google-ads-competitive-analysis-toolkit

Competitive Analysis Toolkit

Complete guide for analyzing competition in Google Ads, from Auction Insights interpretation to strategic response to competitor activities.

Pull Competitive Data via MCP

Impression Share Metrics (Campaign Level)

google_ads_run_gaql(query="
  SELECT campaign.name,
         metrics.search_impression_share,
         metrics.search_budget_lost_impression_share,
         metrics.search_rank_lost_impression_share,
         metrics.search_absolute_top_impression_share,
         metrics.search_top_impression_share,
         metrics.average_cpc, metrics.cost_micros
  FROM campaign
  WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
    AND campaign.status = 'ENABLED'
    AND campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'SEARCH'
  ORDER BY metrics.cost_micros DESC
  LIMIT 20
")

Interpret:

• search_rank_lost_impression_share rising → competitors increasing bids/QS
• search_budget_lost_impression_share rising → you are budget-capped
• search_absolute_top_impression_share dropping → someone pushed you down

Auction Insights (Competitor Domain Data)

The auction_insight resource provides per-competitor overlap, position above, and outranking metrics via GAQL:

google_ads_run_gaql(query="
  SELECT auction_insight.display_domain,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_impression_share,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_overlap_rate,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_position_above_rate,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_outranking_share,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_top_impression_percentage,
         metrics.auction_insight_search_absolute_top_impression_percentage
  FROM auction_insight
  WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
  ORDER BY metrics.auction_insight_search_impression_share DESC
  LIMIT 20
")

This returns the same data as the UI's Auction Insights report, including competitor domain names. Filter by campaign or ad group for segment-specific analysis.

Auction Insights Metrics

Metric	What It Measures
Impression Share	% of impressions you received vs total available
Overlap Rate	% of your impressions where competitor also appeared
Position Above Rate	% of overlapping impressions where competitor was above you
Top of Page Rate	% of impressions in top positions (above organic)
Abs. Top of Page Rate	% of impressions at first position
Outranking Share	% of auctions where you ranked above competitor or appeared when they didn't