The Auction Insights Report shows how your ads compare with other advertisers competing in the same Google Ads auctions, including which competitors appeared in the same auctions as you and how often they outranked you.
The Auction Insights Report in Google Ads shows how your ads compare to other advertisers competing in the same auctions. You can access it from the Keywords, Ad Groups, or Campaigns sections to see which domains compete with you, how often they appear, and where they rank. It's the primary competitive intelligence tool inside Google Ads.
Auction Insights reports five key metrics.
[table]
Column | What It Measures | What It Tells You
Impression Share | Percentage of impressions each advertiser received out of eligible impressions | Who has the biggest share of the auction. Your baseline of competitive presence
Overlap Rate | How often another advertiser's ad received an impression in the same auction as yours | Which competitors you actually compete against, not just who's in the market
Position Above Rate | How often the other advertiser's ad showed in a higher position than yours when both showed | Which competitors are winning ranking against you
Top of Page Rate | How often each advertiser's ads appeared at the top of the page | Who is dominating premium ad positions
Outranking Share | Percentage of auctions where your ad ranked above the other advertiser's ad, or where their ad didn't show at all | Where you're already winning against a specific competitor
[/table]
Understanding these five columns together gives you a full competitive picture. Each column answers a specific tactical question, and together they show you whether or not a competitor is a real threat.
The report answers three questions that matter for pipeline growth.
Look at Overlap Rate combined with Position Above Rate. A competitor with 60%+ overlap and 40%+ position above rate is actively winning traffic that should be yours. That's a real threat. Prioritize competitor conquest against them.
A competitor with high overlap but low position above rate is showing in the same auctions but losing. You're already outranking them. No urgent action is required for now, so just monitor.
A competitor with low overlap and low position above rate is either targeting different keywords or losing on ad quality. They're not affecting your pipeline. Ignore them and focus your attention elsewhere.
Most B2B SaaS accounts waste time and money on the wrong competitors. Auction Insights tells you who to bid against.
Auction Insights is the diagnostic tool that shapes your competitor conquesting strategy. Our full playbook on bidding on competitor keywords walks through the strategy, but the decision of which competitors to target starts here.
The workflow:
Step 1: Pull Auction Insights at the campaign or ad group level for your core non-brand campaigns.
Step 2: Identify the top three to five competitors by overlap rate.
Step 3: Cross-check position above rate. Anyone with 30%+ position above rate is beating you in enough auctions to matter.
Step 4: Prioritize competitor conquest campaigns against those specific competitors, with dedicated ad copy and landing pages.
Step 5: Re-check Auction Insights monthly because competitive landscapes shift more often than you think. A competitor that was dominant six months ago might be pulling back today.
Without this diagnostic step, you’re going blind on competitor conquest. With it, every dollar goes toward beating the specific advertisers actually costing you pipeline.
Auction Insights has limitations.
Our guides on PPC competitor research tools and the best PPC spy tools explain how you can use external tools in addition to Auction Insights to get a complete picture.
The Auction Insights Report tells you where the pipeline is actually being contested and where it's being lost.
ScalixAI is a performance-driven Google Ads agency specializing in helping high-growth, AI-first companies scale with predictable, profitable customer acquisition. Founded by an ex-Googler with 9 years of insider advertising experience, we manage the entire Google Ads lifecycle—from campaign strategy and account setup to conversion tracking, analytics, and ongoing optimization. Our data-centric, AI-powered approach ensures you know exactly which campaigns are working, why they’re working, and what to do next to outpace your competitors.ScalixAI is a performance-driven Google Ads agency specializing in helping high-growth, AI-first companies scale with predictable, profitable customer acquisition. Founded by an ex-Googler with 9 years of insider advertising experience, we manage the entire Google Ads lifecycle—from campaign strategy and account setup to conversion tracking, analytics, and ongoing optimization.
Most clients see performance stabilize by month three. Google Ads isn’t a slot machine—it takes time to compound.
No. We work month-to-month. All we ask is that you give us three months to prove the results.
While Google Ads is our entry point, we also support LinkedIn Ads, Reddit, and X campaigns when needed.
The CRO audit covers your landing pages, CTAs, forms, and overall user flow. We’ll flag what’s holding back conversions and recommend fixes. If changes require design or dev resources, we’ll hand over clear action steps for your team, so you know exactly what to adjust.
As an ex-Googler, I know which recommendations are useful, and which are just there to hit Google’s internal targets. We’ll filter their advice for you, implementing only what actually helps us hit revenue goals.
Weekly reports show spend, conversions, CPL/CPA, and how we’re tracking against projections. “Good” means campaigns are meeting efficiency targets. “Scalable” means we can push budget and expect the same or better efficiency without breaking ROI.