- Definition
- Conquesting is a competitor advertising on searches for another company's brand or products to win some of that demand.
In plain words
Conquesting means showing up where a rival's customers are already looking. A shoe brand advertising on searches for another shoe brand is conquesting.
It is a normal competitive tactic in paid search. The useful questions are how often it happens, where, and what the ads claim.
Why it matters for brand and paid search teams
Conquesting ads can raise the price a brand pays to stay on top of its own searches and can take clicks from people who were ready to buy. PPC teams want to know when a competitor starts or stops, and in which markets.
Marketing teams watch the messages: price comparisons, free shipping offers or claims about the brand. Legal teams usually only get involved when the ad text or landing page says something about the brand that needs review.
How it works
A competitor reaches a rival's brand searches through its keyword choices and match types. Google explains that broad and phrase match can reach searches related to a keyword's meaning, so conquesting can be deliberate or a side effect of broad targeting.
Google's trademarks policy does not restrict trademarks as keywords, which is why many conquesting ads are allowed. Its restrictions focus on the use of a mark in ad text after a complaint.
The advertiser's own auction insights report shows which other advertisers took part in the same auctions, but only for the advertiser's own campaigns.
Example
For three weeks, summit-outdoors.example appears on about a third of Northstar's monitored searches in Austin and Atlanta on mobile, with the headline "Trail boots, 20% off this week". It does not appear in New York or on desktop.
Northstar's PPC team compares this with its own cost per click in those cities, and the marketing team checks that the ad makes no claim about Northstar.
Fictional brands and domains, for illustration only.
Common mistakes and misconceptions
Conquesting is always against the rules. Most conquesting is allowed by platform policies. The review usually concerns the ad text and landing page, not the ad's presence.
If I do not see the competitor from my office, they stopped. Campaigns often target specific cities, devices or hours. Check the places and devices where your customers search.
Our auction insights show everything competitors do. Auction insights covers only auctions your own campaigns entered. Competitors on searches you do not bid on are not in it.
How to monitor it in Ads Lighthouse
Ads Lighthouse lists every advertiser domain it observes on your monitored searches, with its ads, the keywords it appeared on, the locations and its last seen date. Label a domain as a competitor so reports separate competitors from partners.
Filter by engine, device, country and location to see where a competitor concentrates, and use Advertiser observed again alerts to hear when one returns after at least 30 days away.
Observed visibility tells you how often a domain appeared in your sample of searches. It is not the competitor's impression share or spend.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if a competitor is conquesting my brand?
Monitor your brand searches across the markets and devices that matter. A competitor that appears repeatedly on those searches is conquesting them, whatever keyword it uses.
Should I bid on competitor brands too?
That is a strategy and budget decision. If you do, keep your ad text clear of claims about the other brand and check the platform rules for your market.
Can monitoring show a competitor's budget?
No. Only the advertiser can see its spend and impression share. Monitoring records how often its ads appeared in the searches you checked.
Official sources
- Google Advertising Policies Help: Trademarks
- Google Ads Help: About keyword matching options
- Google Ads Help: Use auction insights to compare performance
Sources checked on .