Google Ads auction analysis

The Google Ads auction analysis tool allows you to compare your results with those of other advertisers participating in the same auctions. Learn how to analyze the data in this report and how you can use your auction knowledge to improve the results of your advertising efforts in the Google Ads channel.

The Google Ads auction analysis tool allows you to compare your results with those of other advertisers participating in the same auctions. Learn how to analyze the data in this report and how you can use your auction knowledge to improve the results of your Google Ads channel advertising efforts.

What is the auction analysis tool?

In theory, it is a tool designed to track your competitors’ activities. This is because, with auction analysis reports, you can compare your results with those of other advertisers who bid on the exact key phrases as you. In near real time, you will see the ranking results of your campaign the day after your ads are displayed.

You can use the report at the advertising account level, or download it conveniently as a file to your device and modify and filter it as needed in a spreadsheet. 

Would you like to improve your ads’ performance relative to your competitors? If so, read on to learn how to use the Google Ads platform’s auction analysis tool.

The Google Ads platform’s auction analysis tool is a must.

Where is the auction analysis tool located?

To find the auction analysis data in Google Ads, follow these steps:

1. Select the Google Ads account where you want to perform the analysis and log into it.
2. In the menu on the left side of the screen, select one of the following options  (depending on which dataset you want to see in the report):
3. campaigns, 
4. advertising groups,
5. keywords
6. Choose the „Auction analysis” option from the menu
7. An auction analysis report will appear, where you can use filters to translate it into campaigns, ad groups, or keywords of interest.

Please note that you can only perform auction analysis in this way for Search (search engine campaigns), Performance Max, or Shopping (product) type campaigns that have exceeded the minimum activity threshold for the selected periods.

Auction analysis tool metrics

Once you have generated a report for the items of interest contained in your account, you can analyze the data defined by the following metrics:

• Display share – defines the number of impressions earned (counted each time your ad appears among search results, or on Google sites, or eligible partners) divided by the estimated number of possible impressions.
• Overlapping listings—This factor indicates how often another advertiser’s ad is displayed in the same search results or on another Google network site as your ad.
• The share of auctions won tells you how often your ad was displayed in an auction while another advertiser’s ad was not or ranked lower than yours. This is a great metric to observe if you want to see how your brand compares to the competition and optimize your campaigns accordingly.
• Higher position impressions factor (for search network campaigns only): If your ad appeared in search results at the same time as another advertiser’s ad, this factor will tell you when your ad ranked higher in those results.
• Top-of-page impressions factor (for search network campaigns only) – indicates how often the selected ad appeared above the free search results at the top of the page.
• Top-of-page impressions ratio (for search network campaigns only) – indicates how often the selected ad displayed above free search results and other paid results, at the top of the page. 

What can data from the auction analysis tool be used for?

In a nutshell, this data can both show you your strengths relative to the competition and direct you to areas where you should make changes to outperform said competition. However, how do you locate these areas?

First, during the analysis, it is worthwhile to ask yourself supporting questions, the answers to which will allow you to improve the position (and thus the results) of your ads. Such questions might be as follows:

• How does the number of competitors bidding on ads under a given keyword affect your keywords’ CPC?
• Has there been a change in the number of competitors bidding on your keyword phrases?
• Are your competitors bidding on your branded phrases?
• Are your competitors making it difficult for you to get to the top of the page above the free search results?

Of course, depending on our needs, we can focus on other issues, but the aspects as mentioned earlier are the most common ones that the auction analysis tool can help us with.

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How do I get a high position in paid search results?

After analyzing the data presented in the listing analysis tool and answering the questions mentioned above, you find that your competitors have surpassed you or are close to doing so, you can take the appropriate steps to establish the highest possible position in the paid search results. 

Intuitively, many advertisers will move immediately to increase their advertising budget, but sometimes, this may not be enough or even necessary. First, it is worth implementing measures such as:

Improve ad quality score

To improve our advertising quality score, we must first know that, according to the definition posted on Google’s support site, it is „a diagnostic tool that allows you to see how the quality of your ads compare to other advertisers.”

How can this score be increased? Analyze the texts of your ads to see if anything needs to be modified. Remember to include keywords belonging to your ad group in these texts. There should be as many of them as possible in your ad texts, but remember that they must remain related to your advertising material. The proper selection of keywords is, therefore, also of paramount importance. 

Also, it is worth paying attention to various types of ad extensions. The inclusion of these extensions can make it easier for a search engine user to find valuable information regarding your products or services. This could be an eye-catching image, a useful link to a contact subpage, or a promotional code currently offered. 

For more suggestions on improving your ad score, use the materials suggested by Google or the suggestions on optimizing your ad score in your Google Ads account. 

Define your actual competition

Not every instance of a site showing up in an auction analysis will be your direct competition. Sometimes, appearing in the same search results may involve an error on the part of another advertiser – it’s possible that he’s the one who added the wrong keywords to his ad groups or improperly defined phrase matching, making it slip through his fingers. That’s why it’s important to define who poses a threat to your ad results and who will disappear from your radar when another advertiser notices their mistake. 

Also, once you’ve defined which advertisers are worth monitoring, be sure to keep an eye on your Google Auction Insights regularly if possible. That way, when any significant competitors withdraw from Google Ads, you’ll be sure to notice. It’s not uncommon for campaigns to get better and better or to go downhill over the course of a year – sometimes even being stopped altogether. If your competitors leave some gaps after their campaigns, you may be able to fill them.

Improve your landing pages (landing pages)

Pay attention to whether the landing page your ad leads to is scaring users away. Focus on aspects such as:

• Compatibility of the landing page content with the advertising message;
• Inclusion of keywords in the text of the landing page;
• Friendly interface;
• Page loading speed;

To make it easier for advertisers to verify whether their landing page needs to be tweaked, Google Ads has created a scale on which three grades are graded. You can check your landing page’s match score for given keyword phrases in the „keywords” section by adding the Landing Page Experience (Landing Page Quality) column to the report. 

Put yourself in the place of a potential ad recipient

Before you get down to editing your ads, keywords, landing pages and extensions, give yourself time to research. Use an incognito search engine to look for different types of services. See which ads look more inviting and which are chaotic and don’t encourage the user to make a click, let alone a conversion. Learn from your mistakes and those of others – modify your ads to be targeted. Awaken your creativity and test different types of copy, as well as their pinning on given positions, to achieve a high quality score calculated by Google and real results satisfying you. 

Word-summary… 

An auction analysis tool can prove to be very useful. With it, you can compare your results with those of other advertisers participating in the same auctions and use the data you gain to improve your results. 

I hope the above article has helped you understand how to interpret the data in this report and how to use this understanding of the data coming from auction analysis metrics to increase the effectiveness of advertising in the Google Ads channel. Don’t forget that data from auction analysis reports can help you identify competitive advantages against your brand and areas where you can strengthen your position against rivals.

We know that reports derived from an auction analysis tool may seem complicated at first, and making changes to improve the quality of your ads may seem difficult. If this is the case, it’s worth contacting an agency equipped with expertise in using the Google Ads platform—an agency such as Up&More!