Unlock the Hidden Secrets Behind Your Competitors’ Ad Budgets—What They Don’t Want You to Know!
Ever wonder how much your competitors are quietly splurging on ads while you’re stuck guessing? It’s like peeking behind the curtain of a magic show — but better, because instead of smoke and mirrors, you get solid numbers. Knowing exactly how much your rivals drop on display, social, video, and paid search ads isn’t just satisfying a curious itch; it’s the secret sauce to smarter budgeting and sharper strategies that keep your marketing efforts razor-sharp. This guide dives deep into cracking the code of competitor ad spend with tools like AdClarity and Semrush’s Advertising Research — helping you spot trends, compare channels, and find golden opportunities you might be missing. Ready to stop guessing and start strategizing like a pro? LEARN MORE.
It’s possible to get an accurate estimate of your competitors’ ad spend. You don’t have to guess.
Beyond satisfying your curiosity, knowing how much your rivals spend on ads helps you make better decisions about your budget allocation to keep your marketing efforts effective.
This guide shows how to estimate competitor ad spend across display, social, video, and paid search ads. And what you can do with that information.
How to See Competitors’ Estimated Ad Spend with AdClarity
The AdClarity app lets you estimate competitors’ digital ad spend, see where their ads appear, and evaluate how their investments change over time.
AdClarity provides information on ad spend across display, social, and video ads. And you can see results by advertiser, publisher, campaign, and keyword.
With AdClarity, you can:
- Compare multiple competitors to see differences in estimated spend, impressions, and ad placement in one dashboard
- Track spending trends over time using a variety of filters
- Analyze ad spend distribution across placements and programmatic vs. direct buying
- Identify top-performing ads and campaigns based on impression volume
- Export reports for stakeholders to review
When you enter an advertiser’s domain into AdClarity, you’ll see a report that shows an overall view of ad spend across all devices and channels.
Here’s how to use AdClarity to estimate ad spend on each main channel:
Estimate Display Ad Spend
Use AdClarity to estimate how much your competitors are spending on their display ads by entering a rival domain in the search bar with the “Advertisers” tab selected, clicking the “All channels” drop-down, and selecting “Display.”
This filtered Advertiser report shows that Costco spent $489,100 for 162.1 million impressions on display ads in the last three months. The report also shows that Costco’s display ads average 12.5 million weekly impressions, cost $37,400 per week, and appear across 287 publishers per week.
Further down in the Advertiser report, you can see that Costco’s top ad by impressions is an ad for a Lenovo PC.
When you click on any ad in the “Top ads” section, you can access more details about the ad, including the ad type (e.g., banner) and dimensions, when the ad ran, the ad’s CPM, and more.
AdClarity also gives you the option to go from an individual ad to a full campaign report and the campaign’s landing page. And you can export information from AdClarity for presentations and internal notes.
Back in the main Advertiser report, scroll down to see that Costco’s top campaign accounts for 18.95% of the company’s total display ad impressions. And that they spent $87,360 on this campaign, which is 17.86% of their total display ad budget.
Even further down in the Advertiser report, you see which publishers account for most of Costco’s ad placements and Costco’s ad buying methods for display ads.
Below, you can see that Costco spent $187,510 through ad networks, totaling 38.34% of their display ad budget during this period.
Estimate Social Media Ad Spend
Choose “Social” from the channels drop-down at the top of the Advertiser report to see information about the entered competitor’s ad spend on social.
In the first row of widgets, you’ll see estimated expenditure, social ad placement, and social ad types.
You can also see that Costco averaged 10.6 million weekly average impressions for social ads, spent an average of $66,900 per week on social ads, and appeared across an average of four publishers. This makes sense given social ads only appear on social media platforms.
Scrolling down the Advertisers report shows that Costco’s top ad on social media in the last three months was for MegaFood vitamins, which cost them $250,500 to run and earned 45.7 million impressions.
When you click on the ad, AdClarity shows that it was published on Facebook. You can also view other metrics about the ad and the campaign it was a part of.
The bottom of the Advertiser report shows details about Costco’s top social media campaigns and distribution across platforms.
Estimate Video Ad Spend
To use AdClarity to estimate how much your competitors are spending on their video ads, select “Video” from the channels drop-down.
The Advertiser report will then show estimated expenditure, video ad placement, and video ad buying methods. Here, we can see that Costco spent $685,600 for 77.8 million impressions over the last three months and relied primarily on programmatic as their ad buying method.
As with the previous two sections, the “Advertiser expenditure trends” section shows trends and averages related to Costco’s ad impressions, spend, etc.
Further down in the Advertiser report, you can see the top video ads for Costco. And you can click into any ad to see more details about it and the larger campaign it belongs to.
Once again, the “Top campaigns” section shows Costco’s highest-performing ad campaigns—this time specifically for video ad campaigns. And the “Top publishers” section confirms that Costco’s highest ad spend and impression count came from YouTube video ads.
If you click on the “YouTube” row in the “Top campaigns” section, you’ll see YouTube-specific information. The “YouTube channels” section shows which YouTube channels Costco’s video ads appeared on. Which is useful for creating a competitive ad strategy.
Compare Ad Spend Across Channels
Now, you can see that Costco’s ad spend on each channel over the last three months is as follows:
- Display ads: $489,100 for 162.1 million impressions
- Social ads: $880,400 for 139.6 million impressions
- Video ads: $685,600 for 77.8 million impressions
Use this breakdown to compare your own ad channel distribution against your competitors’. And make decisions about where you may want to invest and where you may want to pull back.
Review your current budget split and adjust based on your goals, competitor insights, and available resources.
How to See Competitors’ Estimated Paid Search Ad Spend with Advertising Research
Estimate competitors’ paid search ad spend using Semrush’s Advertising Research tool, which also shows the keywords your rivals’ ads appear for.
Enter a competitor’s domain and go to the “Positions” tab in Advertising Research. This report shows details about the competitor’s paid keywords, estimated traffic, cost per click, paid search positions, and more.
The “Traffic Cost” metric is the estimated average monthly cost to show in Google for the listed keywords based on cost per click (CPC) and position data. It gives you a practical estimate of what a competitor may be spending on paid search.
Knowing what a competitor is paying for search ads gives you a benchmark for your pay-per-click (PPC) budget. To give you ideas on how to adjust your PPC strategy.
In the example below, the Advertising Research tool estimates that Costco would have to spend $140,100 to show for all its listed keywords.
If we multiply $140,100 by three, we can estimate that Costco spent about $420,300 on Google search ads during the same three-month period we analyzed in AdClarity.
Use Competitor Ad Spend Data to Refine Your Strategy
Use competitor ad spend data to:
- Benchmark your ad spend: Compare total spend to see how much competitors are investing and whether you need to adjust to compete
- Find channel opportunities: Analyze how competitors distribute their ad budgets among channels to identify where competition is strongest or where there may be opportunities
- Track spending trends over time: View data over time to spot seasonal spikes or sustained increases in investment that may be worth addressing
- Determine keyword-level competition: Look for high costs that indicate highly competitive terms. And decide whether it’s more advantageous to compete directly or pursue less competitive opportunities.
Keep in mind that AI-powered search experiences like Google’s AI Overviews can influence click behavior. Our own research shows that the number of search engine results pages (SERPs) containing both ads and AI Overviews grew dramatically in 2025.
While some marketers worry that AI Overviews may lessen visibility for and clicks on ads, more opportunities for paid search are emerging. Google is already testing ads directly inside AI Overviews.
FAQs About Doing a Competitor Ad Spend Analysis
How Accurate Are Semrush’s Competitor Ad Spend Estimates?
The AdClarity app and Advertising Research tool provide highly accurate estimates based on ad placements, impressions, CPC data, and position tracking. These figures aren’t exact budgets, but they offer reliable estimates for benchmarking and trend analysis.
Can I See My Competitors’ Actual Ads in Semrush?
Yes, AdClarity shows display, social, and video ads, along with information about placements and performance. And Advertising Research shows a competitor’s actual search ads in the “Ads Copies” tab.
What’s a Good Ad Spend Benchmark for My Industry?
There’s no universal benchmark for ad spend—it varies by industry, growth stage, and competitive pressure. Analyze competitors in your industry to establish a baseline, then adjust based on your goals and resources.
How Often Should I Monitor Competitor Ad Spend?
Monthly monitoring of competitors’ ad spend is sufficient for most businesses, though you may want to do it more frequently during important times like product launches and seasonal peaks.
