{"id":1547558,"date":"2025-01-07T11:21:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T16:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/?p=1547558"},"modified":"2025-01-08T03:12:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T08:12:58","slug":"ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords","title":{"rendered":"Ad Strategies for Competitor Keywords"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bidding on competitor names has always been controversial in pay-per-click advertising. IBM could bid on &#8220;Amazon Web Services,&#8221; for example, although it cannot use the trademarked terms in the ad copy. It could say &#8220;Compare to IBM&#8221; but not &#8220;AWS alternative.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Though Google allows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/how-to-use-competitors-names-in-google-ads\">competitor keyword bidding<\/a>, two factors have stopped advertisers from doing it. First, competitor keywords typically produce poor Google Ads Quality Scores.<\/p>\n<p>Google assigns a Quality Score to all keywords. A QS measures the keyword&#8217;s relevance to the search query, ad copy, and the landing page. A keyword&#8217;s relevance is low when not used in the ad copy. Low QSs result in higher costs per click. Thus competitor keyword bidding does not typically make economic sense.<\/p>\n<p>The second reason is ethics. Is it ethical to bid for competitor keywords? Why not bid solely on one&#8217;s own products or brands?<\/p>\n<p>In my experience, it is ethical and applicable within commonsense boundaries. Competitor keyword bidding gives searchers options. Let the best ad win.<\/p>\n<h3>Competitor queries<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/tools-to-monitor-competitors-ads\">Competitor ads<\/a> likely show without bidding on those keywords owing to Google&#8217;s relaxed matching. For example, queries for &#8220;Amazon cloud&#8221; and &#8220;AWS cloud computing&#8221; could trigger IBM ads if it bids on, say, &#8220;cloud computing&#8221; or if Google&#8217;s algorithm projects a user searching for &#8220;Amazon cloud&#8221; could click IBM&#8217;s ad. Hence competitor ads will likely show for related queries unless the advertiser excludes them via negative keywords.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisers should create specific campaigns to control the ads and landing pages for competitor queries. However, it&#8217;s essential to have realistic expectations. Competitor-specific campaigns will likely have poor Quality Scores and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/how-to-forecast-ppc-costs-and-revenue\">higher CPCs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Framework<\/h3>\n<p>When planning competitor campaigns, create the landing page first. The goal is to convince searchers to choose a different option. The landing page must reinforce this messaging, informing visitors of the unique benefits unavailable elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Consider the landing page below from Five9, a call-center software provider. A competitive keyword \u2014 &#8220;Genesys contact center&#8221; \u2014 triggers an ad that links to the page. The page initially highlights Five9&#8217;s accomplishments (not shown below) and then a table comparing features among its competitors. It&#8217;s compelling and persuasive.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1547592\" style=\"width: 580px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-landing-page-e1736262953960.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1547592\" class=\"wp-image-1547592 size-large\" title=\"Screenshot of Five9's landing page comparing features\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-landing-page-e1736262953960-570x254.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of Five9's landing page comparing features\" width=\"570\" height=\"254\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-landing-page-e1736262953960-570x254.png 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-landing-page-e1736262953960-300x134.png 300w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-landing-page-e1736262953960.png 728w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1547592\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Five9&#8217;s landing page table compares features among its competitors.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Five9&#8217;s comparative landing page includes two competitors \u2014 Genesys and Nice \u2014 but it could focus on one or the other based on volume and response.<\/p>\n<p>The page&#8217;s contact form has just three fields, which encourages conversions. When requesting information from prospects, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/less-is-more-boosts-conversions\">less is more<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1547593\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-quick-quote.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1547593\" class=\"wp-image-1547593\" title=\"Screenshot of Five9's quick quote form\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-quick-quote-300x263.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot of Five9's quick quote form\" width=\"400\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-quick-quote-300x263.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-quick-quote-570x499.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Five9-quick-quote.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1547593\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The quote form has just three fields, encouraging conversions.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Ad copy<\/h3>\n<p>Poor Quality Scores cause ads from competitor keywords to show less and cost more. Moreover, a competitor&#8217;s ad will likely include the brand name, reinforcing its relevance to searchers. That ad will almost certainly be in one of the top three positions \u2014 above the organic listings. Furthermore, brand ads tend to deploy multiple assets, which occupy more search space. Hence an ad triggered from competitor keywords may show but not necessarily stand out.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisers cannot include competitors&#8217; names in ad copy but can imply a better alternative. If Five9 bids on &#8220;Nice AI,&#8221; the ad headline might be &#8220;Make Your Switch To Five9.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, consider the searcher&#8217;s mindset when composing the ad copy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pinning&#8221; headlines and descriptions ensures <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/holiday-promotions-in-google-text-ads\">specific messaging<\/a> appears in every ad. Pinning is critical in competitor campaigns but can produce low Quality Scores. That&#8217;s acceptable, however, since control over the copy matters.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s worth noting that Microsoft Bing shows image-based Multimedia Ads from searches on competitors&#8217; terms. Below is an example of a Docusign ad triggered by a search for Signeasy, a competitor.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1547596\" style=\"width: 580px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Microsoft-Docusign-ad-b.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1547596\" class=\"wp-image-1547596 size-large\" title=\"Screenshot of Bing search results showing Docusign's ad.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Microsoft-Docusign-ad-b-570x271.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot of Bing search results showing Docusign's ad.\" width=\"570\" height=\"271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Microsoft-Docusign-ad-b-570x271.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Microsoft-Docusign-ad-b-300x143.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Microsoft-Docusign-ad-b-768x365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Microsoft-Docusign-ad-b.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1547596\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A search on Bing for &#8220;signeasy&#8221; triggers Docusign&#8217;s image ad. <em>Click to enlarge.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Ad groups and keywords<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/google-ads-tactics-for-2024\">Consolidating campaigns<\/a> allows Google to collect aggregate data for better <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/value-based-bidding-drives-google-ads-success\">bid strategies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Accounts generally need just one search campaign for all competitor ad groups and keywords. One competitor per ad group is typically sufficient unless search volume dictates otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>For example, IBM could place multiple competitors&#8217; keywords with little search volume into one ad group, with keyword-level URLs if each competitor had its own landing page.<\/p>\n<h3>Potential buyers<\/h3>\n<p>In short, Google&#8217;s ad platform has evolved, and so has bidding on competitor keywords. Keywords influence the ads that show, but other signals \u2014 search history, predicted performance, user location \u2014 also matter. Ads already show for competitor queries. Those searchers are potential buyers who will convert more with optimized experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google&#8217;s ad platform has evolved, and so has bidding on competitor keywords.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":390,"featured_media":1547627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[58297],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1547558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-google-ads",""],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.2 (Yoast SEO v25.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ad Strategies for Competitor Keywords - Practical Ecommerce<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Google&#039;s ad platform has evolved, and so has bidding on competitor keywords.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ad Strategies for Competitor Keywords\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Google&#039;s ad platform has evolved, and so has bidding on competitor keywords.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Practical Ecommerce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/practicalecommerce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-07T16:21:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-08T08:12:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ad-Strategies-for-Competitor-Keywords-c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew Umbro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@matt_umbro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@practicalecomm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew Umbro\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matthew Umbro\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b43182ca7e31d2a9ef0f6bfc8b9c89bd\"},\"headline\":\"Ad Strategies for Competitor Keywords\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-07T16:21:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-08T08:12:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords\"},\"wordCount\":751,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ad-Strategies-for-Competitor-Keywords-c.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Google Ads\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ad-strategies-for-competitor-keywords\",\"name\":\"Ad Strategies for Competitor Keywords - 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