Table of Contents
We handpicked 11 best google ads tools for all necessary purposes: from finding lucrative, low competition keywords to optimizing your ad performance, finding best bidding strategy, and analyzing competitors.
Let’s dive in!
Keyword Research Tools
Use the following tools to research most relevant keywords to generate new customers for your business.
1. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is one of the most popular google ads tools and is the starting point in almost any ad campaign for generating new keywords. It also helps that the tool comes directly from Google.
There are many ways to use Google Keyword Planner for researching new ad keyword,s here are some of them:
- Find keywords based on seed keywords. Type in a seed keyword in Google Keyword Planner, for example, “web design”, and the planner will show a list of keywords relevant to that seed, as well as how often people search for these and type of competition.
- Generate keywords based on your website. Enter the URL of your website, and Google will suggest keywords based on information and phrases it finds there. A useful feature if you already have a website with information about your services and / or products.
- Use filters. Use positive or negative filters to find specific keywords. For example, you can filter out brand-related keywords, or keywords that contain specific words.
2. Google Trends
Google Trends is a more strategic tool that lets you find ad keywords that are only starting to gain traction.
The following are the most common ways to use Google Trends to research new keywords for your ads:
- Find new popular products. Spot new emerging products or product categories and target keywords relevant to them and your offerings.
- Spot popular discussions. If there’s a certain discussion or viral topic that everyone is discussing, see if you have products or services relevant to these discussions or to people who are interested in these topics.
- Visualize trends. Understand seasonal patterns for specific product categories to better adjust your ad expenses.
Google Ads Optimization Tools
3. Free Google Ads Performance Grader
Google Ads Grader by Wordstream is a free tool designed to help you evaluate the performance of your google ads using a multiple of criteria, such sas quality score comparison, impression share, wasted spend, and account activity.
To use the tool, simply provide your ad account email to get your grade. The tool will automatically present several different graphs that help you analyze ad performance from multiple perspectives. The grader will also suggest advice based on performance benchmarks.
For example, wasted spend report will help you identify negative words that you might start using in your ad campaign to reduce expenses and improve ROI of your ads.
4. Optmyzr
Optmyzr is a comprehensive solution for PPC management overall and google ads management in particular.
Its notable features include one-click optimizations based on bid adjustment and ad performance analysis, reporting insights, rule-based automations, and a/b testing.
For example, using the A/B testing module, you can choose an ad or ad campaign, set up multiple variations of ad copy or bids, and analyze test results to identify winning elements.
The tool, however, is on the costly side of google ads tools, costing $208 per month at minimum at the time of writing (2025).
5. SEMrush
- Although SEMrush is a powerful suite of SEO tools, some of its features can be used for improving the performance of your google ads.
Here are some notable features of SEMRUSh to use for improving your google ads:
- Keyword Magic Tool. Generates a comprehensive list of keywords you can use in your ad campaigns based on seed phrases. A set of filters and sorting helps you quickly sort out the phrases you can use in your campaigns.
- PPC keyword tool. Helps you further work with a list of keywords generated using Keyword Magic Tool or other tools on this list. You can add, for example, negative keywords, or use groups and tags to segment keywords for different campaigns.
- Advertising Research. One of the useful tools for analyzing your competitors, showing what keywords they are bidding on, their ad copies, and estimated expenses.
Google Ads Tools For Performance Analysis and Reporting
6. Google Analytics
Is not Google analytics is not a primary Google tool for ads reporting, it still can be used to form powerful insights with a few of built-in reports:
Advertising Snapshot Report. Found in the Advertising section under Reports menu, this report can be used to identify high-performing ad campaigns and review key metrics such as clicks, sessions, conversions, and revenue.
Conversion Paths. This module will help you see how users engage with your ads and other marketing channels before conversions.
Audience Builder and Custom Segments. Using this feature, you can create Google Analytics audiences directly in your Google Ads account for more in-depth audience analysis based on session data, pages visited, or even specific actions taken.
7. Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio)
Looker Studio is a powerful tool for visualizing Google Ads performance.
If you know your way around, you can create custom looker studio reports or use its vast library of templates.
The most interesting use cases include creating reports that combine google ads data with other sources such as Google Analytics and Youtube Ads, collaborative reporting, and segmented reports for specific campaigns.
Data Bloo is built on top of the Looker Studio ecosystem, so if you want ready-to-use google ads reports optimized for in-depth reporting and analysis, check out the Data Bloo section covered in this article earlier.
8. Data Bloo
Databloo is a collection of report templates to help you track your google ads performance, analyze relevant data, and spot opportunities for improvement.
Databloo setup is super simple: automatically synchronizes with data from your google ads account to fill reports in real time.
Here are the most popular Data Bloo google ads reports:
Essential Google Ads Looker Studio Template. Get a clear view of your paid search performance with our Google Ads Looker Studio Template. Explore key details about your campaigns, keywords, locations, audiences, and competitors to boost your ad ROI. Try the report for free here.
Google Ads Single Page Report Template. Keep track of your Google paid search activity with our one-page Looker Studio Report Template. Quickly analyze key campaign metrics all in one place to streamline your ad optimization and reporting. Try the report for free here.
Custom Databloo Reports. Use a custom master report to create customizable google ads reports with all necessary data sources you need. Gain full control over the layout and look of your report, KPIs, charts, and data comparisons. Try the report for free here.
Budgeting and Bid Management Tools
9. Google Ads Budget Simulator
Google Ads Budget Simulator is a built-in Google Ads tool
To access it, open Google Ads – Campaign, and find a “Campaign Budget Simulator” icon next to a budget number of a specific campaign.
The Campaign Budget Simulator in Google Ads helps you estimate how changes to your campaign budget would impact key performance metrics, such as clicks, impressions, conversions, and costs. It uses historical data to simulate potential outcomes, allowing you to make informed budget decisions without guesswork.
10. Marin Software
Marin Software is a robust set of tools for managing your ads performance and ideally fits advertisers that manage large budgets. It has several modules, but let’s focus on the one for budget optimizations.
Marin Software advanced bid optimization feature factors in performance data, audience behavior, and ad schedules.
It allows for budget pacing to prevent overspending or underspending throughout a campaign’s duration and provides cross-channel insights to help allocate budgets effectively between Google Ads and other ad platforms.
You can integrate Marin with your google ads account and configure bid rules to focus on specific KPIs that you need.
Competitor Analysis Tools
There are plenty of PPC competitor’s analysis tools on the market and we have a standalone article for a deep dive: Competitive PPC Analysis: How to Do It Right (Tools & Templates)
Below are tools particularly useful for google ads competitor analysis.
11. Google Ads Transparency Center
This tool by Google provides visibility into all ads run across Google platforms. You can search by advertiser to see their active ads, ad formats, and campaign dates.
How to use it:
- Look up competitors to analyze their current ads, creatives, and messaging strategies.
- Identify their ad formats (text, display, video) and ad placements.
- Track how long their ads have been running to infer performance.
12. Similar Web
Similar Web is a competitor’s research tool that provides website traffic data and marketing insights data, including traffic sources, top keywords, and referral data.
Here’s how to use Similar Web For google ads competitor analysis:
- Enter a competitor’s website to see where their traffic is coming from (paid search, organic, social, etc.).
- Analyze the keywords driving paid traffic to their site.
- Understand their audience behavior, including bounce rates and average visit duration.
13. SpyFu
SpyFu is a dedicated PPC competitor analysis tool that provides data on competitors’ Google Ads campaigns, including their top-performing keywords, ad copies, and estimated spend, and allows:
- Search for a competitor to see their historical and current ad campaigns.
- Identify high-traffic and low-cost keywords your competitors are bidding on.
- Analyze their ad copy and landing pages for ideas to improve your own ads.
