Google Ads Gets Lost on Local: Learn About Two Reports That Cover Local Competition

Google Ads and Its Under-the-Radar Report Additions

Without a formal announcement or rollout, about two years ago Google Ads snuck in two reports meant to provide businesses with more information about their local competition—they are the local competitive visits report and the local competitive search terms report. Not much is out there concerning these reports from other marketing news outlets, and Google Ads only has a page featuring a small introduction to the reports, their purpose, and instructions on how to find them.

In this blog, we define these reports, discuss the pros and cons, and try to unveil the mystery surrounding them. Here’s a hint: it might have something to do with their effectiveness. Plus, we share how TopSpot tackles competition, pay-per-click, and Google Ads. Here’s another hint: it has to do with user intent.

Defining the Local Competitive Search Reports

The idea behind the local competitive visits report and the local competitive search terms report is to show marketing opportunities your business may have missed on Google Ads. The reports show the number of search queries, clicks, and store visits your competition receives in local search landscapes your ads aren’t featured in. With this new information, Google Ads hopes to encourage changes to budget, bidding, and keywords to capture missed opportunities.

Here’s a breakdown of the metrics provided:

• Search terms: the terms users employ in search that your competition shows for, but your business did not.
• Local competitive queries: the number of times other advertisers show ads in landscapes your business did not.
• Local competitive clicks: the number of clicks on competitor ads for terms your business did not compete for.
• Local competitive visits: the number of user visits to a competitor’s physical store driven by those ad clicks. Note: Store visits are a measure of conversion Google Ads creates using estimates based on data from users who have turned on Location History.

The reports are available to those who meet Google’s privacy thresholds—these are not clearly defined by the company. The TopSpot Team has not seen these reports available for all Clients, nor have we seen any consistencies to whom the reports are available for. 

The Pros and Cons of AI–A Running Theme with Google Ads

The reports utilize AI and machine learning to identify keywords and competitors, but what it deems relevant isn’t clearly defined. The AI picks broader terms based on your products and services, then pairs you against competitors using the same method. This helps the platform ensure success by casting a wider net instead of targeting traffic that includes qualified leads.

Google Ads then recommends using additional AI via Smart Bidding as a best practice for the reports. The idea is to use the report’s missing keywords and then check that your campaign isn’t limited by budget. These best practices make it clear that Google wants you to sit back, let the AI do the work, and loosen your purse strings a little as it bids on broad and expensive terms. 

While easier on a smaller team, this could get expensive, and the information provided in the reports is in the best interest of Google Ads, not your business. This con is seen in Google Ads’ Smart Campaigns, another quick and cost-effective solution for marketing that turns over ad budgeting decisions to AI and can just as quickly become costly due to a lack of control, information, and strategic thinking.

So Why the Sneaky Addition?

The local competitive search and visit reports arrived quietly, likely to complement major efforts by Google Ads to focus on local SEO given the rise of mobile and searches that include the term “near me”.  Perhaps they are a precursor to something new? We don’t know for sure, but it might have something to do with the competitors in the reports not being identified.

Without identification, the terms and visits provided may not be from vendors in direct competition with your products and services. Companies with large and varying inventories like Amazon could be included in the results. This isn’t a local competitor and may not have the same industry offerings as a B2B business. Given the many tools on the market that will show the clicks and keywords of your competitors by name, perhaps the low impact of the reports was known from the get-go.

B-SMART vs. Local Competitive Search Keywords

TopSpot’s local pay-per-click strategy utilizes different ad formats and extensions to make sure your local business stands out from the competition and informs that content with the B-SMART Method®. This method is rooted in user intent—aiming to find what potential Customers might search for when looking for your products and services. 

To illustrate the issue with the local competitive search report, we take a look at a Houston manufacturer of stainless steel and alloys. The TopSpot team identified the target keywords below for their Google Ads program:

• 17 4 PH Stainless Steel
• Nitronic 60
• Duplex SS
• A286 Steel
• Nitronic 50
• A286 Bar
• Stainless Steel Super Duplex

Below is what the local competitive search report provided us as keywords of concern based on their competition:

The terms provided are broad and come from unknown competition sources. For instance, the term “metal supplier”. This could include those who supply metals for crafting or other unrelated industries, types of metals that aren’t stainless steel or alloys, or juggernauts like Amazon.

What’s Your Takeaway

While we understand the need for ease, AI offerings from Google Ads are unable to capture the essence of your business and instead take a broad approach to competitive analysis and response. For a robust competitive analysis with little effort to your team, contact TopSpot who can provide a detailed report using our proprietary tools and then apply these findings for more effective pay-per-click ads while you focus on running your business.