Copying competitor's ads exactly - Any reason not to?

Is there any reason not to copy my competitors' ads exactly? They might be doing better than my own, and if so, I'd like to use them until I can create even better performing ads. Could I get penalized?

 

you should do it, so you can benchmark their estimated CTR.

This is common practice

 

It's definitely common practice so you shouldn't get penalized. The only reason not to copy them exactly is to distinguish yourself from your competitors. But in saying that, if you think their ads are doing better than yours, it's a good place to start and then try and improve them from there.

 

Can't you think up something better than your competitor's ad?

 

the only problem with this is they will usually have a better history and quality score, so your ad will appear underneath theirs. Most people will click theres first and this will usually hurt you in the end. Plus like they said it doesn't distinguish your ad. I've even seen it where every ad shares the same exact title. I have also found that if they are using the Main Keywords in the beginning of the title, putting it at the end will raise your CTR.

Test-Test-Test some more.

Vene

 

It can be double edge sword if you have different style landing page or have different keywords on your landing page. QS can be a bitch sometime

 

you can test it and if results are good why not use it permanetly

 

How can you copy their ad exactly, as you'll have a different domain name? As Google now insist on the display URL matching the actual domain that the user lands on, this is surely no longer possible?

 

Your QS will certainly be different, as your landing page and history will still be different.

Your bids will also be different, so your advert could appear above or below your competitor.

Wherever it appears, it tells you nothing useful, since people that would click on his advert may or may not click on yours - both of you will get a lower clickthrough rate - particularly the lower of the two adverts. And their brand name may be stronger or weaker than yours.

And what benefit do you get? Who cares what their ctr is? If you keep testing new adverts, you'll improve it over time. Write your own adverts - nick other people's ideas if they look good, but don't waste your time copying their advert, hoping it's good...

 

Exactly. You can't copy all elements of an ad (display url) so any data you gather for comparison/benchmarking purposes is invalid.

 

well i wouldn't say invalid but you might get a ballpark estimated CPC.

I do not recommend trying it against a major corp since branding will play a big factor to their CPC

such as copying a competitor such as bofa.com will probably not return similar results. But if you are in competition with non branded companies then this technique can be very effective.

@Masterful Its not that you cant think of a better ad, but its testing against your competitors to verify your ad is better. You would write the most killer ad, at least in your mind, but you will never know how effective it is without control and competition copies.

@muchacho79 the idea is to still use your own domain URL as display and to just test the Heading D1 and D2 lines.

@CustardMite The point is not to find out what they are getting exactly. This is impossible since all variables are not the same.


FINAL NOTE: the purpose of testing your competitor ads is to see how well their headlines and descriptions work with your variables.

 

How will you know what keywords to target though if you're copying someone else's ad?

I was interested in copying someone's adwords ad, but have no idea what keywords to use.

 

I don't think the question should be whether you CAN, but if you SHOULD.
I fail to see why you think there's a benefit in riding on the coat tails of someone who's already succeeding -- and probably more established than you are. Surely, you have (or certainly ought to have) a Uniqe Selling Proposition and it certainly ought (or needs) to be different than your competitor's.
In any case, copying someone else's work is something of a copyright infringement and I'm inclined to see it as laziness instead of a serious attempt to succeed on your own.
If no two products/service are the same -- and they aren't -- why borrow creativity instead of coming up with your own version?

Duncan

 

Equating the copying of a text ad to copyright infringement is a pretty big stretch. Anyway, it's pretty common in direct response to borrow elements from other campaigns.

Back in the early 90's when I was learning the ins and outs of direct mail I was taught early on that if you're getting the same offer again and again and again it's working - rip it apart and borrow certain elements to help expedite the success of your own campaigns. Didn't see anything wrong with the practice then and don't now either.

So to answer your question, yes, you SHOULD