Surfside PPC Podcast

PPC competitive analysis tools in 2026 can tell you what your competitors are bidding on, spending, and running for ad copy, but the truth is you don't need an expensive paid tool to do most of it. This is episode 26 of the Surfside PPC podcast, walking through the free and paid tools I actually use and how to turn that data into a real strategy.

I start with the free tools that do most of the work: the Google Ads Transparency Center to see a competitor's live ads and landing pages, the Google Keyword Planner to pull their most relevant keywords by entering their URL, and plain Google searches to study offers, assets, reviews, and Business Profiles. A big theme is studying the biggest players in your industry (what does Orkin or Terminix do if you're in pest control) because they hire the best agencies and set the standard.

Then I get into the paid tools and where each actually fits: why SpyFu is my favorite and does almost everything I need (especially now that it got its paid data back this year), why SEMrush is really an SEO tool for large sites, and where Ahrefs, Similar Web, and Ad Clarity make sense for bigger competitive intelligence. Most importantly, I cover how to actually use the data, studying competitor landing pages and offers to make yours convert better, rather than just copying their budget. Competitive analysis only gets you so far. You still have to run your own ads and become the competitor everyone else is studying.

If you want help running a full competitor analysis and building a Google Ads strategy from it, reach out to Surfside PPC.

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WORK WITH SURFSIDE PPC
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Want to know exactly what your competitors are bidding on and spending? We help businesses with Google Ads, competitor research, SEO, and the systems that turn clicks into real customers → https://surfsideppc.com

▸ Join The Surfside PPC Marketing Academy! Get Access to My Updated Google Ads Course + ALL My Marketing Courses: https://surfsideppc.com/products/surfside-ppc-marketing-academy

▸ Hire Surfside PPC As Your Marketing Agency or for Consulting: https://surfsideppc.com/pages/contact

▸ Get My Free Marketing Training Videos: https://surfsideppc.com/pages/marketing-training

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WHAT WE GO OVER IN THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL:
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- Why you don't need a paid tool to do most competitive analysis
- Studying the biggest players in your industry to set your standard
- Using the Google Ads Transparency Center to see competitor ads and landing pages
- Pulling competitor keywords with the Google Keyword Planner
- Why SpyFu is my favorite paid tool and what it shows
- Where SEMrush actually fits and why it leans SEO
- Where Ahrefs, Similar Web, and Ad Clarity make sense
- Reading estimated ad budgets without taking them at face value
- Why competitor landing pages and offers matter more than their budget
- Turning the data into a strategy instead of just copying competitors

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RELEVANT URLS
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▸ How to Find Competitor Keywords in Google Ads → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/google-ads/find-competitor-keywords-google-ads

▸ 5 Ways to Estimate Competitor Ad Budgets → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/ppc-advertising/estimate-competitor-ad-budgets-methods

▸ Top 5 Tools for Competitor Ad Analysis → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/ppc-advertising/tools-competitor-ad-analysis

▸ AI Competitor Analysis for Google Ads → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/news/ai-competitor-analysis

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TIMESTAMPS
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0:00 PPC Competitive Analysis Tools
0:40 Why You Don't Always Need Paid Tools
1:10 Studying the Biggest Players in Your Industry
2:00 What to Look For: Landing Pages, Offers, and Ad Copy
3:00 Free Tool: The Google Ads Transparency Center
4:30 Free Tool: The Google Keyword Planner
6:00 Moving Into the Paid Tools: SEMrush
8:00 Why SpyFu Is My Favorite Tool
11:00 Ahrefs, Similar Web, and Ad Clarity
13:30 How to Actually Use the Data

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ABOUT SURFSIDE PPC
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Surfside PPC helps local businesses grow with Google Ads, SEO, and content that actually converts. Subscribe for new marketing tutorials every week.

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