Short answer
A competitor ads finder lists the ads a business has run on Google, using records from Google's Ads Transparency Center. Enter a website to see each ad's format (text, image or video), the first and last dates it was shown, how many days it ran and a preview, for up to 100 ads per lookup. It shows creatives and dates, not budgets, keywords or clicks.
How to use the Competitor Ads Finder
- Enter the competitor's website address.
- Keep the region on United States, or pick the country where they advertise.
- Choose a date range (last 30 days, 90 days, 12 months or all) and a format (all, text, image or video).
- Run the lookup and review each ad's dates and preview. Use the link on any ad to open it in Google's Transparency Center.
- Copy the list, or use the email box to send the results to yourself.
How do you see a competitor's Google ads?
Google keeps a searchable record of ads from verified advertisers in its Ads Transparency Center (Google's launch post). This competitor ads finder searches that record by website and puts every ad it finds into one list, with the dates each ad ran.
Prefer to browse Google's own site? Our Ads Transparency Center guide walks you through it.
Enter the website rather than the business name. Names are often shared or shortened, while a website points to one business.
What does the finder show for each ad?
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Advertiser name | The verified name Google shows for the business. One website can return more than one name. |
| Format | Text, image or video |
| First shown | The first date the ad ran |
| Last shown | The most recent date it ran. A date in the last few days suggests it is still live. |
| Days shown | How many days the ad actually ran between its first and last dates |
| Preview | An image of the ad, so you can read or view it |
| Transparency Center link | Opens the ad on Google's own site |
Each lookup returns up to 100 ads. If a busy advertiser has more, narrow the date range or pick one format to see a different slice.
Which filters should you use?
- Region. United States is the default. Change it when you want to see what a business runs in another country.
- Date range. Last 30 days shows what they run now. 90 days and 12 months show recent history and seasonal pushes. All shows everything on record.
- Format. Pick text to study their written ads, or image and video to study their visuals. Leave it on all for a first look.
Lookups pull live data from the Transparency Center through a data provider, and that costs money, so free lookups are limited each month across the site. Results are cached for a few days, so searching the same website again soon can show the saved list rather than a fresh one.
Can you see a competitor's keywords or budget?
No: the finder shows what ran and when, not spend, bids, keywords, clicks or impressions, because the data it reads does not include them. For a sense of typical costs, read how much Google Ads costs in 2026.
The ads still tell you plenty: the services they push hardest, the offers they repeat, the places they name, and whether they put money into images and video or stick to text.
Example: reading two rival plumbers
Say you check two plumbing companies. The first has run the same text ad about upfront pricing for most of the year and has no image ads. The second started several image ads about water heater installs in the last 30 days.
The first has likely settled on price as its message, while the second appears to be pushing a service it wants more of. If you install water heaters too, make sure your own ads and landing page say so clearly.
Tips for turning competitor ads into better ads
- Start with the ads that ran the most days. A business that keeps paying for an ad has a reason to keep it, so long runners deserve the first look. The Ad History Tracker puts them on a timeline.
- Write down each competitor's offer and proof, such as "Free estimates" or "Licensed and insured". Then look for a true claim nobody makes: "Upfront pricing" stands out when every ad says "Great service".
- Run their text ads through the Competitor Messaging Analyzer to sort themes, offers and calls to action and find the gaps.
- Study their visuals in the Competitor Creative Gallery before you brief a designer.
- Do not copy their wording or images. Use what you learn to write ads that are true for your business.
Sources
- Announcing the launch of the new Ads Transparency Center (Google blog)
- Ads transparency (Google Advertising Policies Help)
- Advertiser verification (Google Advertising Policies Help)
- About advertiser verification (My Ad Center Help)
- Trademarks (Google Advertising Policies Help)
Updated 2 October 2026 by the Paid Pilot team. Google Ads is a trademark of Google LLC; Paid Pilot is an independent agency.