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For those in SEO, Paid Media or digital marketing, gaining insights into the competition’s strategies is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. Until now, understanding rivals’ ad landscape in paid search and display advertising has been a challenging task. However, Google’s recent ads transparency update has changed the game, allowing those in the business to see exactly what the competition is up to.
This new feature has great potential to revolutionize competitor analysis and give a significant advantage in shaping marketing campaigns.
The Power of Google’s Ads Transparency Update:
According to Florian Tomko, Senior PPC Specialist at Somebody Digital, this update is similar to Facebook’s Ad Library, offering marketers the ability to access the Google Library and examine their relevant and verified competitors’ ads. Florian highlights the value of this transparency update, stating, “It’s really helpful to see at scale what sort of ads they’re running and what angles they’re using in the ad copy.” This feature saves time and effort, providing a comprehensive view of competitors’ strategies.
Unveiling Competitor Strategies:
Florian further explains the benefits of this update, emphasising how it streamlines competitor analysis. He states, “We can now see what our clients’ competitors are doing by running them through the tool to see what ads they have live and what keywords they are targeting.” For new clients, this becomes a starting point for crafting effective ad copy. It allows marketers to understand the messaging, offers, and angles employed by competitors, giving a competitive edge right from the start.
Cristiano Winckler, Director of Digital Operations at Somebody Digital highlights the impact of this update, stating, “This could be a game changer for lead generation and e-commerce campaigns. It provides valuable information on competitor analysis, helping us do something better.” He further stresses the significance of this update, particularly in highly regulated industries like finance and health.
He notes, “Competitor analysis could be particularly important in highly regulated markets because their job is to be super strict to avoid any kind of trouble. But if you don’t take risks, you don’t grow.”
A Catalyst for Business Decisions:
Florian shares a compelling example of how competitor analysis can influence business decisions. He describes a health supplement company whose legal team had strict language restrictions in their ad copy. Florian states, “We were promoting some supplements for IBS, but their legal team gave us a list of keywords we were never allowed to use.”
However, by manually gathering screenshots of competitors’ ads and showcasing the competitors using the restricted keywords successfully, the marketing team convinced the legal team to reconsider. Florian highlights the positive impact, stating, “That almost doubled or tripled the size of the market we could actually go after.”
Adapting to a Changing Landscape:
Cristiano advises those working in the industry to be mindful of the implications of this transparency update. He emphasises the need for intensified competitor monitoring, stating, “We now have to be much more mindful of our message, and we need to intensify our monitoring of what competitors are doing.” He warns that competitors will be making use of the tool to analyse strategies as well, so adapting and responding swiftly is key to staying ahead in the game.
The Future of Google Ads Updates
Google’s ads transparency update empowers marketers with invaluable insights into competitors’ strategies. By accessing competitors’ ads and observing their tactics, we gain a competitive advantage in campaign optimisation. However, as Cristiano suggests, those who use it must continue to remain vigilant and adapt to the changing landscape of digital marketing. Embracing this update and leveraging it for competitor analysis will unlock new possibilities and help us shape successful marketing campaigns.
Have a PPC campaign to run? Talk to the experts at Somebody Digital today.
