Not necessarily. Paid social such as Meta or TikTok can perform better than search for DTC, particularly on low-ticket impulse-buy type items that have broad appeal. This includes many products to improve health and esthetics, small gadgets, products for cooking, specialty food, etc.
And products with visual appeal can sell particularly well on Instagram, for example.
Paid search and shopping ads tend to perform better on products that are only needed at certain times or cost a bit more.