In today’s competitive landscape, it is crucial for businesses to stay informed about their peers’ marketing strategies. YouTube is a promising advertising platform for brands, generating over $6.69 billion in advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2023. This makes it essential for companies to know how to see their competitors’ YouTube ads. By gaining insights into their ad campaigns, you can identify effective techniques, uncover new trends, and make informed decisions to improve your own advertising efforts.

In this article, we’ll explore how to see competitors’ YouTube ads for free using the Google Ads Transparency Center. We’ll explain how to access and navigate it and present its features to you. By the end, you’ll know perfectly well how to utilize the Google Ads Transparency Center to gain valuable insights into your opponents’ YouTube ad strategies. Let’s dive in!

What Is the Google Ads Transparency Center?

The Google Ads Transparency Center is an invaluable resource for marketers and advertisers, providing deep insights into the advertising activities of various brands on YouTube and other Google platforms. Google’s executives say that more than 30 million people interact with the ad transparency and control menus every day.

Acting as a centralized hub, it offers valuable information about ads, including the advertiser’s identity, recent showings, and the ad’s format. Moreover, the Ads Transparency Center allows you to view the actual ads, providing essential details on their creative idea, visual element design, and overall production quality.

How can I view my competitors’ YouTube ads?

To see your competitors’ YouTube ads through the Google Ads Transparency Center, you have a few options. You can simply type “Google Ads Transparency Center” into your preferred search engine. Or click the link directly to the Google Ads Transparency Center.

Additionally, you can also access the Ads Transparency Center through YouTube. While viewing a YouTube ad, you can click the small ‘i’ icon in the bottom left hand corner of the video player. You will then see all the details about the ad you are viewing. Simply click ‘see more ads’ from the advertiser, and you will be redirected to the Advertiser’s page on the Ads Transparency Center.

Acting as a centralized hub, it offers valuable information about ads, including the advertiser’s identity, recent showings, and the ad’s format. Moreover, the Ads Transparency Center allows you to view the actual ads, providing essential details on their creative idea, visual element design, and overall production quality.

Searching for your competitors’ YouTube ads

Once you’re on the site, you’ll see a user-friendly interface designed to make it easy for you to navigate. In just a few clicks, you can find the advertiser you’re interested in and see what types of ads they are running on YouTube.

• The tool’s search bar provides filters to refine your research. They include:
• the date range when an ad was run
• the region where the ad was demonstrated
• the ad’s format

‍ a date range

The desired date range feature allows you to narrow down your analysis and observe recent ad campaigns within it. The available choices include yesterday, today, the last 7 days, the last 30 days, and any time. However, it’s important to note that the “any time” option may not function accurately, and you will only be able to see ads from the last 30 days.

Selecting a region

Want to see competitors’ YouTube ads in France, USA, or Norway, for example? To do this, you just need to select the country you are interested in from the drop-down list under the feature “Shown in.”

Filtering for YouTube ads

Using the last but not least important filter, you can select the format of the advertisement you are curious about. Here, you can tap on the Image, Text, or Video option. If you want to see YouTube ads, make sure to select ‘Video’.

Case study: Searching for Uber ads on YouTube

To illustrate our words, let’s look for YouTube ads promoted by the well-known ride-sharing company Uber in the USA.

To do so, take advantage of the filters described above:

• Choose the date range.
• Select the United States of America in the “shown in” window.
• Tap on “Video” in the ad format parameter.
• Enter “Uber B.V.” in the search bar.

This will retrieve relevant information on ads promoted by the specified brand.

You can generally spot YouTube ads by the format of the thumbnail image. Display ads usually include some kind of white banner with a button. So, if the thumbnail image doesn’t have a banner, it’s a pretty safe bet that it will be a YouTube ad.

If you click on the advertisement, you’ll see the information on when it has been shown for the last time. Here we managed to find an example Uber ad that has been viewed over 1.7 million times:

Analyzing Uber’s ad with Junbi.ai

So, now you know how to see competitors’ YouTube ads. Great! But what can you do with all of these new-found ads from your competitors? Why not benchmark them with Junbi.ai to see how you compare!

The ad breakthrough score, which measures the ad’s ability to draw attention relative to its surroundings, received a commendable 86 out of 100. The brand attention score, indicating how well the brand attracts attention, scored 63 out of 100. Cognitive ease, which considers the ad’s visual complexity and how easily it can be processed, received a score of 69 out of 100. Overall, the ad was deemed highly effective, scoring 88 out of 100 – well done Uber!

This case study showcases how you can gain valuable insights into your competitors’ YouTube ads, allowing you to assess their strengths and weaknesses and apply those insights to enhance your own advertising strategies. Junbi, in turn, is always ready to assist you with the analysis of what you have learned.

The Google Ads Transparency Center offers marketers and advertisers a possibility to see and analyze competitors’ YouTube ads. By leveraging this platform effectively, you can gain valuable insights into your competitors’ YouTube ad strategies, identify successful techniques, and enhance your own advertising efforts. Stay ahead of the competition and make informed decisions by utilizing this powerful tool.

Additionally, if you’re looking for in-depth research and further assistance, sign up for a free demo with one of our Junbi specialists. Unlock the full potential of competitor ad analysis with Junbi today!