The Silent Impact Meta Ads Have On Google Searches

One of the most debated topics amongst Meta Ads advertisers is whether an ad can be valuable if a user viewed an ad, but did not directly click on it. Marketers often speculate that "not everybody clicks on ads!" which is certainly true, to some extent. We like to think that our Meta Ads are creating a positive halo effect around the rest of our advertising, even if a user did not click. "What about all the people who see our ads, but then search for us on Google?"

Unfortunately, this has always been speculative.... Until now.

Thanks to a helpful tip from Bram Vanderhallen of bramsocial, marketers can now track the number of times a user viewed one of their Meta Ads, then performed a Google Search for their brand.

While Google Analytics attributes traffic to search engine queries, it doesn’t account for users who see a Meta ad and later search for the brand or related keywords on Google. It’s a subtle, yet powerful, ripple effect that shows just how much Meta is quietly driving performance.

What is the Silent Impact of Meta Ads?

When you run a Meta ad, someone might see your ad but choose not to click on it. Later, they might go to Google to search for your brand or products and end up on your website. The problem here is that, by default, attribution tools don’t capture this interaction. Google Analytics will attribute the conversion to Google Search since it’s the source of the traffic, but it won’t acknowledge that the person was influenced by the Meta ad. Similarly, Meta will not track this Google search traffic in its reporting.

This is where the “Go To Search” Metric comes into play—a tool to help uncover this otherwise lost data. It tracks how many people viewed your Meta ad, didn’t click, but later searched for your brand or product on Google and visited your website.

Introducing the 'Go To Search' Metric (GTS)

We all know that every media plan needs a healthy investment in new audience prospecting, otherwise, you will eventually run out of short-term customers whom you can profitably acquire. Many marketers struggle to maintain prospecting investments because they are inherently focused on the long term and are difficult to measure.

Now, the GTS metric can be your first step to bridging the gap between short term performance and long term growth. GTS helps report, in real time, which prospecting initiatives are driving the most amount of interest and engagement. Remember: today's engaged visitor is tomorrow's customer!

Therefore, we can think of GTS as a leading indicator for Share of Search (SoS) (which is, of course, a leading indicator for market share). By tracking GTS and SoS, performance marketers can begin to bridge the gap from being hyper-focused on short term results, to advanced marketing strategies that help build profitable growth engine over the long term.

Why Does GTS Matter?

Meta ads, particularly those focused on reach and engagement, might not drive immediate clicks and conversions, but can still be indirectly valuable to your broader marketing strategy. Engagement, reach, and frequency are vital for long-term growth, but without proper tracking, you’re left in the dark about their influence.

This GTS metric is valuable for prospecting and reach campaigns, where you may not expect immediate conversions but drive interest with new audiences. The GTS metric helps prove that your ad impressions lead to increased brand interest, even if the user didn't directly click on the ad—this is referred to as a 'halo effect'. This data can then be used to optimize your campaigns and better allocate resources for future advertising efforts.

By capturing and analyzing this often-overlooked impact—and pairing this with Share of Search (SoS) trends—you can more effectively justify investment in top-of-the-funnel activities that engage with net-new prospecting audiences, helping you make smarter budget decisions necessary for sustainable growth.

Setting Up the GTS Metric

To capture this 'dark impact', you can set up the GTS metric in Meta Ads. This will allow you to track how many people viewed your Meta ad (impression), did not click on it, but later searched for your brand or a related keyword on Google.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Create a Custom Conversion in Meta Ads Manager

Navigate to the Meta Ads Manager and click on the Events Manager.

Select Create a New Custom Conversion.

Choose Page View as the event type and select the URL of the page you want to track (typically the page users visit after searching for you on Google).

Set the Referring Source

Under the Referring Source field, choose "Google" or add a custom UTM parameter for Google traffic to track specific search-related visits.

Add the Metric to Your Reporting

Once your event is set up, go back to your Meta Ads reporting columns.

Add 'Go To Search' as a column to monitor these interactions over time.

Best Practices

Prospecting Campaigns: Use this metric in campaigns where you aim to reach a broad audience and are more focused on brand awareness.

Track Over Time: By continuously monitoring this metric, you can understand how effective your Meta ads are in prompting organic search activity on Google.

Halo Effect: This strategy can help measure the halo effect—the indirect influence your ads have on consumer behavior, even when it doesn’t result in an immediate click.

Implementing the GTS metric is an absolute no-brainer for all Meta Ads accounts. It provides insight into how your Meta campaigns influence Google searches, improving your understanding of cross-channel effects and ultimately allowing for better-informed marketing decisions.

For more detailed guidance on setting this up, check out the original tutorial by Bram Vanderhallen here.