How to use Google Ads Transparency Centre?

Running an ad campaign is intimidating! But what if we say you could see every single ad your competitors are running, down to the last detail. Won’t it be a brilliant way to gain insights into making a successful ad? Who knows, you might even be able to nail the perfect ad on your first try! Sounds too good to be true? It can become true, with Google Ads Transparency Centre!

So let us dive in and find out how you can use the Google Ads Transparency Centre to your benefit!

Exploring Google Ads Transparency Centre:

Google Ads Transparency centre is a treasure trove of information for people who want to take a sneak peek at their competitors’ strategy. But first, you need to know how to use it, which is what we will go into detail about in this blog:

1. Researching Political Ads

Google Ad Transparency Centre primarily segregates the ads into two categories: Political ads and every other ad.

You can see Political ads displayed in recent years (varies by country). You can filter down to the country and platform of your choice. 

2. Search functionality

This platform comes equipped with a search option that lets you see the ads in your domain. 

You can search the platform with either one of the following:

• Your competitor’s website name
• The advertiser name (Note: Some advertisers will be registered, and some will not be. You can only search registered advertisers)

3. Filters

After searching for a website’s name, you will get search results of all the ads they have run in the past 30 days, but some advertisers may show longer historical visibility, depending on region and ad type.

You can further slim down the results with these built-in filters:

• Date – You can choose the ads that were run within a specific period. You can select the last 7 days option or the 30 days option. You can also go a step further and set a custom date from start date to end date.
• Location: Choose any country of your preference to see the ads that ran in that particular region by your competitors.
• Platform: You can choose the platform of your choice from YouTube to Google Maps.

4. Details of an ad

When you click on any ad inside the Google Ads Transparency Center, you’ll get a full breakdown of the creative and how it was used. You can view the exact ad format, whether it’s a video, image, text, Shopping creative, or a Performance Max asset.

You’ll also see the caption or accompanying text, the date the ad was last shown, and the platforms where it appeared. For video ads, you can play the full version directly inside the dashboard. This view gives you a solid sense of the advertiser’s messaging style and creative approach.

Additional ways to analyze your Competitor’s ads

There are some things that the Google Transparency Centre does not provide. Some of these are:

• Ads of advertisers who are not registered
• You cannot see the ad on the page where it is being displayed
• The audience targeting options provided by your competitors

Although there are no straightforward ways to find these details, there is a sneaky way you can find them. Let’s see how:

Suppose you see an ad when scrolling through, and click on the three dots button under it. A pop-up will arise, where you can see the advertiser’s name and the location the advertiser chose to display it.

Below that, you have an option to see more from the advertiser if you are interested.

You’ll also find an option called “About this ad,” which shows simplified reasons why the ad appeared for you. While Google now provides less granular targeting data because of new privacy rules, you can still see useful clues like the advertiser’s identity, the general location they targeted, and broad audience categories.

This gives you a quick sense of who the advertiser is trying to reach without revealing sensitive targeting details.

Why is my competitor not showing up on search?

Sometimes, you can type your competitor’s website name in the search bar, and Google Transparency centre will not return any results. Why is this happening?

This is because your competitor has not undergone the Advertiser verification process by Google. In such cases, you will not be able to see their ads on the platform.

But don’t worry, Google is consistently pushing verification for its users, so you will not have this issue for long.

What is the Advertiser Verification Process?

To get verified by Google as an advertiser, you need to provide the following information:

• Personal information 
• Business information like location, contact details, and the nature of the business
• The content in your ad will be under review to see if it is in alignment with Google’s ad policies
• Payment information

Along with basic personal and business information, advertisers may also need to complete Business Operations Verification (BOV) and meet updated ad disclosure requirements, especially in regulated industries

6 ways how Google Ads Transparency Centre can help you

Google Ads Transparency centre provides ample information about your competitors’ ad strategy.

• You can figure out the format of the ads they are running frequently
• Based on the messaging in the ad, you can deduce the stage of the funnel they are focusing on.
• Which platform is your competitors primarily focusing on? Is it YouTube or Google? 
• The ad style they are working with. Are they rolling out vintage video ads or UGC type videos? 
• See how many variations of an ad they are running
• Find the best performing ads based on the duration they have been running. (Pro tip: The longest-running ads are the most successful ones, because the ads that lose money would be pulled back quickly.)

Conclusion

Running smarter ads does not have to feel like a hassle, thanks to the Google Transparency Centre. You can gain insights into your competitor’s ad strategy, see what is working and what is not. 

Then there is nothing left to do other than tweaking it based on your business and adopting it in your ad strategy. 

If you think making these ads can still prove difficult, stop right there! Because Predis AI can take this off your plate. You can generate ads with AI in minutes or create your own ads manually, schedule, post, and automate your ads and social media with Predis AI.

So, set up your account with Predis AI and get your ads running and winning today!

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