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Paid channel picker

Weight the criteria that matter to you, score Google, Microsoft, Meta, LinkedIn, Snapchat and TikTok against them, and see a weighted comparison with the equation shown.

By Antoine Martin, Founder, Web Marketing International.
Published 4 November 2026. Last reviewed 4 November 2026.

Short answer

You give each criterion a weight from 0 to 10 and each channel a score from 0 to 5 on it. The result is 100 times the weighted points divided by the maximum for the criteria you scored. The scores are yours, so the result reorders your own judgement and is not a forecast.

How to use it

First weight the five criteria from 0 to 10, where 0 means it does not matter to you. Then score each channel from 0 to 5 on each criterion, leaving a cell as Not scored if you do not know yet. I supply no scores for any channel, because the right score depends on your business. Use the platforms’ own descriptions to inform them: Google and Microsoft describe search ads aimed at people actively searching[1][2], LinkedIn lists targeting by job title, function and industry[4], Meta lists interests, age, gender and location[3], Snapchat lists standard, Custom and Lookalike targeting[5], and TikTok describes full-screen sound-on ads[6] and states a daily budget of at least $50 on its first campaign page[7]. That figure is published by TikTok on the date I opened it and it may have changed.

This site is published by Web Marketing International FZCO, which sells paid advertising management. The picker contains no channel scores of mine, so it cannot favour anyone, including me.

The picker

Step 1. How much does each criterion matter to you (0 to 10)?

Google and Microsoft describe search ads aimed at people actively searching. Meta, Snapchat and TikTok place ads in front of people browsing.

For example job title and industry, or age, interests and location. Check the platform names the attribute you need.

Text, images or video. Score high only where you can make the material on a schedule.

Where a platform publishes a minimum (TikTok states $50 a day on the page I opened), check it against your budget in your own account.

Score high where you can record the action that counts, such as a booked call or a paid order, outside the platform too.

Step 2. How well does each channel meet each criterion for your business (0 to 5)?

Reaching people who are already looking for what I sell

Targeting the specific people I need

Creative I can produce every month

Fit with the budget I can commit

Being able to measure the result I care about

Results

Give at least one criterion a weight above zero, then score the channels, to see a comparison.

Score = 100 x sum of (weight x score) / (5 x sum of weights), over the criteria with a weight above zero that you scored for that channel. It reorders your own judgement. It is not a forecast of results, and a gap of a few points between two channels means little.

How the score works

  • For each channel, the score is 100 x the sum of (weight x score) / (5 x the sum of the weights), over the criteria that have a weight above zero and a score entered for that channel.
  • Example with round numbers: weights 5 and 3, scores 4 and 2 give (5 x 4 + 3 x 2) = 26 out of 5 x 8 = 40, so 100 x 26 / 40 = 65.
  • A criterion you leave unscored is left out for that channel, and the page tells you when channels are not comparable.
  • If every weight is zero, or a weight is not a whole number from 0 to 10, you see a message instead of a score.

It runs in your browser and stores nothing you type. It cannot know whether a score is accurate, and it says nothing about cost per lead or results on any channel. A few points between two channels is within the noise of your own judgement.

What to do with it

Take the two highest scores, then read each platform’s own pages for the objective you chose. The method is in which paid advertising channel to start with and the process behind the criteria is in how to shortlist two paid channels. For help, my PPC management services are described on my own site.

Sources

  1. Google Ads Help, About campaign types. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  2. Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft Advertising. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  3. Meta for Business, Ad targeting. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  4. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn Ads. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  5. Snap Inc., Snapchat for Business, Snapchat ad targeting. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  6. TikTok, TikTok For Business. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  7. TikTok For Business, Setting up your first TikTok campaign. Accessed 4 November 2026.