Advertising Research Competitors Report

The Competitors tab in Advertising Research from the Advertising Toolkit helps you identify who else is bidding for attention in the same paid search auctions. While the Positions and Position Changes tabs show how ads perform, this view reveals which domains are actively competing against you for visibility.

Advertising Research Competitors Report image 1

Use this report to:

Discover new paid search competitors you may not have spotted
Identify which advertisers share the most keyword overlap with you
Prioritize which domains to analyze further based on their reach, spend, and focus

To get started:

Open the Advertising Research tool in the left-hand Semrush menu.

Semrush sidebar with Advertising Research selected.

Enter your domain (or a competitor’s) in the main search bar.

Search bar with an example domain entered.

Click the Competitors tab.

Competitors tab selected in Advertising Research navigation.

Step 1: Set Up Your View

Before reading the report, review the parameters at the top of the dashboard to make sure you're looking at the most relevant data.

Database

Choose the country you want to analyze.

Country database selector set to United States.

Device

Switch between desktop or mobile data.

Device menu with Desktop selected.

Date

Pick a time period to analyze. You can go back as far as January 2012.

Date dropdown in Advertising Research with month selection visible.

Currency

Controls how CPC and cost metrics are displayed (linked to the country database).

Currency display showing USD.

Step 2: Take a Quick Pulse with Three Key Metrics

Before diving into the graph and table, take a look at the three primary metrics summarizing your competitor’s paid search footprint.

The key metric overview in Advertising Research’s Competitors tab.

Keywords: The number of paid keywords the domain is currently ranking for in Google Ads. A higher count suggests broader keyword coverage.
Traffic: Estimated clicks generated from paid ads over the selected time period. This gives you an idea of how much visibility the domain is earning.
Traffic Cost: Estimated spend required to achieve that level of traffic, based on CPC rates. Use this to gauge how aggressively the domain is investing in Google Ads.

Step 3: Visualize Your Competitive Landscape

The Competitive Positioning Map gives you a snapshot of the advertisers competing most directly with your domain based on keyword volume, traffic, and ad spend. Use this view to spot the biggest players, find unexpected rivals, and uncover gaps in your strategy at a glance.

Competitor bubble chart showing paid keyword volume (x), traffic (y), and spend (bubble size).

This bubble chart plots domains based on the following dimensions:

X-axis: Number of paid keywords
Y-axis: Estimated paid traffic
Bubble size: Estimated traffic cost

Hover over a bubble to view more details.

Step 4: Break Down Competitor Insights in the Table

Scroll below the graph to find the Paid Competitors table. This is where the real detail lives. Each row shows a competing domain and how closely it aligns with your own in terms of paid keyword strategy.

Let’s go column by column:

Domain

The competing website bidding on overlapping keywords. Click the domain name to open the Positions report for deeper research or the arrow to view the website itself.

Domain column listing paid search competitors with clickable URLs.

Com. Level (Competition Level)

A percentage score showing how much keyword overlap exists between your domain and theirs. Higher scores mean tighter competition for the same terms.

Competition Level column showing overlap percentages for each competitor.

Common Keywords

The number of paid keywords that both domains are targeting. Click this number to launch the Keyword Gap tool and compare strategies side-by-side.

Common Keywords column with blue link to Keyword Gap report.

Paid Keywords

The total number of keywords the competitor is bidding on.

Paid Keywords column showing total active paid terms per domain.

Paid Traffic

An estimate of how many monthly clicks that competitor earns from paid search. Use this to gauge their visibility in Google Ads.

Paid Traffic column with monthly estimated visits.

Paid Traffic Price

The estimated cost to generate that traffic through Google Ads. Higher numbers suggest aggressive bidding or high-CPC keyword focus.

Paid Traffic Price column showing estimated monthly ad spend.

SE (Search Engine) Keywords

The number of keywords the domain ranks for in organic search. Click this number to jump to their Organic Research report.

SE Keywords column showing number of organic keyword rankings.

How to Use This Table

Sort by any column to prioritize what matters most: keyword overlap, traffic, or budget

The sorting icon in a column of the Paid Competitors table.

Click any blue link to explore more detailed competitor data across Semrush tools

Clickable data in the Paid Competitors table.

Export the table to analyze further or create a report

Export button for the Competitors table with CSV, Excel, and PDF options.

From Competitors to Campaign Strategy

Once you've reviewed your top paid search rivals in the Competitors tab, the next step is the Ad Copies report. This tab shows exactly what kind of creatives and messaging your competitors are using, helpful for drawing inspiration for your next campaign.

Continue exploring the Advertising Research toolkit in whichever order fits your needs:

Positions: See where a domain ranks for each paid keyword
Position Changes: Track when keywords are added, lost, or move in the rankings
Ads History: View historical ad activity over time
Pages: See which landing pages receive the most paid traffic
Subdomains: Discover how visibility is distributed across subdomains

Each report has its own step-by-step manual. Work through them chronologically or jump straight to the insights most relevant to your strategy.

For a complete look at your paid ads performance, try all the tools within the Advertising Toolkit and start optimizing.

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