be precise about what each platform actually does and what it costs in the real world for Australian mortgage brokers in 2026.
Google Ads: High Intent, High Cost, High Competition
Google Ads = people actively searching 'mortgage broker Sydney'. Meta Ads = finding people who should be talking to a mortgage broker before they even know they need one. Both work. One is way cheaper.
Google Search Ads at a Glance
- Intent level: Very high. They are actively searching right now.
- Cost per click: $40 to $80 for competitive broker keywords in Australian capitals.
- Cost per lead: $80 to $200+ depending on landing page conversion rate.
- Lead volume: Lower. Search volume for broker terms is finite.
- Lead quality: Generally warmer. They were already looking for you.
- Barrier to entry: High. Expensive to test, competitive auction, requires strong landing pages.
- Best for: Brokers who already know their conversion economics and want to add a high-intent channel.
When someone types "mortgage broker Melbourne" into Google, they have already decided they want a broker. They are not still figuring out whether a broker is the right move. They are shopping. That is an extremely valuable moment to appear in front of them.
The problem is that every other broker in Melbourne knows this too. The Google Ads auction for mortgage-related keywords is one of the most competitive in any Australian industry. You are bidding against established brokerages, aggregator networks, and comparison sites with significantly larger budgets than most independent brokers. The result is that clicks are expensive, very expensive, and if your landing page is not converting those clicks into enquiries efficiently, the maths breaks down fast.
A broker spending $3,000 per month on Google in Sydney might get 40 to 50 clicks. If the landing page converts at 15%, that is six to seven leads per month. At $150 to $170 per lead, the economics can still work if you are settling deals and know your lifetime client value. But there is very little room for error in the testing phase. One bad month of data and you have spent $3,000 to learn almost nothing.
Google Ads rewards brokers who already know their numbers. If you do not yet know your cost per lead, your lead-to-appointment rate, or your appointment-to-settlement rate, you are not ready to spend $3,000 a month finding out the hard way on Google.
Meta Ads: Interrupt Marketing Done Right
Meta is interrupt marketing. The person scrolling Instagram on a Tuesday evening was not thinking about refinancing until your ad appeared. Your ad stopped them mid-scroll, spoke to something they recognised about their own situation, and they clicked. They were not ready before your ad. Now they might be.
This is a fundamentally different dynamic from Google. The lead is colder at the point of entry, which means your creative has to do more work to earn their attention, and your follow-up system has to do more work to convert them. A lead who filled out a form on Meta is not the same as a lead who was already Googling brokers. They need more nurturing, more trust-building, and a sharper follow-up sequence.
But here is the trade-off that makes Meta the right starting point for most brokers. At $12 to $25 per lead versus $80 to $200 per lead on Google, you can generate ten times the volume for the same budget. Ten times the conversations. Ten times the data. Ten times the chances to practice your pitch, refine your follow-up, and figure out which audience segment converts best. For more on what good Meta campaign results look like for brokers, read Do Facebook Ads Actually Work for Brokers?
The Intent Gap: Why These Two Platforms Require Completely Different Strategies
This is the most important concept to understand before you spend a dollar on either platform.
Someone who Googles "best mortgage broker Sydney" has already moved through the awareness and consideration stages of the buyer journey. They have decided they have a problem, they have decided a broker can solve it, and they are now in selection mode. Your job on Google is to convince them that you are the right broker. The conversation starts late in the journey.
Someone who sees your Meta ad was somewhere much earlier in that journey. Maybe they just got pre-approved somewhere and were not happy with the rate. Maybe they have been vaguely thinking about buying for months but have not done anything about it. Maybe they saw a post about rising interest rates last week and it got them thinking. Your Meta ad interrupts that ambient thinking and gives them a reason to take action now. The conversation starts much earlier in the journey.
Different journey stages require different strategies, different creative, different follow-up sequences, and different expectations about how quickly a lead converts. Treating Meta leads like Google leads, expecting them to be ready to book immediately, is one of the most common reasons Meta campaigns get written off as "not working."
Side by Side: What the Real Numbers Look Like in Australia
| Metric | Google Search Ads | Meta Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | $40 to $80 | $1 to $4 |
| Cost per lead (well run) | $80 to $200+ | $12 to $25 |
| Monthly budget to get useful data | $3,000+ | $1,500 to $2,500 |
| Lead intent at point of contact | High. They were searching. | Moderate. They responded to an ad. |
| Lead volume potential | Limited by search volume | Very high. Audience is enormous. |
| Follow-up complexity | Lower. Leads are warmer. | Higher. Longer nurture sequence needed. |
| Creative requirements | Strong landing page is critical | Strong ad creative is critical |
| Retargeting capability | Good (Google Display) | Excellent (custom audiences) |
| Brand building value | Low | High |
| Best starting point? | No, unless budget is substantial | Yes, for most Australian brokers |
What Brokers With a Limited Budget Should Do
If you are sitting on a $2,000 monthly ads budget, the answer is clear. Start with Meta. Here is why.
On Google, $2,000 buys you somewhere between 25 and 50 clicks in a competitive Australian market. If your landing page converts at 10%, that is two to five leads. That is not enough volume to learn anything meaningful, optimise your campaign, or build momentum. You could burn through a month of budget and come away with data that is statistically useless.
On Meta, $2,000 could generate 80 to 150 leads depending on your audience, creative, and offer. That is genuine volume. You will know within three to four weeks which creative is working, which audience is converting, and what your real cost per lead looks like in your specific market. You have enough data to make smart decisions.
The lower cost per lead also means you can afford to be wrong. If your first ad creative misses, you have only spent $300 to find out. On Google, the same lesson might cost $1,500. The testing environment on Meta is simply more forgiving for brokers who are still figuring out their messaging. For a full breakdown of what Meta campaigns can produce for Australian mortgage brokers, read Do Facebook Ads Actually Work for Brokers?
Quick one: Which ad platform typically produces lower cost per lead for mortgage brokers?
What to Add Once Meta Is Working
Once your Meta campaigns are producing a consistent cost per lead that you are happy with and your follow-up system is converting those leads into appointments, you are ready to layer in Google.
The smartest first move is Google retargeting, not Google Search. Take the audience of people who visited your landing page from Meta but did not convert, and serve them Google Display and YouTube ads following them around the internet. This is cheap retargeting with a warm audience, and it consistently produces some of the lowest cost conversions in any campaign because you are re-engaging people who already showed interest.
From there, if your budget allows and you understand your conversion economics, add Google Search for your highest-intent keywords. "Mortgage broker [your suburb]" and "refinance home loan [your city]" are good starting points. Keep your Google Search spend separate from your Meta spend so you can track the metrics independently. Do not let one platform subsidise another.
ozimedia runs Meta campaigns for Australian mortgage brokers and sees this pattern play out consistently. Brokers who build on Meta first, learn their numbers, and then add Google as a secondary channel tend to have far better outcomes than brokers who try to run both from the beginning without established baselines. For a deeper look at what to expect from your investment, read What is a Good Cost Per Lead for Mortgage Brokers?
The Honest Summary
Google Ads will charge you $80 to $200 or more for a lead from someone who was already looking for a broker. Meta will charge you $12 to $25 for a lead from someone you interrupted at exactly the right moment in their life. These are different products solving different problems at different price points.
Google is better for quality. Meta is better for volume and for learning. If you have a large budget and you already know your numbers cold, run both. If you are building a pipeline from scratch or you are still optimising your messaging, start with Meta, get your economics right, and add Google once you have the foundation.
The worst thing you can do is split a modest budget across both platforms, get half the data from each, and conclude that neither works. Pick one. Do it properly. Then scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Google Ads or Facebook Ads better for mortgage brokers?
It depends on your budget and goals. Google Ads delivers higher intent leads because people are actively searching for a broker. Meta Ads delivers more volume at a lower cost per lead. For brokers with a limited budget who are still testing their messaging, Meta is the better starting point. For brokers who are already profitable on Meta and want to add a high-intent channel on top, Google Search makes sense as the next layer.
How much does Google Ads cost for a mortgage broker?
Competitive mortgage broker keywords in Australian capital cities typically cost $40 to $80 per click. If your landing page converts at 10%, that puts your cost per lead at $400 to $800. In less competitive regional markets, costs can be lower, but the search volume is also smaller. Google is not a cheap channel for brokers. It is a high-quality, high-cost channel that rewards brokers who already know their conversion economics.
Can I run both Google and Meta ads at the same time?
Yes, and eventually you should. The most effective setup for Australian mortgage brokers is Meta as the primary volume channel combined with Google retargeting to follow up on people who visited your landing page but did not convert. Once your Meta campaigns are profitable and you understand your CPL, adding Google Search for high-intent terms is a smart next step. Running both from day one without established baselines tends to spread budget too thin to get clear data from either.
The answer for most brokers? Start with Meta. It's faster to test, cheaper per lead, and easier to scale. Once you've got working creatives and a conversion system, layer in Google for intent capture.
Not sure which platform is right for your brokerage right now?
ozimedia works with Australian mortgage brokers to build paid ad campaigns that generate consistent, qualified leads. We will tell you exactly which channel makes sense for your budget, your market, and where you are in your business right now. Book a free strategy call and we will walk you through it.