When The Search Monitor may fit better
- You need Amazon or regional engines such as Baidu, Yandex or Naver.
- You want landing page rules, URL decloaking and enforcement letters.
- You want screenshots delivered by FTP or API.
Ads LighthousevsThe Search Monitor
The Search Monitor offers SEM insights, brand protection, affiliate compliance and ad-spend products across many search engines and Amazon, with landing page rules, URL decloaking and exportable screenshots.
At a glance
| Tool | Search engines | Most frequent checks | Published price | Free trial | Files takedowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ads Lighthouse | Google and Bing, plus Google Shopping on Growth and above | Every 15 minutes | From $49 per month | 7 days | No |
| The Search Monitor | Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon and regional engines | Not published | From $500 per month plus crawling fees | Not mentioned | Yes, trademark complaints and enforcement letters |
Which tool fits your needs
When Ads Lighthouse may fit better
- You want a flat monthly price without separate crawling fees.
- You want to start with a self-service trial.
- Google and Bing cover the markets you need.
Feature comparison
| Topic | Ads Lighthouse | The Search Monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Search engines and channels | Google and Bing search ads, plus Google Shopping product ads on Growth and above. | Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon, AOL, Baidu, Yandex, Naver, Sogou and Haosou, on desktop and mobile. Product listing ads are also monitored. |
| Check frequency | Daily up to every 15 minutes, depending on plan, at fixed or random times, plus on-demand checks. | No check frequency is published on the pages we read. |
| Evidence captured | Every ad is saved with its copy, ad assets such as sitelinks, advertiser domain and destination URL, plus the search term, engine, location, device and time. A screenshot of the results page is available for eligible first appearances, and a static landing-page preview when capture succeeds. Previews are rebuilt from saved page content, so they can differ from a live visit. Redirect traces can be downloaded as a standard web archive (WARC) file. Advertiser domains can be looked up in Google's Ads Transparency Center for the advertiser names Google lists, whether Google verified them and their country, using 1 on-demand check per lookup. | Screenshots of landing pages and search results, exportable by email, download, FTP and API. |
| Affiliate identification | Reads the affiliate parameter you choose in Google ad links and matches IDs against your affiliate list. Follows the redirect chains of eligible ads from our servers, not from the searcher's location or device. | Link inspection cross-referenced with a database of decloaked IDs. |
| Alerts and reporting | Alerts for a new or returning advertiser, a brand mention in ad copy or a detected affiliate ID, by email, Slack or webhook. Reports export to CSV and Excel. MCP server for AI assistants on every plan, and a REST API on Scale and above. | Alerts when new affiliate or partner violations occur. |
| Enforcement and takedowns | Complaint preparation, not filing: a case evidence pack PDF, the fields Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising trademark forms ask for, outreach templates and a filing tracker. You submit on the platform's form; Ads Lighthouse does not file complaints or takedowns for you. | Email enforcement letters and case management. |
| Pricing model | Public self-service monthly plans from $49 per month | Affiliate Compliance starts at $500 per month, Brand Protection and SEM Insights at $800 per month, and Ad Armor at $1,200 per month, each plus keyword crawling fees. |
| Trial | 7-day free trial with a reminder email before the first charge. Cancel anytime before it ends from Settings > Billing. | No free trial is mentioned. Demo and sales contact options are offered. |
Pricing compared
Published prices for Ads Lighthouse and The Search Monitor, as listed on each company's official pages on October 13, 2026. Prices are in US dollars. "Custom quote" or "Not published" means the vendor does not list a price.
| Tool and plan | Listed price | Billing | What the plan includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ads Lighthouse Starter | $49 per month | Monthly | 20 keywords, 1 project, 2 locations per project, checks up to once a day. |
| Ads Lighthouse Growth | $99 per month | Monthly | 50 keywords, 2 projects, 5 locations per project, checks up to every 6 hours. Google Shopping included. |
| Ads Lighthouse Scale | $299 per month | Monthly | 150 keywords, 5 projects, 12 locations per project, checks up to every 2 hours. Google Shopping included. |
| Ads Lighthouse Business | $599 per month | Monthly | 500 keywords, 10 projects, 25 locations per project, checks up to every hour. Google Shopping included. |
| Ads Lighthouse Enterprise | Custom quote | Agreed with you | Keywords and projects agreed with you, up to 100 locations per project, checks up to every 15 minutes. Google Shopping included. |
| The Search Monitor Brand Protection | From $800 per month plus keyword crawling fees | Monthly | Automated search engine trademark complaints, submission dashboards and up to 10 live geo-targeted searches. |
| The Search Monitor Affiliate Compliance | From $500 per month plus crawling fees | Monthly | Options for search ad, landing page content and coupon code monitoring. |
| The Search Monitor SEM Insights | From $800 per month plus keyword crawling fees | Monthly | Competitive insights on paid text ads, shopping ads and SEO listings. |
| The Search Monitor Ad Armor | From $1,200 per month plus keyword crawling fees | Monthly | Negative keyword lists and alerts, and performance analysis reports. |
| The Search Monitor Whole platform | Custom quote | Not published | All four products together. |
Prices and plans change often. Confirm the current price, billing terms and what is included with each vendor before you decide.
Pricing pages checked : The Search Monitor pricing. See every Ads Lighthouse plan limit.
Sources
- The Search Monitor affiliate compliance checked September 23, 2026
- The Search Monitor pricing checked September 23, 2026
How we compare
- We summarize what each vendor states on its own public website. We have not tested their products, and we do not rate quality, accuracy or support.
- Each page lists the pages we read and the date we checked them. Vendors change features and prices often, so confirm the details with them before you decide.
- Our own column describes Ads Lighthouse as it works today, including what it does not do.
- Product and company names belong to their owners. Ads Lighthouse is not affiliated with the vendors listed.
Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will review it.
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