Hyde & Hare · Meta and Google, 21 to 27 September 2026 · Prepared by Kova Commerce
When we turned Meta up, more people searched for Hyde & Hare on Google
Last week we more than doubled Meta spend. Meta's own numbers dipped, but Google brand search jumped, and it rose only for your name, not in the same week last year, and not because of email. The simplest explanation is that the Meta ads sent people to Google to look you up.
+131%Meta ad spend, week on week£1,407 → £3,244
+44%Google searches for "Hyde & Hare"583 → 840 impressions
−6%Same week last year, no Meta increase878 → 824 impressions
The pattern
Brand searches climbed two days after the Meta budget went up
Each bar is one day of Meta spend. The line underneath is how many times someone searched Google for Hyde & Hare. The week before the increase averaged 83 brand searches a day. From 24 September it averaged 136.
Meta spend (£ per day)Brand-search impressions (per day)
→A short lag fits how people buy: they see an ad on Instagram or Facebook, then search the name on Google a day or two later when they're ready to look properly.
Ruling things out
We checked every other reason brand search could have gone up
If something other than Meta had changed, one of these four would show it. None of them does.
Did Google just show the brand ad more often?
No. The brand ad was shown for 89% of searches for your name in both weeks. The extra impressions come from more people searching.
Ruled out
Is it just the time of year?
No. In the same week last year, without a Meta increase, brand searches fell 6%.
Ruled out
Were more people shopping for rugs in general?
No. Clicks on the non-brand Google ads (searches like "sheepskin rug") fell 7%. Only searches for your name went up.
Ruled out
Did email do more than usual?
No. Two campaigns went out each week to similar list sizes, and email revenue (campaigns plus flows) was 20% lower last week.
Ruled out
This year against last year
Last September, this week went down. This year it went up.
Both lines start from the week before (set to 100) so the two years compare directly.
2026, Meta budget raised2025, Meta budget flat
Customer journeys, from Triple Whale
Nearly three times as many orders came through a Google brand search, and more of those buyers had clicked a Meta ad first
Orders where a Google brand search was the last click
Blue is the part where Triple Whale can see the buyer clicked a Meta ad earlier.
Clicked a Meta ad firstNo tracked Meta click
Share of all orders where the buyer clicked a Meta ad along the way
Across every channel, not only Google.
→Brand-search orders went from 11 to 32 (£2,285 to £7,138).
Tracking only sees clicks. Someone who watches a Meta video without clicking and then searches your name later shows up as "no tracked Meta click", which is the most likely story for much of the teal section.
Reading the reports
Why Meta looks worse and Google looks better, even though Meta did the work
Split by channel, Meta's return per £1 fell and Google's rose. Part of what Google is now credited with is demand the Meta ads created: people who first saw you on Instagram, then came back through Google search.
MetaGoogleLighter = week before, solid = last week. Triple Whale linear attribution.
That's why we judge a Meta increase on the whole business, not on Meta's own line.
Total ad spend+£1,429 £4,222 → £5,651
Shopify revenue+£7,294 £35,368 → £42,662
Return on the extra spend≈ £5.10 per extra £1
Orders rose from 181 to 239. Average order value dipped (£195 to £179) because the extra reach brings in more first-time buyers, who tend to start with a smaller basket.
The wider view
Over nine weeks, brand search peaked in the week Meta spend peaked
→The link was harder to see in August, when the Summer Sale was already driving people to search for you. Last week's increase was the biggest jump we've made at once, which is why the effect is so clear this time.
How sure we are
A strong, consistent signal, from one week of data
What the data shows
Brand search rose 44% in the week Meta spend rose 131%.
It rose about two days after the budget change, and email days show no spike.
It didn't happen in the same week last year, or in general rug searches.
More brand-search buyers had clicked a Meta ad first.
What we can't prove yet
It's one week. 32 brand-search orders is enough to see a pattern, not to call it proven.
People who saw a Meta ad without clicking can't be tracked order by order.
Meta gets 7 days to credit a click, so last week's Meta numbers will still rise a little.
How we'll confirm it
Hold Meta at the higher level for the next two weeks and keep watching brand search. If it stays up, the link holds. When we later reduce Meta spend, brand search should fall with it. Seeing it move both ways turns a strong signal into proof.