Guide. For local business owners.
How to see competitor ads on Google and Facebook, free
Every business that advertises on Google or Facebook shows up in a free public library. In ten minutes you can see which of your competitors advertise, what they are pushing, and since when. Here is where to look, what to write down, and what to do with it.
1. Google: the Ads Transparency Center
- Open it. Go to adstransparency.google.com. No account is needed.
- Search the competitor. Type the business name or its website address and pick the matching advertiser.
- Set your area. Choose your country, and a date range if you want to see what they ran last season.
- Read the ads. You see the text, image and video ads, where they ran, and roughly when.
2. Facebook and Instagram: the Meta Ad Library
- Open it. Go to facebook.com/ads/library. No account is needed.
- Pick your country and "All ads". Then search the competitor's Facebook page name.
- Read the active ads. Each shows when it started running and which Meta apps it appears on. An ad running for months is usually one that works for them.
3. A plain search, from where your customers are
Search your main service and your town the way a customer would, on a phone. Ads are marked "Sponsored". In many trades the top of the page is Local Services Ads, the ones with a Google badge and a phone button. Note who shows up, and whether it changes in the evening or at the weekend.
What to write down
- Who advertises at all. Often only one or two of your competitors do.
- What they push. The service, the offer, the price if they show one, the season.
- Where the ad sends people. Click through: a booking page, a phone number, a specials page.
- How long it has run. A new ad is a test; an ad running since spring is a habit.
What to do with it
A competitor running an ad is not proof the ad works, or that you should run one.
- Don't copy their offer. Their price and their pitch fit their costs and their customers. Ask what you would advertise if they had never started.
- Look for the gap. If every ad pushes price, the business that leads with something else, such as speed, a guarantee or the owner on the job, stands out.
- Don't start by bidding on their name. It usually costs more per click than bidding on what customers search for, and it invites the same back.
- Check again monthly. Ten minutes, the same competitors, the same notes. Changes matter more than any single ad.
Ads are one of the things competitors change. Prices, specials, services, reviews and new openings change too; competitor monitoring for small business covers watching all of them, and competitor price monitoring the prices.
Common questions
How can I see my competitors' ads for free?
Two public libraries show them. Google's Ads Transparency Center lists the ads an advertiser runs on Google Search, YouTube and other Google services; search by the business name or website. Meta's Ad Library shows the ads a business is running on Facebook and Instagram; search by its page name and pick your country. Both are free and need no account.
Can a competitor see that I looked at their ads?
No. Both libraries are public pages anyone can browse; the advertiser is not told who looked.
Why don't I see any ads for a competitor?
Either they are not advertising right now, or they advertise under a different name than the one on their sign, such as a parent company or the agency that runs their account. Try their website address, their legal name, or the name on their Facebook page.
Should I bid on a competitor's business name?
Not as a starting point. It usually costs more per click than bidding on what customers search for, such as your service and your town, and it invites the same back. Put the budget where your customers are searching first.
More on keeping up with competitors
See who you're up against
Type your business name for a free look at the competitors around you and what they changed recently: no signup, about 2 minutes.