How to Spy on Competitors' Google Ads (and Why You Should!)

By: Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach

Want to know what kind of ads your competitors are running? Maybe you're curious about the messaging they're using or if they're testing out any new ad formats. The desire to Spy on Your Competitors' Google Ads is one of the most common curiosities for advertisers, and for good reason.

Ethically analyzing your competition is one of the smartest things you can do. It can:

• Spark your creativity: Seeing competitor ad copy, images, and offers can give you fresh ideas to improve your own campaigns.
• Uncover new opportunities: Are they ignoring a specific ad format or customer pain point? That's your chance to stand out.
• Benchmark your own efforts: See how your ads stack up and identify areas where you can gain a competitive edge.

This article will walk you through three powerful (and free) ways to analyze your competitors' Google Ads strategy. But first, let's start with some crucial ground rules.

What You Need to Know First: Crucial Caveats

Before you start digging, it's important to set realistic expectations.

1. Everything is an educated guess. No matter what paid third-party tools might promise, the only definitive way to know what keywords a competitor has in their account is to look inside their account. Everything else is an estimate based on data, but it's still a guess.
2. Seeing an ad doesn't equal a keyword. Just because you see a competitor's ad for a certain search, it doesn't mean they are intentionally targeting that exact keyword. They could be using Performance Max, Dynamic Search Ads, or broad/phrase match keywords, and they may not even realize they're showing up for that specific term.

With those caveats in place, here is How to Spy on Competitors' Google Ads using useful and ethical methods.

Method #1: Understand Their Keyword Focus with Keyword Planner

If your main goal is to spy on your competitors' keywords, a great starting point is Google Ads Keyword Planner. While it's designed for building your own campaigns, it has a handy feature for competitor research.

• In Keyword Planner, choose "Discover new keywords" and select the "Start with a website" tab.
• Enter your competitor's website domain. Google will scan the site and provide a list of keywords they are showing up for organically.
• Pro Tip: If your competitor offers many different products or services, analyze their key landing pages one by one instead of their entire website. This will give you a much more focused and relevant list of keyword ideas.

What can you do with this information? Learn more in this article about "indirect competitor targeting."

Method #2: Gauge Keyword Overlap with Auction Insights

The Auction Insights report is your direct window into who you're competing with in the ad auctions. You can see how often your ads and a competitor's ads show up in the same search results.

• Access this report at the Campaign, Ad Group, or Keyword level. For this purpose, the ad group level is often the most insightful.
• Look at your competitor's Impression Share versus your own for different topics. For example, in an ad group about "anti-acne skincare," a competitor might have a 50% impression share. But in your "anti-aging skincare" ad group, they may have less than 10%. This tells you where their strategic priorities and budget are focused relative to yours.
• Pro Tip: You won't be able to see your auction insights unless your Search impression share is at least 10%. One more reason to increase your impression share!

Method #3: The Ultimate Spy Tool: The Google Ads Transparency Center

The most powerful and underutilized tool is the Google Ads Transparency Center (also known as the Google Ads Library). It’s a searchable database of all ads from verified advertisers.

How to Check Competitors' Ads on Google: A Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Visit the Google Ads Transparency Center.
2. Search by domain. This is the most reliable method. Enter your competitor's website address.
3. Refine your search. You can filter results by country, date range, and ad format (image, text, video) to narrow your focus.
4. Explore their ads. You can now see all the ads they are running across Search, Display, YouTube, and more.

What You Can Learn:

• Creative & Messaging: Analyze their ad copy, headlines, visuals, and calls to action. Note the language they use and the benefits they highlight.
• Ad Formats: See if they are running Video, Display, or Shopping ads in addition to Search. This can reveal their strategy for reaching customers at different stages.
• Targeting Clues: You can infer their targeting. If a skincare company's image ads are all focused on anti-aging, you know that's a key audience for them.
• Budget Estimation: While exact budgets are confidential, you can make an inference. A competitor with hundreds of different ad variations is likely spending more than one with only a handful.

What You Won't Find:

It's also important to know the tool's limitations. The Google Ads Transparency Center does not show performance metrics (clicks, conversions), specific keyword lists, or detailed audience targeting settings.

Bonus Method #4: Analyze Targeting on Live Ads

If you see a competitor's ad in the wild, for example on YouTube or the Discover feed, you can get even more targeting clues.

• Click the three dots next to the ad.
• Look for the section that explains "Why this ad?"
• Google will give you clues as to why you were targeted. It might be your age range, your interests (suggesting they use Affinity Segments), or your similarity to their customer lists (suggesting they use Performance Max or optimized targeting).

By combining insights from these free tools, you can build a robust picture of your competitors' strategies. Now that you know how to check competitors' ads on Google, it's time to put this knowledge into action and find your next opportunity to win.