Creating a successful business is a continual process of monitoring and analyzing the market to stay ahead of competitors. Competition drives companies to find new ways to attract customers, which in turn pushes businesses to innovate their product or service offerings. For most companies, keeping tabs on competitors is an ongoing process of reading trade magazines, analyzing industry trends, and following competitors’activities—whether that means monitoring their advertising spend or understanding their latest partnerships. However, spying on your competitors (without making them aware) doesn’t happen by accident. It requires time and planning. Fortunately for you, we have plenty of tips on how to spy on your rivals with Google Ads right here!

Track the effectiveness of your marketing activities

Google Ads allows you to link your advertising campaigns with Google Analytics. As a result, you’ll be able to analyze the ROI of your campaigns and improve the effectiveness of future marketing efforts. Keep track of your campaigns’ performance by noting things like landing page performance, click-through rates, and ROI. With this information, you’ll be able to make adjustments to your campaigns to maximize investment.

Monitor your competitors’ ads

Google Ads has a key feature that allows you to track your competitors’ ad campaigns—specifically the keywords they are retargeting. By monitoring your competitors’ keyword targeting, you’ll be able to get a sense of their marketing strategy and find out more about their customers. To do this, simply navigate to “Campaigns,” select “Tools,” and then“Advertising Research” to view a list of all your competitors’ active campaigns. You can also use the “Ads Explorer” feature to view your competitors’ ads. Simply navigate to “Tools” and select “Ads Explorer” to view a list of all recently created Google Ads. You can also refine your results by adding additional filters like industry or company name.

Stay on top of their latest partnerships and announcements

If your competitors have recently announced a partnership or made an acquisition (or perhaps they’ve just acquired another company), you may have missed it, but Google Ads will have noticed. If you have a Google Alert set up for your competitors, you’ll receive an email whenever Google publishes an article related to your competitors. And if you have a Google Ads account, you can set up an RSS feed to receive an alert whenever Google publishes an article about your competitors.

Finding out where your competitors are advertising

Google Ads lets users view the locations where their ads are running. This way, you’ll be able to see the areas that your competitors are targeting, which in turn will help you understand your customers’ behavior and purchasing patterns. Navigate to “Campaigns” and select “Ad locations” to view a list of all the locations your competitors’ ads are currently running in. You can also use the “Ads Explorer” feature to view the locations where your competitors’ ads are running.

Spy on competitors’ website behavior

By setting up Google Autocomplete, you’ll be able to view what customers are searching for when they visit your competitors’ websites. Of course, you’ll need permission from your competitors to use this feature. To set up Google Autocomplete, navigate to “Campaigns” and select “Tools” and then “Autocomplete” to view a list of all your competitors’websites. Alternatively, you can set up “Autocomplete suggestions” to view what your competitors’ customers are searching for when they visit their website. This way, you’ll be able to find out what people are looking for when they visit your competitors’ websites.

Wrapping up

Spying on your competitors may seem a little sinister, but it’s an important part of staying ahead of the game. Fortunately, by using Google Ads, you can track your competitors’ activities and find out where they’re investing their advertising dollars—without them knowing. Ready to get started? Log into your Google Ads account and start spying on your competitors today!

‍