Last Updated on 3 September 2026 by Stu Edwards
Google Ads Auction Insights shows how your ads compare with other advertisers in the same auctions.
It helps you answer questions like:
- Who am I competing with?
- Are competitors showing above me?
- Is my impression share dropping because of competition?
- Am I losing visibility because of budget, bids or ad quality?
- Which competitors are most active in my market?
Auction Insights won’t show your competitors’ budgets, bids, keywords or conversion data. But it does show how visible they are compared with you, which makes it useful for spotting competitive pressure and deciding where to adjust your campaigns.
Understanding the Auction Insights report isn’t just about gathering data – it’s about uncovering strategic insights that can greatly improve your campaign performance.
This blog post will dive deep into the Google Ads Auction Insights report – Explaining its importance, how to interpret its metrics, and use the data for campaign success.
What is Google Ads Auction Insights?
Google Ads Auction Insights is a report that compares your ad performance with other advertisers who appear in the same auctions as you.
It helps you see who you compete with, how often competitors appear alongside you, and whether they’re showing above you.
In practical terms, Google Ads Auction Insights helps you assess competitive pressure using metrics such as impression share, overlap rate, position above rate and outranking share. It shows how visible you are compared with other advertisers in the auction, but it doesn’t reveal their bids, budgets or targeting.
Understanding Google Ads Auction Insights
The Auction Insights report in Google Ads is powerful, as it lets advertisers see how their campaigns compare to their competitors.
It shows metrics that reflect how competitive your ads are in auctions, who you’re competing with, and what crossover you have with them.
For Google Ads specialists like us, the Auction Insights report is indispensable for strategic decision-making.
The report includes several metrics: Impression share, overlap rate, position above rate, top of page rate, absolute top of page rate, and outranking share.
Each of these metrics provides a piece of the puzzle on how your ads compete.
Key Auction Insight Metrics Explained
Impression Share
This metric reveals the percentage of impressions your ads received out of the total number of impressions they were eligible to receive.
A high impression share indicates strong visibility and market presence, while a low impression share may suggest opportunities for improvement in bid strategies or ad relevance.
Overlap Rate
Overlap rate shows how often your ads and another advertiser’s ads received impressions in the same auctions. This metric can help identify your main competitors and understand the competitive landscape of your ad space.
Position Above Rate
Understanding how often another advertiser’s ad was shown in a higher position than yours can be crucial for assessing ad rank and the effectiveness of your bid strategy.
Top of Page Rate / Absolute Top of Page Rate
These metrics indicate how often your ads appear at the top of the search results page and in the absolute top position, respectively. High rates here are indicative of successful bid strategies and high ad relevance.
Outranking Share
This measures how often your ad ranked higher in the auction than another advertiser’s ad or was shown when theirs was not. It’s a direct indicator of your competitive advantage in ad placement.
How to interpret Auction Insights metrics
| Metric | What it means | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Impression share | How often your ads showed compared with how often they were eligible to show. | Check if you’re losing visibility because of budget, Ad Rank or campaign settings. |
| Overlap rate | How often another advertiser showed in the same auctions as you. | Use it to identify your closest paid search competitors. |
| Position above rate | How often another advertiser showed above you when both ads appeared. | Review bids, ad relevance, landing pages and Quality Score. |
| Top of page rate | How often your ad appeared above organic results. | Check whether higher visibility is improving conversions, not just clicks. |
| Absolute top of page rate | How often your ad appeared as the first ad above organic results. | Use carefully, as position one can be expensive if conversion rates are weak. |
| Outranking share | How often your ad ranked higher than another advertiser’s ad, or showed when theirs didn’t. | Track this against priority competitors, not every advertiser in the report. |
What to do when competitors are beating you in Auction Insights
Auction Insights data is only useful if you connect it to action. Here’s how to respond to common patterns.
If your impression share is low
Check your lost impression share metrics first.
If you’re losing impressions because of budget, increasing spend may help. But only do this if the campaign is already profitable.
If you’re losing impressions because of rank, look at:
– Ad relevance
– Landing page quality
– Expected CTR
– Bid strategy
– Keyword intent
– Campaign structure
Don’t just raise bids without checking the quality side first.
If a competitor has a high overlap rate
This usually means they’re targeting similar searches to you.
Review:
– Search terms
– Keyword themes
– Ad copy
– Landing page offers
– Audience segments
– Location targeting
The goal isn’t always to beat them in every auction. The goal is to win the auctions that are most likely to convert.
If a competitor keeps showing above you
Look at whether they’re beating you on position because of aggressive bidding, stronger ad relevance, or better landing pages.
Before increasing bids, check whether those searches are actually valuable. If conversion rates or ROAS are weak, it may be better to reduce waste than chase a higher position.
If your outranking share is low
Pick your battles.
A low outranking share against one competitor doesn’t always matter.
It matters most when that competitor is showing on your highest-value searches.
Focus on campaigns, ad groups or keywords where:
– Conversion intent is strong
– Margins are healthy
– Lead quality is good
– You have a strong landing page
What Auction Insights doesn’t show
Auction Insights is useful, but it has limits.
It doesn’t show:
– Competitor budgets
– Competitor bids
– Competitor Quality Scores
– Competitor conversion rates
– Competitor ROAS
– Their full keyword list
– Their exact targeting settings
– Whether their campaigns are profitable
So don’t use Auction Insights in isolation.
How to Access the Auction Insights Report
Accessing the Auction Insights report is straightforward:
- Sign in to your Google Ads account
- Select the campaign or ad group you want to analyse
- Click on “Auction insights” from the menu.
Strategic Uses of Competitor Auction Insights for Campaign Optimisation
There’s a lot of competitor insights you can learn from in the Auction Insights report.
These insights not only reveal where you stand in relation to your competitors, but also highlight opportunities for strategic adjustments to improve your campaign’s performance.
Interpreting this data requires a strategic lens to:
- Identify trends and patterns that could inform adjustments to your bidding strategy or ad content
- Consider the overall competitive landscape and how shifts might impact your campaign strategy
Here’s how to interpret each key metric for competitor analysis:
Impression Share
A lower impression share compared to your competitors suggests that there’s room to adjust your bids/targets or improve your ad quality to gain better visibility.
Conversely, a high impression share signifies strong market presence but also invites an analysis of ROI to ensure you’re not overspending for visibility.
Overlap Rate
A high overlap rate with a particular competitor indicates direct competition for the same keywords.
Analysing the context in which this overlap occurs can help you refine your keyword strategy, perhaps by identifying niche areas less served by competitors or by adjusting bids/targets on highly competitive keywords where you have a strong value proposition.
Position Above Rate
A high ‘position above rate’ here suggests that your competitor might be bidding more aggressively or has better ad relevance.
Use this insight to review your ad content and bidding strategy for key auctions where improving your position could lead to better performance.
Top of Page Rate / Absolute Top of Page Rate
If competitors have a higher rate, it may be an indication that they are simply bidding more aggressively than you, or have better optimised ad content for certain keywords.
Consider adjusting your bids/targets or refining your ad copy and landing pages to improve these rates.
Outranking Share
A low outranking share against a key competitor can signal the need for strategic adjustments to improve your competitive edge, such as adjusting bids/targets or enhancing ad quality through better alignment with the user intent.
Example competitor analysis
Below is an example Auction Insights report for a client of ours. This analysis was run at the account level, factoring in all campaigns.
(Keep in mind you can switch between a Search or Shopping campaign type overview)
Our quick insights and assumptions:
- We can see that our client has the highest impression share 🥳
- We have the highest Overlap rate with Competitor 1, and they have a Position Above Rate of 60.98% – despite a similar Top of Page / Absolute Top of Page rate. We only have a 33% Outranking share with them – which might indicate their ad quality (and maybe Quality Score) is better than ours
- Despite a low Overlap rate, Competitor 8 has a higher Position Above Rate, and Top of Page / Absolute Top of Page rate. As their overall Impression Share is low, this may suggest they’re entering fewer auctions but bidding more aggressively when they do show. (They’re showing ads higher, for less of the time)
4 Steps To Apply Insights to Competitor Analysis
1. Identify Strong Competitors
Use the Auction Insights to identify which competitors frequently outperform you in key metrics. This can highlight who your main rivals are in the digital space and where you need to focus your competitive strategies.
2. Strategic Bid Adjustments
Based on your impression share and outranking share, you may decide to increase bids/targets on high-value keywords where you’re close to outranking competitors or decrease bids in areas where the ROI does not justify the investment.
3. Refine Targeting and Ad Content
Overlap and position above rates can guide adjustments in your ad targeting and content.
If your competitors are consistently appearing above you, it may be time to revisit your ad copy, ensuring it’s compelling and closely aligned with the search intent of your target keywords.
4. Explore New Opportunities
A thorough competitor analysis might reveal gaps in your competitors’ strategies that you can exploit.
Eg: If you have high-value campaigns/ad groups and your main competitors have a low impression share, these could represent opportunities for you to capture additional market share.
By closely examining and interpreting each of these metrics, paid search marketers can gain a nuanced understanding of their competitive landscape.
This analysis not only informs tactical decisions, such as bid adjustments and ad optimisation, but also broader strategic moves like identifying new market opportunities and redefining target audience segments.
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3 Best Practices for Utilising Auction Insights
To effectively use the Auction Insights report, keep the following best practices in mind:
1. Combine Routine Analysis With Broader Campaign Data
Regularly review your Auction Insights to stay ahead of trends and shifts in the competitive landscape.
Integrating these insights with other reports (like the Search Terms report), can provide a more holistic view of your campaign’s performance and opportunities for better optimisation.
2. Prioritise Actionable Metrics (And Avoid Data Overload)
Focus on metrics that directly inform actionable strategies.
For instance, if improving visibility is a goal, prioritise impression share and top of page rate over other metrics.
3. Gain The Competitive Edge Through Ongoing Optimisations
Use insights from the report to continually refine your campaigns. This means adjusting bids/targets, experimenting with different ad copy, and refining target keywords based on ongoing performance and competitive pressure.
Conclusion
Google Ads Auction Insights helps you understand who you’re competing with, how often they appear alongside you, and whether they’re showing above you.
But the report shouldn’t be used as a vanity metric.
High impression share doesn’t always mean strong performance.
A competitor showing above you doesn’t always mean they’re ‘winning’.
And chasing outranking share can waste budget if the traffic doesn’t convert.
Use Auction Insights to spot competitive pressure, then validate your next move with conversion data, search terms, lost impression share and landing page performance.
If you use it this way, it becomes a practical tool for improving budget allocation, campaign structure and paid search strategy.
If you have any questions about Auction Insights, your place in the market and where you did relative to your competitors, or Google Ads in general, then please feel free to reach out for a free strategy session!
Our free Growth Check will show you what’s working, what isn’t, and what to change.