To bid on a competitor’s name in Google Ads, add it as a keyword in a Search campaign. Setting up a useful test involves more than entering the name: you need suitable ads, a relevant landing page and a way to judge the results.
This walkthrough focuses on the setup. For the policy distinction between keywords and ad copy, and whether the approach suits your business, read can you use competitor names in Google Ads?.
1. Choose Competitors That Offer a Real Alternative
Start with a small list of businesses selling a similar product or service to the customers you want. A famous brand is not automatically a useful keyword if its customers are looking for something you cannot supply.
Consider what someone searching for that business might need. An existing customer trying to log in or contact support is a different prospect from someone comparing providers.
Decide what makes your own offer relevant before building the campaign. A clearer service, different pricing model or useful feature gives the ad something concrete to say.
2. Give the Test a Separate Budget
A separate Search campaign lets you control the test’s daily budget and compare its results with your other activity. An ad group inside an existing campaign shares that campaign’s budget, so it does not provide the same spending boundary.
If creating a campaign, set the locations you can serve, check its network settings and select the genuine conversion goals you want to measure. Set a budget you can afford to test without taking away the spend needed for your core campaigns.
A daily budget is not a guaranteed daily spending ceiling. Review Google’s budget and spending limits before choosing the amount.
3. Add the Competitor Keywords
Open Keywords in the Campaigns menu. In some layouts this sits under Audiences, keywords and content. Select the plus button, then choose the campaign and ad group for your test.
Enter one keyword per line. To start with exact match, put the name inside square brackets. For a fictional business called Example Software, enter [example software].
Save the keywords and check that they appear in the intended ad group. Google’s keyword instructions explain the different match-type formats.
Exact match can include searches with the same meaning or intent. It does not guarantee that only the exact text you typed will trigger your ad, so the search terms review still matters.
4. Write Ads About Your Own Business
Make your identity clear. Explain your own product, service and reason to consider it. Send the user to a page that supports that offer rather than relying on the competitor keyword to do the selling.
Keep competitor names out of dynamic keyword insertion for this test. Otherwise the triggering keyword could be inserted into the ad text.
Google does not restrict trademarks as keywords under its trademark policy. Its treatment of trademarks in ads is different and includes restrictions on use by direct competitors. Check the current trademark policy rather than assuming a keyword permission also permits the same wording in an advert.
5. Review Search Terms and Add Relevant Exclusions
Once the campaign has traffic, open the search terms report. Look for searches such as logins, jobs and customer support that indicate an existing relationship with the other business.
Exclude terms when they are irrelevant to your offer. Avoid applying a large blanket list without checking the actual searches: some comparison or pricing queries may be exactly the intent you want.
You can check your negative keywords to confirm which exclusions already apply.
6. Judge the Test by Useful Conversions
Review spend, conversion volume, cost per conversion and the quality of the enquiries or sales. Cheap clicks alone do not tell you whether the test is worthwhile.
Compare competitor traffic separately from searches for your own brand and general service terms. Those users may be at different stages of choosing a provider.
If enquiries repeatedly concern the other business’s support team, revisit your search terms and messaging. If clicks are relevant but sales are not following, check the offer and landing page before expanding the keyword list.
Keep, adjust or stop the test according to the business results. A competitor campaign does not need to become a permanent part of the account.
If you would like help checking your account settings, you can request a free Google Ads audit.