How to legally target competitors on Google Ads
Anaita walks through setting up a Google Ads campaign targeting competitor names to build brand awareness, explaining the correct campaign settings. She clarifies it becomes unethical only if you put competitor names directly into the ad copy, recommending you use their known 'wow factors' instead.
The lessons
Target competitor brand names as keywords to build early awareness
Set up campaigns as Website Traffic and Search only, with Display Network unticked
Focus your bid strategy on clicks, not conversions, when targeting competitors
Never put a competitor's name inside your actual ad copy
Highlight your own wow factors in the ad instead of the competitor's name
Questions people ask
Is it legal to target competitor names in Google Ads?
Yes, targeting competitor names as keywords in Google Ads is not illegal. It only becomes unethical if you put the competitor's name directly into your ad copy itself; instead, use your own strong selling points in the ad text.
Transcript
As you guys would know, when you start your business, no one knows about you. One of the main ways I got brand awareness was targeting my competitors. I did this through Google Ads and I'm going to show you how. In Google Ads, select New Campaign, select Website Traffic and Search.
Put in your website and untick Display Network. Select your country and do not add an audience. Set your budget and set the focus on clicks, not conversions. Let's say I'm a candle company.
This is where I put in my competitor names. On the right, you can see how many clicks Google expects my ad to receive based on those keywords. Do not use these recommended keywords in your ad. That's bad practice.
Instead, put in your details and wow factors and you can hit publish. It becomes highly unethical when you put your competitor's name into the ad itself. You can put in words that they're well known for. Think of your competitor's wow factors and put them into the Google ad instead.
Let me know how you go.
