Social Signals
How I spied on 3 competitors’ Google Ads without an account or paid tools
Google’s Advertisements Transparency Middle reveals you what opponents are working on Search, YouTube, Maps, Google Play and Google Buying. You gained’t see what the corporate spent, how the advertisements carried out or who precisely was focused. However you possibly can see one thing opponents usually make surprisingly tough to check: the advertisements themselves. And also you don’t want a Google Advertisements account to see what your opponents are doing.
I examined it with three corporations competing for roughly the identical buyer: Beehiiv, Mailchimp and Flodesk. On September 17, 2026, I looked for all three advertisers in the USA and in contrast the advertisements seen on Google Search and YouTube over the earlier seven days.
Then I checked out 4 issues: what number of advertisements every firm was working, what these advertisements mentioned, what they provided and what they requested potential prospects to do.
Right here’s learn how to do the identical together with your opponents, and what you possibly can really be taught from it.
Tips on how to see a competitor’s Google Advertisements with out an account
- Open Google’s Advertisements Transparency Middle (adstransparency.google.com). No login is required.
- Seek for the advertiser or model identify.
- Choose the right verified advertiser. Comparable names are widespread, so test that the advertiser matches the corporate you imply.
- Set the nation, date vary and platform filters. I used the USA, the final seven days, and Google Search and YouTube in flip.
- Evaluate the seen advertisements and notice recurring messaging, gives, codecs and calls to motion.
What are you able to be taught from a competitor’s advertisements?
I targeted on Search and YouTube as a result of these have been the platforms the place all three advertisers had seen advertisements throughout the identical seven-day window. For each, I in contrast 4 issues:
- Advert quantity: how energetic every advertiser was
- Messaging: which themes the advertisements lean on
- Provide: what the advertisements promise you’ll get
- CTA: what the advertisements ask you to do subsequent
1. Advert quantity
| Advertiser | Google Search | YouTube |
|---|---|---|
| Beehiiv | 50 | 83 |
| Mailchimp | ~200 | ~200 |
| Flodesk | 54 | 1 |
A disclaimer earlier than we interpret the outcomes, this can be a tough exercise sign, not a measure of spend or efficiency. Mailchimp confirmed the best counts on each platforms. On Search, Beehiiv (50) and Flodesk (54) have been shut collectively; on YouTube, Beehiiv’s 83 was nicely behind Mailchimp’s ~200, and Flodesk had a single advert.
One caveat on Mailchimp’s YouTube quantity: the advertisements I reviewed on a single outcomes web page underneath its advertiser account have been for third-party content material, not Mailchimp’s personal product. That makes its YouTube quantity laborious to learn, so I left these advertisements out of the messaging comparability beneath. The lesson is price remembering while you run this your self: test what an advertiser is definitely selling earlier than you depend its advertisements.
This train reveals you which of them platforms a competitor is seen on and which it isn’t, not how a lot it’s spending or how nicely it’s doing.
2. Messaging
| Theme | Beehiiv | Mailchimp | Flodesk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development | Search, YouTube | – | – |
| Income technology | Search, YouTube | – | – |
| Options | – | Search | – |
| Design | – | – | Search, YouTube |
| Ease of use | – | – | Search, YouTube |
| Training | – | Search | – |
| Testing | – | Search | – |
The clearest distinction is Beehiiv versus Flodesk. Beehiiv’s Search headlines promote a enterprise consequence: Launch, Develop & Monetize and Hold 100% of Your Gross sales. Flodesk sells the expertise of constructing emails Superbly designed emails and Create emails in 5 minutes. Mailchimp’s Search advertisements sit some other place once more, main with schooling and product capabilities, reminiscent of Tips on how to write one of the best e-mail newsletters-with examples, A/B and Multivariate Testing for Emails and Newsletters, and E-mail Signatures.
Beehiiv’s YouTube inventive message stays on the expansion theme, with thumbnail textual content saying Supercharge your digital enterprise and Referrals. Flodesk’s single YouTube advert reused the visuals from its Search marketing campaign, so its message stays constant throughout each platforms. On YouTube, Mailchimp had quite a few advertisements however of the advertisements reviewed on a single outcomes web page, none have been from Mailchimp however from third-party content material.
From these messages, you possibly can be taught which worth declare a competitor leads with and emphasizes on.
3. Provide and worth proposition
- Beehiiv: This interprets to viewers progress and income technology. You may launch, develop and promote digital merchandise, and preserve 100% of your gross sales. For Youtube advertisements, they reiterate the identical message on income technology and offers you a 14-day free trial to check and see whether or not there’s worth in all they’re providing.
- Flodesk: Provides you free designs and ease of use. You get engaging emails with out designing templates from scratch.
- Mailchimp: Provides loads of options, schooling and a free-plan entry level. Its advertisements supply guides, examples, templates and a free plan you possibly can improve from.
Right here, you possibly can be taught the rationale a competitor offers prospects to decide on them over you.
4. CTA
Every model pushes a unique conversion path. Beehiiv’s YouTube advertisements repeat a 14-day trial, a low-commitment approach to check the product. Mailchimp’s Search advertisements ask you to select a free or paid plan. Within the Flodesk advertisements I reviewed, there was no specific CTA pointing to a trial. From these CTAs, you possibly can find out how a competitor strikes somebody from advert to sign-up, and the way a lot dedication they’re asksing for up entrance.
What Google gained’t present you
The Advertisements Transparency Middle reveals the advertisements, not the outcomes behind them. It doesn’t present spend, conversions, profitability, actual focusing on or dependable efficiency information. So not one of the numbers above inform you which campaigns labored. Advert depend specifically is just not a measure of the finances in place, attain, aggressiveness or success.
What to take from this train
All three corporations are chasing the identical pool of shoppers, but every leads with a unique worth proposition. Beehiiv’s advertisements talked nearly completely about progress and monetization, positioning itself as a enterprise software somewhat than simply an e-mail sender. On YouTube, the advertisements spoke on to a potential buyer. Flodesk stayed narrowly targeted on design and ease of use, with barely any YouTube presence in any respect. Mailchimp, in the meantime, cut up its Search messaging into schooling and options however its YouTube quantity was dominated by different product advertisements.
For a marketer positioning a competing product, the message themes reveal a map of open territory as a lot as it’s aggressive intel. You may enter the market and differentiate your product/providers primarily based on worth as a substitute of combating over the identical advertising and marketing messages. To use it to your personal opponents, you possibly can run the identical search, notice the amount, messaging themes, gives and CTAs, and search for what no one is saying.
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