8 Tools for Analyzing Your Competitors in PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is the lifeblood of modern digital marketing, a finely tuned machine designed to separate serious advertisers from those who enjoy setting their money on fire. At its core, PPC is about buying attention—whether it’s from Google Ads, Facebook (or should we say Meta?) Ads, LinkedIn’s overpriced clicks, or whatever ad network is currently promising “unprecedented results.” The trick, of course, is making sure that the attention you’re paying for actually turns into conversions, and not just a collection of clicks that lead nowhere.

This guide is for marketers who already know the basics and are ready to squeeze every last drop of ROI from their PPC campaigns. If you’re looking for a “Beginner’s Guide to Google Ads,” this isn’t it. But if you’re tired of watching your ad spend disappear into the void and want to start running PPC like a ruthless efficiency machine, read on.

Setting Up for PPC Domination (Not Disaster)

Campaign Objectives – “What Are We Even Doing Here?”

There’s nothing quite as tragic as a PPC campaign with no clear objective. Running ads without goals is like throwing darts blindfolded—sure, you might hit the board occasionally, but mostly you’re just making a mess. Before you even think about setting up a campaign, define what success looks like. Are you driving leads? Pushing e-commerce sales? Increasing brand awareness (ugh, we’ll get to why that’s usually a waste of money later)? If your goal is just “more clicks,” congratulations—you’ve just fallen for the ultimate PPC scam: paying for traffic that doesn’t convert.

Every campaign should have a quantifiable, measurable outcome tied to business KPIs. That means actual revenue, leads that don’t ghost you, or at the very least, cost per acquisition (CPA) that doesn’t make your CFO break out in hives.

Choosing the Right Ad Platforms – Google vs. Meta vs. Everyone Else

Google Ads is the undisputed king of PPC, but let’s not pretend it’s the only game in town. Depending on your audience and objectives, Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) can still be a goldmine—if you’re willing to put up with Meta’s ever-changing rules and the occasional algorithmic meltdown. LinkedIn Ads? Great if you enjoy paying $12 per click for someone who will never fill out your lead form.

And then there’s the rising trend of alternative ad platforms. TikTok Ads are fantastic if you’re targeting Gen Z and have the budget to experiment. Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) may be the underdog, but they offer cheaper CPCs and a surprising number of high-intent users. If you’re in e-commerce, don’t ignore Amazon Ads—they print money for sellers who get their targeting right.

Keyword Strategies That Don’t Suck

The Right Keywords (or How Not to Pay for Junk Traffic)

Google would love for you to just use broad match keywords and let their algorithm “figure things out.” Spoiler alert: this is a terrible idea. Broad match means your ad could show up for searches so unrelated to your business that it’s practically performance art.

Instead, focus on high-intent keywords—the ones that indicate users are actually ready to buy. Long-tail keywords often convert better because they signal more specific intent. The goal is not just to drive traffic, but to attract users who already have their wallets half-open.

Competitor Keyword Spying – Because Why Reinvent the Wheel?

Want to know what works? Look at your competitors. Tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, and Google’s Auction Insights let you see what keywords they’re bidding on, which ones they’re ranking for, and—most importantly—where they’re burning money so you don’t have to.

If a competitor is bidding on specific high-intent keywords, that’s your signal to investigate. Either they’re seeing a positive ROI, or they’re making an expensive mistake that you can learn from. Either way, it’s free intelligence.

Crafting Ads That Actually Convert (Instead of Just Look Pretty)

Great PPC ads aren’t just about catchy headlines—they’re about aligning with search intent, making a compelling offer, and convincing users that clicking your ad is the smartest decision they’ll make today. A well-optimized ad uses clear, persuasive language with a direct CTA, because vague CTAs like “Learn More” are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

A/B testing is non-negotiable. Your gut instinct is probably wrong, so test different headlines, CTAs, and descriptions to see what actually drives conversions. If you’re not actively testing, you’re just guessing.

Landing Pages That Don’t Suck (And Won’t Make People Bounce)

The 3-Second Rule – If They Blink and Leave, You Lose

You have about three seconds to convince visitors that they made the right choice clicking your ad. If your landing page loads slowly, looks like it was designed in 2008, or makes users hunt for the CTA, they’re gone.

Your landing page should have a singular focus: conversion. That means no distractions, no unnecessary links, and definitely no autoplay videos that scare people away. A strong landing page aligns perfectly with the ad copy, ensuring a seamless experience from click to conversion.

Matching Search Intent Like a PPC Jedi

Nothing kills conversion rates faster than misleading ad-to-landing page alignment. If your ad promises “50% off running shoes” and your landing page is a generic homepage with no mention of that discount, expect a bounce rate that makes your campaign ROI cry. Every landing page should reinforce the ad message, use clear headlines, and make it painfully easy for users to complete the desired action. If a user has to think, they’re already gone.

Bidding Strategies for the Big Leagues

If you’re still using manual CPC bidding across all campaigns, congratulations—you’re officially working harder, not smarter. Google’s automated bidding strategies have their place, but blindly trusting the algorithm is like handing your credit card to a stranger and hoping for the best.

Smart bidding, when done correctly, can optimize conversions and lower CPA, but it requires constant monitoring. Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and Maximize Conversions can be effective, but only if you have historical data to feed the algorithm. If you’re running a new campaign, manual bidding still gives you more control.

PPC Optimization: The Never-Ending Job (And How to Stay Sane)

Performance Tracking – Because Hope Is Not a Strategy

Running PPC without proper tracking is like driving blindfolded and hoping you’ll reach your destination. You need to track not just clicks, but actual conversions, customer lifetime value (CLV), and return on ad spend (ROAS). Google Ads’ built-in tracking is decent, but combining it with Google Analytics, heatmaps, and call tracking will give you a full picture of what’s working.

When to Scale, When to Pivot, and When to Just Fire Your PPC Manager

Scaling PPC isn’t as simple as increasing your budget and watching conversions skyrocket. If you scale too fast, you’ll tank your ROI. The right approach is incremental scaling—gradually increasing spend while monitoring CPA and conversion rates. If your CPA starts climbing faster than your revenue, it’s time to reassess. And if your PPC manager insists that “everything is going great” while your ROAS tells a different story? It might be time for a new PPC manager.

Most marketers love Google Ads.

We're no exception.

But we totally understand that businesses in certain industries sometimes have a deep resentment of Google Ads and their restrictive policies.

Google's policies for advertising are generally intuitive and straightforward, but for certain regulated and sensitive categories, the standards are much higher and less clear. Pharmaceutical companies, gambling websites, political campaigns, and other industries often struggle to get their ads approved consistently.

In fact, if you don't know what you're getting into, trying to advertise as a business in one of these categories can be a recipe for disaster.

How are you supposed to use Google Ads effectively if you belong to one of these regulated or sensitive categories?

The Challenges of Sensitive Category PPC Advertising

Sensitive and regulated categories in PPC advertising face a number of challenges, including:

·       Stricter guidelines. Most PPC advertisers are familiar and comfortable with basic Google Ads guidelines. But if you belong to a regulated or sensitive category, you'll have far more guidelines and more nuanced guidelines to deal with.

·       Higher scrutiny. Google pays much closer attention to ads in regulated and sensitive categories, meaning you face closer scrutiny when your ads start circulating. Reports will be investigated quicker and much more strictly, and even minor violations can work against you.

·       More ad disapprovals. Similarly, ads are much more likely to get disapproved in these categories. You'll face an uphill battle as you try to get your ads circulating.

·       The risk of suspensions. Businesses in these categories also face the risk of frequent, ongoing suspensions. This trend is also worsening; in fact, in 2023, Google Ads suspended more than 12.7 million advertiser accounts – doubling their actions over the previous year.

This makes it much more difficult to advertise effectively and secure a positive return on investment (ROI). Additionally, failing to adhere to Google’s advertising policies can hurt your company's reputation and compromise your long-term potential for success.

Plan for a Sustainable, Long-Term Strategy

The most important thing you can do to improve your results in a regulated or sensitive category is to plan for a sustainable, long-term strategy. Every year, thousands of business owners in these categories attempt to fool Google, find clever ways around its policies, and devise techniques that allow them to cheat the system.

These approaches can usually work temporarily. You can cheat your way into the listings and generate some traffic to your landing page.

But inevitably, these techniques fail, and they can ultimately get you blacklisted.

You're much better off taking the slow, steady approach, following the rules even if it means compromising your advertising effectiveness in the short term. Think about the long-term consequences and possibilities of each decision you make.

Understand All Applicable Google Ads Policies

There is some good news here.

Google isn’t shy about publishing its advertising policies.

If you're willing to do the reading and research, you can thoroughly understand what Google expects from regulated and sensitive categories like yours – and you can easily adhere to the guidelines.

Well, maybe not “easily,” but reliably.

Generally, Google splits content into two types:

·       Restricted content. Restricted content is sensitive content that is subject to more regulations. You must precisely comply with requirements for copy, images, website content, and more if you want to remain in circulation.

·       Prohibited content. Prohibited content is totally disallowed. You cannot include it without facing significant consequences.

Unfortunately, we can't give you a big list of all the rules you need to follow, as the rules are different for various industries. Some of the most popular industries and categories that face steeper restrictions include:

·       Pharmaceuticals and healthcare products

·       Weapons and explosives

·       Financial services (including cryptocurrencies)

·       Gambling/games of chance

·       Alcohol, tobacco, and similar products

·       Political ads

·       Adult content and services

While there are certainly commonalities between regulations across these categories, each category has its own unique blend of restrictions and rules to learn. For example, pharmaceutical businesses require formal certification from Google and are only allowed in some countries. In the financial services industry, you'll likely need a specific license, and you'll need to provide adequate disclosures for your products and services.

The more intimately you know these rules and regulations and how they apply to your industry, the more likely you'll be able to advertise successfully. Don't advertise until you're sure you understand all applicable Google Ads policies.

One other important note here: you need to stay updated.

Google isn't stagnant, and its advertising policies are constantly in flux. Accordingly, you need to stay abreast of recent changes and update your ad approaches in line with them.

The easiest way to do this is to subscribe to Google Ads policy updates, but you should also regularly engage in Google Ads forums. If you're lucky enough to have a representative, maintain open and transparent communication with them and stay in touch regularly; they can be a massive benefit for businesses in regulated and sensitive categories.

Do Your Research

The more research you do, the better. You need to thoroughly understand your advertising landscape before you try to thread this needle.

·       Google Ads policies. Obviously, read and understand Google Ads policies as they relate to your industry. We mostly covered this in the previous section, but it's part of the research you need to do.

·       Licensing and certification requirements. Even if it's not specifically required by Google, it's a good idea to get any appropriate licenses or certifications. It's a mark of authority and trustworthiness that might save you if any of your ads are reviewed for potential policy violations.

·       Laws and regulations. Similarly, violating any laws and regulations in the country where you're advertising could be grounds for ad removal or account suspension, even if those violations aren't specifically listed in Google Ads policies. Always ensure legal compliance before advertising with Google.

·       Competitor advertising. It's also a good idea to research your competitors. It's very likely that businesses similar to yours, in the same category, are already advertising successfully. Look at what they're doing. How are they phrasing things? Which disclosures are they including? Do you notice anything missing? You can learn a lot simply by studying previously successful ads.

·       Market research. The success of your Google Ads largely depends on your ability to successfully target and appeal to your demographics. If you're properly informative and persuasive, with relevant messaging to the people you're reaching, you're much less likely to face reports, removals, and suspensions. Accordingly, you need to do a deep dive into market research so you better understand your target demographics and can appeal to them with relevant content. If you don't have buyer personas, develop them. If you don't know what your target audience is struggling with or what they want to, pause your ads until you figure it out. There are no shortcuts here, so do a deep dive into your market research if you want a reasonable chance to succeed.

Ensure All Your Ads Are Fully Compliant

When creating and preparing new ads, make sure everything is compliant, including your copy, your images, and any of your website content.

Remember that the rules and restrictions vary by industry, but these are some general rules that can help you get started:

·       Stick to the facts. Don't exaggerate. Don't embellish. Certainly don't lie. It's important to stick to the facts as closely as possible, even if it makes your ad a bit stoic or “boring.” Purely factual advertising rarely gets removed.

·       Avoid prohibited or sensitive terms. Review prohibited and sensitive terms that apply to your industry, and avoid those terms like the plague. Consider creating a list of alternatives that you can rely on instead.

·       Be transparent. Be absolutely transparent with your target audience, even if you're forced to reveal things that weaken the appeal of your products and services. Offer disclosures when required, and potentially when not required if they can boost your credibility.

·       Adopt a serious, professional tone. Don't play with fire. Your best course of action is to adopt a serious, professional tone across your ads. It's much less likely to be reported, and it will seem more authoritative and trustworthy.

·       Eliminate sensationalism. In line with this, eliminate all forms of sensationalism. Graphic or revealing content, exaggerated claims, and other techniques designed to evoke strong emotions are probably going to work against you.

·       Focus on using images for context. If you're going to include images, make sure they provide meaningful context. Advertisers sometimes select images based on how easily they grab attention or how exciting they are, but this is a surefire way to fail if you belong to a sensitive or restricted category.

·       Include warnings if necessary. If there are any warnings that are relevant to your products and services, include them. More information is typically better in matters like these.

·       Leverage the power of AB testing. The more relevant and effective your ads are, the more likely they are to succeed. Leverage the power of AB testing to learn more about what your audience wants to see and how to give it to them.

Polish Your Landing Pages

Don't forget about your landing pages.

These are important to Google as well.

If your landing pages deviate from Google Ads guidelines, or if they contradict what's in your ads, it could work against you.

These are some tips to get you started:

·       Keep it relevant. Always make sure your landing page is completely relevant and in line with whatever is included in your ad. If users click your ad and find something unexpected, unpleasant, or otherwise jarring, Google might take action.

·       Issue disclaimers and warnings. This is an opportunity to double down on disclaimers, warnings, and important disclosures. Err on the side of caution and make these prominent to show that you're in full compliance with both Google Ads policies and laws in your area.

·       Make your business information accessible. Make your business information transparent and accessible. Offer your brand name and business location information, and give visitors some way to contact you, preferably via phone and email. It's a sign of trustworthiness and it can proactively resolve potential disputes.

·       Be straightforward and transparent. Everything on your landing page needs to be straightforward and transparent. Follow the same rules you did for your ads, and avoid exaggerations and sensationalism.

·       Double check Google Ads requirements. Always double-check Google Ads requirements when constructing your landing page. You should fulfill or comply with each item on your landing page to be safe.

Target Your Audience Specifically

You've already done significant market research, so make sure you apply it correctly. Target your audience very specifically so that your messages are only shown to people for whom they are relevant. If someone outside the scope of your target demographics sees your ads, they'll be much more likely to issue reports – and your ads will be much more likely to be removed. It's especially important to target people in the right geographic area.

Avoid Black Hat Techniques

There are some Black Hat techniques designed to circumvent Google Ads rules and regulations, or otherwise give you an unfair advantage in a sensitive or restricted category. These techniques typically violate Google policies and are largely considered unethical by the advertising community.

One of the most prominent examples is cloaking. Using one of several techniques, cloaking can allow you to advertise to audiences with content different from what you showed Google for approval. It's obvious why this is potentially beneficial, but it's also obvious why this is unethical.

As you might imagine, these techniques can work temporarily. They can give you a significant short-term advantage, allowing you a better strategic position and potentially more ad opportunities. However, if you use them, you could get your account suspended, or even permanently blacklisted. Even if you evade that, you could ruin your company's reputation and jeopardize your long-term results.

Do not follow these strategies. If a PPC agency recommends any such strategies to you, fire them.

They simply aren't worth it.

Work With Experts You Can Trust

Navigating the world of Google Ads isn't easy.

In fact, it's stressful and incredibly difficult if your business happens to belong to one of these sensitive or restricted categories.

The good news is it's much easier to be successful when you work with a PPC advertising agency that has experience creating and managing ads for a business like yours. We're deeply acquainted with all the rules and restrictions you need to worry about, and we know how to make target demographics like yours convert.

If you’re ready to get started with a free consultation, contact us today!

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