Find out how much competitors spend on adwords

[emarketexperts]

Hi Moz Community,

Is there a way to find out how much competitors spend on Adwords? ( Especially for Australian Market).

I tried using SEMRUSH and SPYFLU but when i compared the Adwords traffic cost with one of our campaign that we run, they were far apart. Any help would be highly appreciated .

[MoosaHemani]

I don’t think there is any tool that will give you an exact amount they are spending on Adwords but the most reputable tools for changing adwards data are:

-          Keyword Spy

-          SpuFu

-          SEMRush

I am not sure if there is any other tool that provide better data then the tools mentioned above.

Hope this helps!

[ClaytonJ]

Agree with Moosa, I am also unaware of a tool.

I prefer Semrush and also like Similarweb to make intuitive judgments. I think at best you can get a feel for it via those sites, but also if you know whom your competitor uses as an agency you can find a mutual friend and often they volunteer their spend... especially in Australia.

[TimHolmes]

I too agree with the others, SpyFu can give you some great insights to spend as will SEMRush. But if you want to be in depth you will be on a paid for subscription.

[Matt-Williamson]

I also agree with Moosa - out of those mentioned my preferred tool for getting an idea of competitors Adwords strategy and budget is SEMRush, but as you say you have used this. Unfortunately without actually seeing your competitors Adwords account there isn't an accurate way to find out their spend - there are too many variables involved in a campaigns spend.

This is an older article but you may find it interesting whilst researching this topic - http://www.stateofdigital.com/track-competitors-ppc-spend/

I think you will also find this useful as the author of this article tested tools to see their accuracy around spend - http://seattlesearchnetwork.org/2013/comparing-sem-tools-estimate-competitors-ppc-budgets/

and finally for a whole load of competitor research tools for different aspects of their online presence check this out - https://blog.kissmetrics.com/james-bond-of-the-web/

[rjonesx. 0]

Your best bet is to use tools like SpyFu and SEMRush as relativistic measures. Imagine you spend $1000/mo on Adwords. SEMRush says you spend $200 and your competitor $400. Well, you can assume then that SEMRush is off by approximately a factor of 5, meaning your competitor spends twice as much at around $2000.  Obviously this isn't exactly right, but it is a useful approximation.

[KevinBudzynski]

Another tool is using the Auction Insights Report inside AdWords. However, it will not show total spend but will show you impression share, average position and etc. and help you in estimate competitor's spend.