google-ads-competitive-analysis-toolkit

Competitive Analysis Toolkit

Complete guide for analyzing competition in Google Ads, from Auction Insights interpretation to strategic response to competitor activities.

Pull Competitive Data via MCP

Impression Share Metrics (Campaign Level)

google_ads_run_gaql(query="
  SELECT campaign.name,
         metrics.search_impression_share,
         metrics.search_budget_lost_impression_share,
         metrics.search_rank_lost_impression_share,
         metrics.search_absolute_top_impression_share,
         metrics.search_top_impression_share,
         metrics.average_cpc, metrics.cost_micros
  FROM campaign
  WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
    AND campaign.status = 'ENABLED'
    AND campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'SEARCH'
  ORDER BY metrics.cost_micros DESC
  LIMIT 20
")

Interpret:

• search_rank_lost_impression_share rising → competitors increasing bids/QS
• search_budget_lost_impression_share rising → you are budget-capped
• search_absolute_top_impression_share dropping → someone pushed you down

Auction Insights (Competitor Domain Data)

The auction_insight resource provides per-competitor overlap, position above, and outranking metrics via GAQL:

google_ads_run_gaql(query="
  SELECT auction_insight.display_domain,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_impression_share,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_overlap_rate,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_position_above_rate,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_outranking_share,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_top_impression_percentage,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_absolute_top_impression_percentage
  FROM auction_insight
  WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
  ORDER BY metrics.auction_insight_search_impression_share DESC
  LIMIT 20
")

This returns the same data as the UI's Auction Insights report, including competitor domain names. Filter by campaign or ad group for segment-specific analysis.

Auction Insights Metrics

Metric	What It Measures
Impression Share	% of impressions you received vs total available
Overlap Rate	% of your impressions where competitor also appeared
Position Above Rate	% of overlapping impressions where competitor was above you
Top of Page Rate	% of impressions in top positions (above organic)
Abs. Top of Page Rate	% of impressions at first position
Outranking Share	% of auctions where you ranked above competitor or appeared when they didn't

Outranking Share = (You higher + You appeared, they didn't) / Total eligible auctions.

Interpretation Scenarios

High Overlap, Low Outranking: Competitor targets same keywords and wins more often. Check Quality Score difference, evaluate bid strategy.

Low Overlap, High Impression Share: You dominate this segment with little direct competition. Maintain position, don't overbid.

New Competitor Appears: 40% overlap, 60% position above in first week. Monitor trends, analyze their ads manually.

Competitor IS Rising (yours dropping): Competitor investing more. Evaluate ROI of these keywords — increase bids if profitable, or shift to less competitive segments.

Competitive Benchmark Analysis

Build a benchmark table for top 5 competitors from Auction Insights data (minimum 30 days):

┌──────────────┬───────────┬─────────┬───────────┬────────────┬──────────┐
│ Competitor   │ Imp Share │ Overlap │ Pos Above │ Outranking │ Trend    │
├──────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────┤
│ You          │ 45%       │ -       │ -         │ -          │ Baseline │
│ Competitor A │ 52%       │ 78%     │ 55%       │ 42%        │ ↑ +5%   │
│ Competitor B │ 38%       │ 65%     │ 35%       │ 58%        │ → Stable│
└──────────────┴───────────┴─────────┴───────────┴────────────┴──────────┘

Threat Score = (Overlap Rate x Position Above Rate) / 100
Example: Competitor A = (78% x 55%) / 100 = 42.9 (HIGH)

Market Share Calculation

Method 1 — Impression Share basis: Your IS = your share of eligible searches. Lost IS (Budget) + Lost IS (Rank) = room to grow.

Method 2 — Relative Share: Your IS / Sum of all known IS. Note: overlap means sum can exceed 100%.

Method 3 — Share of Voice: Your Impressions / Estimated total searches (from Keyword Planner).

Competitive Position Matrix

        HIGH IS
           │
    MARKET │  DOMINANT PLAYERS
    LEADERS│  (large budgets, strong QS — differentiate)
           │
LOW ───────┼─────────── HIGH Position Above
           │
    NICHE  │  AGGRESSIVE CHALLENGERS
    PLAYERS│  (selective but strong — monitor and learn)
           │
        LOW IS

Competitor Strategy Patterns

Pattern	Signals	Your Response
Aggressive Market Share	Top positions always, broad coverage, aggressive offers	Don't match — focus on efficiency and niche
Cherry-Picking	High position only on specific keywords, low IS overall	Test their high-value keywords, learn from selection
Defensive/Brand	Dominant on brand terms, low non-brand presence	Opportunity on non-brand generics
Promotional Surge	Sudden IS increase, aggressive offers, temporary	Track timing, plan your own promotions around their baseline periods

Competitive response decision tree and tactical responses in references/decision-trees.md. Monitoring setup, weekly review checklist, and Google Ads Script in references/detailed-reference.md.

Output: Competitive Analysis Report Template

# Competitive Analysis Report

## Executive Summary
- **Period:** [Date range]
- **Market position:** [Leader/Challenger/Follower]
- **Key trend:** [Describe]
- **Action required:** [Yes/No + brief explanation]

## Top Competitors
| Competitor | Imp Share | Overlap | Position Above | Outranking | Trend |
|------------|-----------|---------|----------------|------------|-------|
| [You] | [X]% | - | - | - | Baseline |
| [Comp A] | [X]% | [X]% | [X]% | [X]% | [up/down/stable] |

## Competitor Deep Dives
### [Competitor A]
- **Strategy type:** [Aggressive/Selective/Defensive]
- **Observed tactics:** [List]
- **Ad messaging:** [Headlines, offers, USPs]
- **Threat level:** [High/Medium/Low]

## Strategic Recommendations
### Immediate (This Week)
1. [Action] - [Rationale]

### Short-term (This Month)
1. [Action] - [Rationale]

## Monitoring Plan
- **Daily:** CPC and IS changes
- **Weekly:** Auction Insights review, manual spot check
- **Monthly:** Full competitive landscape analysis