The Google Home is better at answering homework questions. It’s oddly worse at sports news, which really surprised me.
If I say “echo, how did the Warriors do?” It will tell me how they did in the last game played, and then when their next game is.
If I asked the exact same question of Google home, all It tells me is when the next game is, which isn’t what I want to know.
But for a lot of other “look it up on Wikipedia” type questions, the Google definitely does better. And Google Home is way better at traffic information and travel itineraries.
As far as home automation control, both google home and echo are good, with a few differences. If someone is looking for a choice for themselves I usually recommend that they buy both and just return the one they don’t like as well. 
When gifting to someone else, though, unless they already have Chromecast, I would generally go with echo. I also think the Amazon customer support is better for less technical people.