Google Ads for UK small businesses: types, cost and where to start

What is the difference between Search, Local Services Ads and Performance Max?

A Search campaign shows your ad against searches for keywords you choose. Local Services Ads charge for leads, which are calls and messages, instead of for clicks. Performance Max runs one campaign across all of Google’s ad space, Search included, and Google says it is meant to complement keyword Search campaigns.

Google’s UK page says you pay for Local Services Ads only for leads related to your business. A Google Verified badge is available in select categories, and automotive, beauty and dining are not among them. While you finish the badge checks, Google offers pre-badge ads. To go live with those you need a licence, or a business registration where no licence applies, reviews where your category asks for them, billing and a budget. Google warns that your ranking may drop if you regularly miss calls or messages. I found no UK list of trades and no price per lead, so check Google’s page for your trade.

Performance Max serves ads on YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps from one goal-based campaign and uses Smart Bidding, Google’s automatic bidding, aimed at the conversion goals you set.

How much do Google Ads cost a small business?

I found no sourced UK price per click, so the only numbers here are American. WordStream and LocalIQ published 2026 search benchmarks for the US in dollars, updated on 1 June 2026. They show how far sectors differ: a click for home and home improvement averaged $8.33 and for Restaurants $2.05. They are not what a UK business will pay.

The same benchmarks give an average cost per lead, the price of one enquiry, of $90.92 for home and home improvement, $93.69 for business services, $39.25 for beauty and personal care, $29.96 for auto repair and service and $30.57 for restaurants and food, against $66.69 across all sectors. A lead there means whatever each advertiser counted as one.

Google adds a 2% Digital Services Tax fee to ads served in the UK, and has done since 1 November 2020. Work it into your numbers: £100 of clicks is £102. VAT is a separate question, and I did not check how it appears on Google’s invoices.

What Google Ads budget should I start with?

I found no sourced UK minimum budget, so here is a rule of mine, not a rule of Google’s. Work out the most you could pay for one enquiry given what a job earns you, and set a monthly budget that buys a handful of enquiries at that price. If the budget would buy fewer than that, the test will not tell you much.

A test also needs a way to count enquiries. A phone number or form used only for the ad is enough.

What is Quality Score, and should I worry about it?

Quality Score is a diagnostic that Google shows for each keyword, from 1 to 10. It is not an input to the auction. Google says to use it as a diagnostic and not as a key performance indicator. Ad Rank, which decides where your ad appears, uses your bid plus quality measured at the moment of the auction.

The score has three parts: expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Each is rated Above average, Average or Below average against advertisers shown for the same search over the last 90 days. A Below average part tells you where to look first.

Do I need cookie consent for Google Ads in the UK?

Yes, you must get consent from UK visitors before ad tags fire, but you do not need to send Google a verified consent signal for UK traffic. Google’s EU User Consent Policy covers the EEA and the UK. A verified consent signal, which tells Google a visitor consented, is required for EEA traffic only. Google states that advertisers do not need to send one for UK traffic.

The consent duty itself stays. Ask whoever runs your website whether the banner blocks ad and measurement tags until a visitor agrees.

What is AI Max for Search?

AI Max is a setting inside Search campaigns that Google announced on 6 May 2025. It adds broader matching of search terms, text customisation, final URL expansion and brand controls. Google says its own testing found 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar cost per acquisition or return on ad spend, and 27% for campaigns that mostly use exact and phrase match keywords. Those are Google’s figures, and I found no independent test.

A final URL expansion lets Google send people to a page of your site that it picks. Check which pages that could be before you switch it on.

Meta ads or Google ads: which should a small business try first?

In my view, try Google Search first if people already search for what you do, and try Meta if you want to put an offer in front of people who are not searching. This is judgement, not a measured result. Google Search ads reach someone who has typed what they need. Meta ads interrupt someone who is looking at something else.

I found no sourced Meta cost per click to set against the Google figures above, so I will not compare prices. Whichever you pick, you need a page for the click to land on and a way to count enquiries.

Related: Facebook and Instagram ads for UK small businesses, Google Business Profile guide