Easy Tools to Spy on Google Shopping Ads

In today’s hyper-competitive eCommerce landscape, success on Google Shopping requires more than just great products — you need intelligence about what your competitors are doing. One of the smartest ways to gain an edge is to spy on Google Shopping Ads and uncover the strategies that drive their results.

At Kantha Digital, we’ve helped countless brands supercharge their campaigns by combining creativity with data-driven insights. If you’d like expert help managing and optimizing your campaigns, check out our Google Shopping Ads Agency — we specialize in crafting high-converting campaigns and helping you stay ahead of your competition.

In this comprehensive blog, we’ll explain Why You Should Spy on Google Shopping Ads, what kind of information you can uncover, the best free and paid tools to use, and how to apply your findings effectively.

Why Should You Spy On Google Shopping Ads?

If you are an e-commerce business, you know better than anyone how competitive Google Shopping is. Thousands of brands compete for the same audience and clicks daily. Here are a few compelling reasons why it’s important to spy on your competitors:

• Learn what works: By looking through competitors’ ads, you can figure out their products, titles, and images that work.
• Discover pricing gaps: Find opportunities to price your products more competitively.
• Identify trends: Discover what items are trending, and when they are trending in your industry.
• Benchmark your efforts: Understand how to measure up against your competitors and set reasonable performance goals.

In summary, spying on your competitors’ Google Shopping Ads gives you actionable intel to tweak your campaigns to drive better sales.

What Information Can You Uncover?

When you spy on Google Shopping ads, you’re not just peeking into someone’s strategy; you’re gathering intelligence that can inform yours. Here are some examples of valuable information you can uncover:

• Product titles and descriptions: See how competitors craft their listings for maximum visibility.
• Pricing and discounts: Discover how they position themselves on price and promotions.
• Images and creative elements: Analyze which product images attract attention.
• Bidding strategies: Understand which keywords or products they prioritize by observing which products consistently show up.
• Merchant ratings & reviews: Learn about competitors’ customer satisfaction and trust signals.

By focusing on these aspects, you can identify what’s missing in your ads and fill those gaps.

Free Tools to Analyze Google Shopping Ads

It is not always necessary to pay big bucks to see your competitor’s strategy. Here are a few great Free Tools for spying on Google Shopping Ads:

1. Semrush (Free Plan)

Semrush on the Free plan still offers some limited but useful data on competitor keywords and ad copies, as well as competitor product listings.  You can find trends and resolve gaps in your dominant competitor’s products to exploit.

2. Ahrefs (Free Features)

Ahrefs may be known for backlink analysis, but free features also provide insight into competitor keyword targeting, which may overlap with their Google shopping campaign.

3. Google Keyword Planner

Perhaps Google’s (Keyword Planner) itself is one of the best free ways to forecast high-value keywords by finding out what your competitors may be bidding on for Shopping ads.

4. Google Merchant Center (Benchmark Reports)

If you are advertising Google Shopping, Merchant Center also provides benchmark CTR and CPC to allow you to layer insights against the industry.

These free tools to analyze Google shopping ads are ideal if you are a novice or small business and need to start without a big investment.

Paid Tools for Advanced Insights

When you’re ready to dig deeper and get actionable data, the following paid tools for getting built-in significance from Google Shopping ads are all worth it:

1. SEMrush (Pro Plan)

The paid Pro plan opens you up to significant competitive insights, including PLA (Product Listing Ads) insights, keyword positions, ad copies, and tons more, for the serious marketer.

2. SpyFu

SpyFu is well-known for tracking competitors’ paid ad history, keywords, and Shopping ads (the only downside is that you could probably use a little knowledge of their terminology). They do a great job of establishing historical data so you can see trends over time, making this a solid investment.

3. Ahrefs (Paid Plan)

While Ahrefs is often seen as an SEO tool, its paid version also uncovers valuable insights into competitors’ keyword strategies, ranking pages, and traffic sources, which often correlate with their Shopping campaigns.

4. HubSpot Marketing Hub

HubSpot’s Marketing Hub isn’t just for inbound marketing — its paid plans offer analytics tools to track competitors, monitor keywords, and analyze campaign performance, giving you a holistic view of how your rivals attract and convert traffic, including through Shopping ads.

How to Use These Tools Effectively

Collecting data is one thing; using data is another. Below are some tips to get the most out of these tools:

Step 1: Establish Your Objectives

Determine what you want to achieve – are you looking for an increase in CTR, a decrease in CPC, an increase in conversion rate, or all of the above? Identifying your objectives will dictate how you use the data you find.

Step 2: Identify the Competitors that Matter Most to You

You can use SimilarWeb or SEMrush to identify specific competitors. Identify competitors targeting the same keywords/ audience as you do.

Step 3: Track Consistently

The competitive landscape changes fast, so you have to stay up to date. You can either set alerts or you should check the data weekly or monthly.

Step 4: Spot Themes

Do not copy your competitors weakly; rather, develop themes of how they have run their campaigns and then develop those themes for your brand.

Step 5: Test and Optimize

Use what you see during your spying process to test new ad copy, change pricing, or change bids. Then continue to monitor.

This process will not turn competitive data into actionable strategies, but it will turbocharge your campaigns.

Conclusion

Spying on your competitors’ Google Shopping ads isn’t just smart — it’s essential in today’s cutthroat eCommerce market. By understanding what others in your industry are doing, you can position your brand more effectively, craft better ads, and ultimately drive more sales.
Both free tools to spy on Google Shopping ads and premium tools have their place, depending on your goals and budget. Start simple with Google searches and Merchant Center, then move on to advanced platforms like SEMrush and Adthena as your campaigns grow.

While you’re working on mastering Google Shopping ads, don’t miss these insightful reads from Kantha Digital: Supercharge Your Ecommerce Sales: The Top Google Shopping Ad Tips You Need – Essential tips for making the most of your Google Shopping campaigns.Skyrocket Your Online Business: Mastering Google Ads – Discover how to harness the full power of Google Ads beyond Shopping. These resources will help you level up your eCommerce advertising strategy even further.

Frequently Asked Questions