How To Conduct a Google Ads Competitor Analysis 

Understanding how your competitors are leveraging Google Ads can be a game-changer for your marketing strategy. Focusing on your own Google Ads campaigns isn’t enough—to make every dollar count, you need to know what your competitors are doing.

A thorough competitor analysis allows you to uncover valuable insights into their ad campaigns, keywords, and bidding strategies, helping you refine your own approach. By analyzing your competitors’ performance, you can identify opportunities to optimize your ads, target untapped keywords, and adjust your bids for maximum ROI. 

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the key steps to conduct an effective Google Ads competitor analysis and stay ahead of the competition.

What Is a Google Ads Competitor Analysis?

Google Ads competitor analysis is the process of researching what your competitors are doing with their Google Ads campaigns. It involves investigating aspects like keyword selection, bidding strategy, and ad creative to see what’s working for them and what isn’t.

The goal is to uncover valuable insights that can help you refine your campaigns and stay competitive. This can ultimately boost your advertising efficiency and return on investment.

Benefits of Google Ads Competitor Analysis

Conducting a competitor analysis on Google Ads can significantly boost your advertising efforts. Here’s why it’s worth your time and effort:

Identify Opportunities

Examining your competitors’ strategies can reveal opportunities that you might have missed. You can discover new keywords to target, ad formats to try, and even new audience segments to reach.

Improve Campaign Performance

Learning from your competitors’ successes and failures can help you enhance your ads. For example, if you see that certain types of ad copy are performing well, you can adopt similar strategies. 

This can lead to higher click-through rates (CTRs) and better overall ad performance. According to a survey by Databox, improving your copy is one of the top three tactics to improve CTR for Google Ads.

Inspire Creativity

Seeing what your competitors are doing can spark new ideas for your campaigns. Whether it’s a compelling call-to-action (CTA) or a creative landing page design, analyzing your competitors can give you fresh ideas to adapt and implement.

Google Ads isn’t the only way to generate leads and sales. For more marketing insights, check out our list of 30 tips to sell your products faster.

Steps To Conduct a Google Ads Competitor Analysis

Conducting a Google Ads competitor analysis involves several key steps. Before we break down the Google Ads competitor analysis process, let’s quickly cover the tools you’ll need.

Google Ads Competitor Analysis Tools:

• Google Ads Auction Insights Report – Provides data on how your ads compare to competitors in Google Ads auctions.
• Semrush (also Ahrefs, SpyFu, or iSpionage) – Offers comprehensive competitor analysis and insights on keywords and ad strategies.
• Google Ads Transparency Center – Allows you to see information and examples of your competitors’ ads.

Step 1: Identify Your Competitors

The first step is to identify your competitors. This might seem straightforward, but it requires a bit of research to make sure you’re covering all your bases. 

Direct Competitors

These are the businesses that offer the same products or services as you. You probably already know who they are. If you sell running shoes, your direct competitors would be other companies that also sell running shoes.

Indirect Competitors

These businesses don’t offer the exact same product but target a similar audience. So, if you sell running shoes, an indirect competitor might be a company that sells other types of athletic footwear. They’re still competing for the same customers.

If you need some help with this step, a simple Google search can reveal who you’re up against. Search for one of your target keywords and look at the ads at the top and bottom of the search results. These are your direct competitors in the Google Ads auction.

Step 2: Analyze Competitors’ Google Ads in the SERPs

Once you’ve identified your competitors, it’s time to dive deeper into their Google Ads strategies.

Start by listing the primary keywords relevant to your business. These should include your main products or services and any high-intent search terms your potential customers might use.

Take each keyword on your list and perform a Google search. Look at the ad positions in the search engine results page (SERP).

Are your competitors consistently appearing in the top positions? 

This can indicate they are aggressively bidding on these keywords. If they’re always in the top spots, it might be a sign that these keywords are valuable and worth targeting.

You also want to look for gaps in your competitors’ keyword strategies. Are there keywords where your competitors don’t feature in the paid search results? Use these insights to refine your keyword strategy. You want a good mix of brand awareness and conversion-focused keywords.

Step 3: Find Top Competitors Using the Auction Insights Report

The Google Ads Auction Insights Report provides detailed information about how your ads are performing compared to your competitors’ ads. It’s a powerful Google Ads competitor analysis tool.

Log in to your Google Ads account and click the “Auction Insights” tab. This will open a report comparing your performance with other advertisers participating in the same auctions.

There are a few key metrics you should focus on:

Impression Share

This tells you the percentage of total impressions your ads receive compared to the total number of impressions they could get. A low impression share might indicate that your competitors are outranking you.

Overlap Rate

This shows how often your ads and your competitors’ ads are shown together in the same auction. A high overlap rate means you are frequently competing with these advertisers.

Position Above Rate

This metric indicates how often your competitors’ ads are shown above yours. If competitors consistently outrank you, it might be worth reviewing your bids or ad quality.

Top of Page Rate

This shows the percentage of your impressions that appear at the top of the search results. Compare this with your competitors to see who dominates the top positions.

Pay close attention to competitors with high impression shares and top of page rates. These are the competitors with the most aggressive bidding strategy, which could also mean they are getting good results from their campaigns.

Step 4: Use Semrush to Analyze Competitor Keywords

Semrush is an excellent tool for getting insights into your competitors’ keyword strategies. It helps you identify which keywords are driving traffic to your competitors. You can use this information to improve your own campaigns. 

Enter your main competitor’s domain into Semrush. Switch to the “Advertising Research” section to see the keywords your competitors are bidding on in their Google Ads campaigns.

Look at the search volume for each keyword to see how many searches it gets per month. High-volume keywords can drive more traffic but might also be more competitive. The Difficulty score shows how hard it will be to rank for these keywords. Keywords with lower difficulty scores might be easier to target in your campaigns.

You can also review the cost-per-click (CPC) to estimate your competitor’s ad spend. This can help you set a realistic budget for your own campaigns. Pay special attention to long-tail keywords, as these often have lower search volumes but can be highly targeted and less competitive.

Step 5: Use Google Ads Transparency Center to Evaluate Competitor Ad Creative

The Google Ads Transparency Center is a great resource for examining your competitors’ ads. This platform provides a searchable database of all ads running across Google’s network. You can see your competitors’ ads and get valuable insights into their messaging and ad creative. 

Visit the Google Ads Transparency Center website and enter your competitors’ domain. This will show you a list of ads your competitor is currently running.

Pay attention to the variety and frequency of their ads. This can give you an idea of how aggressively they are advertising. This is also a great way to get insights into your competitor’s ad creative. 

Look closely at the headlines and descriptions in their text ads. What key messages are they using to attract clicks? Are they focusing on special offers or specific benefits?

For display ads, you can analyze the visual components. What types of images and graphics are they using?

You can use this information to inform your ad creative. It will give you an idea of what you’re up against in the SERPs and how to differentiate your ads.

Step 6: Study Competitor Landing Pages

The next step is to study their landing pages. This is where users are directed after clicking on an ad. The goal is to identify the things that your competitor is doing that you may want to include on your landing pages.

Start by examining the landing page’s overall design and layout. Is it clean and professional? How is the information organized? Look at the quality and relevance of the content on the landing page. Is it informative and engaging? 

Does it address the pain points and needs of the target audience? This can make a big impact on conversions. A recent study found that addressing buyer fears on landing pages can increase conversion rates by 80%.

Pay close attention to conversion-focused elements like CTAs, customer reviews, and persuasive content. Analyze where these elements are on the page and how they encourage visitors to take the desired action.

If you notice something missing from your landing page, consider running A/B testing. For example, if your competitor has a customer testimonial next to their CTA, test a similar layout on your page.

Need some help optimizing your site for conversions? Check out our guide on how to create a high-converting website.

Best Practices for Ongoing Competitor Monitoring

Competitor analysis isn’t a one-and-done task. It’s important to keep track of your competition.

Set Up Regular Check-Ins

Schedule regular times to review your competitors’ ad strategies. This could be bi-weekly or monthly, depending on your industry. Regular check-ins allow you to react if your competitors’ strategies change.

Use Automated Tools

Take advantage of automated tools to keep track of your competitors. You can set up automated reports and alerts using Semrush, SpyFu, or Ahrefs. If something significant changes, you’ll get a notification telling you.

Monitor Keyword Performance over time

Keep an eye on your competitors’ keyword performance over time. If they’re targeting new keywords, consider incorporating them into your campaigns. It’s not about copying. It’s about learning and adapting to maximize your return on advertising spend (ROAS).

Google Ads Competitor Analysis FAQs 

How Do I Analyze Competitors on Google Ads?

You can use tools like Auction Insights, Semrush, and Ads Transparency Center to analyze your competitors’ strategies. These tools can reveal insights into your competitors’ keywords, ad spend, and ad creative.

Who Is Competing With Google Ads?

Bing Ads and Meta Advertising are Google Ads’ main competitors. Bing Ads uses a similar keyword targeting format, while Meta Advertising targets audiences based on interests, behaviors, and demographics.

Read our expert guide for a complete breakdown of different paid online advertising platforms.

Can You See How Much Competitors Are Spending on Google Ads?

There is no direct method to view a competitor’s exact Google Ads budget. However, you can use tools like Semrush and SpyFu to get estimates based on keyword CPC data.

Can I Target Competitors With Google Ads?

Absolutely. You can bid for keywords related to your competitor’s brand name or products as part of your PPC strategy. You’ll need to consider the intent behind the query and the average CPC for branded keywords to see if this strategy is worthwhile for your campaign.

Final Thoughts

Keeping an eye on your competitors is crucial to running successful Google Ads campaigns. By understanding what they’re doing, you can optimize your own strategy. However, relying solely on one channel, like PPC, limits your growth potential. 

To maximize results, it’s important to diversify with both online and offline marketing tactics.

That’s where Oppizi comes in. We offer data-driven flyer and leaflet distribution solutions that complement your digital efforts, helping your business reach new heights.

Ready to take your marketing to the next level? Launch your campaign with Oppizi today!