Simply googling doesn’t always work. And this way, you can’t view ads in the Google Display Network (GDN). In this article, we’ll examine several methods on how to properly and for free view competitors’ ads in Google
Method One: Find Their Page in Google Ads Library via Google Search
With this method, we can view ads both in GDN and Search.
- Find any competitor’s ad through simple googling. We need an actual ad; organic search results won’t work for us.
- Click on the 3 dots on the right
- In the “About this advertiser” block, click the “See more ads” button
- This takes us to the ad library. Here we select the needed time period, formats, and geolocations
Method Two: Search for Ads Directly in the Library
The first method might not work for you. For example, you might not find your competitor’s ad results, or they might not be advertising right now. Or you might be interested in how your competitors advertise in other countries.
- Go to the ad library. It’s located here
- Select time period, regions, and formats
- Enter a search query. This can be the competitor’s company name or website address. Company names can be tricky since you need not the brand name, but the legal entity name registered in Google Ads.
Most likely, the first 2 methods will work for you in 9 out of 10 cases. But there are 2 more methods.
Method Three: Google It
This method is obvious, but that doesn’t mean it should be forgotten. Your competitors are probably advertising at least for branded queries – that is, for company names, brands, or product names.
But this doesn’t always work. Sometimes you’re simply not in the location your competitor is targeting. Or you don’t match the demographics or interests. Or you’re googling from desktop while ads are only shown to mobile devices. In all these cases, you won’t see the ads.
The fourth method will partially help bypass this.
Method Four: Search Through Google Ads Account
We’ll need an advertising account and the “Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool” within it.
This is a tool for viewing your own ads. But sometimes competitors’ ads also appear there. Often not at the top of queries, but at the bottom of the page.
- Log into your advertising account
- Find “Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool”.
- Select geolocation, devices, and query language
- Enter the query itself
- You should get something similar to the output shown
If All These Methods Don’t Help You
Then most likely your competitor isn’t advertising on Google.
If you’re sure they are advertising, then you need deeper analytics using third-party tools.
The most suitable for this, in my opinion, is SEMRush. It has huge functionality, but such a service costs as much as a Boeing wing.
And this is the problem with all similar services. They’re not cheap. I don’t recommend them because their cost doesn’t always pay off through improved advertising.