Did you know that you can spy on your Google ad competitors with a free tool? And it’s from Google!
I didn’t know about this tool until last week, when I discovered it’s possible to check your competitors’ ads without the help of paid tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs.
The tool is called the Ad Transparency Center. You can search for this name on Google, and the very first link in the search results will take you to the tool.
I already knew about Meta’s similar tool, called the Ad Library. With both tools, you can find out what ads your competitors or any business are running.
Now that you know about the tool, how do you use it? And most importantly, how can you benefit from it?
Here are different ways to put this tool into action:
Search for relevant keywords on Google:
From the search results page, choose any of the links you want to analyze. On the right end of the search title, you’ll find a three-dot menu. Click on it, and it will open the Ad Center for you. In the pop-up box, there is a hyperlink with the text “See more ads.” Click that link, and it will show you all the ads that particular advertiser is running. You can filter the ads by time, location, and format.
Look up a specific brand:
Instead of going through the search results, you can directly visit the Ad Transparency Center. Simply enter the brand name in the form provided, and it will display all the ads they are running on Google. You can always filter the results for more insights.
Search for advertisers by industry:
If you’re unsure of a specific advertiser, you can search by industry. Just enter the industry name or a related keyword (e.g., weight loss, dentists). You can select the advertiser you want to analyze from the dropdown list of results.
What beneficial insights can you gain from this tool?
- Although the tool doesn’t reveal the exact keywords they’re bidding on, you can get a good idea from their ad titles, descriptions, and other properties.
- You can see if they are using a landing page. By analyzing these pages, you can gain insights into their approach, sales funnel, and offers, helping you plan your own campaigns.
- With the filtering feature, you can see the types of ads your competitors are running. Are they only using search ads (text), or are they also running YouTube ads (video) or display ads (image) for remarketing purposes? This can give you ideas on how to leverage this information for your campaigns.
To sum up:
You can gather a lot of useful information from this tool, which could be extremely helpful for optimizing your current Google ad campaigns or planning your next one.
This tool is especially valuable for small business owners running on tight budgets, as it provides competitor intel without the need for expensive paid tools.
Did you already know about this tool? If yes, let me know in the comments.
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