{"id":49252,"date":"2026-10-25T16:21:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T13:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsterra.com\/blog\/?p=49252"},"modified":"2026-10-28T16:21:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T13:21:59","slug":"how-to-find-competitors-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogdev.adsterratech.com\/blog\/how-to-find-competitors-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Research Competitor Ads and Find New Creative Ideas for Affiliate Campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When launching paid campaigns, coming up with fresh creative ideas is often one of the most time consuming parts of the process. Building every concept from scratch takes time, while testing random hypotheses can quickly eat into the budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more practical approach is to look at what other media buyers are running right now. Competitor research helps you follow market trends, see how advertisers present similar offers, and understand which ideas keep appearing across different campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is not to copy competitors’ ads. Simply downloading competitor creatives from an ad spy and relaunching the same ad rarely makes sense. Every creative was built for a specific funnel, prelander, offer, payout structure, traffic source, and audience. Copying the visual alone does not recreate the conditions behind the original campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competitor research serves a different purpose. It helps you understand which topics and pain points advertisers are using, which ad formats appear in a particular GEO, and which offers are currently receiving paid traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We thank our friends and colleagues from TYVER<\/a> for creating this expert material for our readers. In this guide, they explain how to analyze competitor ads, what elements to look at, how to identify recurring patterns across multiple advertisers, and how to turn those observations into original ideas for your own campaigns. Enjoy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why Analyze Competitors’ Ads Instead of Copying Creatives?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Directly copying competitors’ ads and landing pages from ad intelligence tools rarely makes sense in the long run. Even if you recreate someone else’s funnel in detail, you still do not know the commercial conditions behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first issue is offer economics. The team whose ads you found may be working on individual terms, with a higher payout per lead, a private volume bump, or a direct agreement with the advertiser. A campaign that makes sense under those conditions may not work with the standard payout available through an affiliate network because the economics are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second issue is creative fatigue. When several media buyers start running the same ad to the same audience, users see it more often and gradually stop responding to it. CTR can fall as the creative becomes more familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also no way to understand why an ad produced a particular result if you simply copy every element. Was the main factor the ad copy, the image, the headline, or the opening frames of the video? Without separating those variables, it is difficult to run a useful split test<\/a>, eliminate weaker elements, and improve the funnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is why media buyers use ad spies and other ad intelligence tools<\/a> for market research rather than direct copying. Competitors’ ads can show which offers are receiving attention in a selected GEO, which formats other teams are using, such as UGC videos, unboxings, static banners, or teasers, and which audience pain points they put front and center.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Those findings can then become input for your own campaigns. You can take an angle you noticed and rebuild it around your own setup: use a different visual, write new ad copy, test alternative headlines or opening scenes, and adapt the funnel to your own offer terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ADVERTISE<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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What to Look for in Competitors’ Ads<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To understand the logic behind a creative, break it down into separate elements, from the first seconds of exposure to the CTA. The goal is to analyze ads as a set of individual components rather than treat the whole creative as one finished idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first 2 to 3 seconds or the headline<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In video ads, the opening is particularly important. If the first frames do not catch attention, the user may simply keep scrolling. Look at how the hook is presented. It may be text at the top of the screen, a sudden action, a direct question, or a close view of the problem. In static ads and competitor display ads, the headline and main image perform a similar role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Example of the catchy headlines<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Creative format<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The ad format shows how the advertiser presents the offer. Common examples include UGC videos, unboxings, interface screencasts, static banners with product imagery and text, and short teaser creatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Core message<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Look for the main idea behind the ad copy and voiceover. In ecommerce, for example, the message often focuses on a specific everyday problem, savings, or a discount. In iGaming, competitors’ ads may focus on a first deposit bonus, free spins, emotions around a slot win, or analysis before a match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CTA and button<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The call to action indicates the next step in the funnel. Buttons such as \u201cBuy\u201d or \u201cOrder\u201d usually lead directly to landing pages with an order form. Softer options such as \u201cLearn More\u201d or \u201cContinue\u201d are often used when traffic first goes through a prelander, quiz, or article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How long the ad has been active<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The date range helps you understand how long a campaign has been running and how long ads run before they are stopped. Active ads that appeared for only one or two days are generally less useful for research because the advertiser stopped them shortly after launch. Creatives that stay active for one or two weeks deserve more attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A longer run does not prove that an ad is profitable. It simply makes the approach more interesting as a reference for further analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When several ad variations exist, compare them carefully. Multiple versions of the same ad can show which elements the advertiser is changing, but they do not reveal which version performed best unless actual performance data is available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to Find Competitor Ads and Analyze Multiple Ads from the Same Advertiser<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The exact workflow varies from tool to tool, but in most ad intelligence platforms research starts with keywords. These may include offer names, specific health problems, everyday situations, CTA phrases, or wording used in ad copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broad searches often produce a lot of irrelevant results. To find competitors’ ads that are actually related to the campaign you are researching, narrow the search by domain or Fan Page whenever the tool allows it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Search by Page and Domain<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Once you find a relevant ad in an ad spy, copy the landing page URL or the name of the Fan Page running it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the tool, you can continue with the competitor’s brand, Fan Page, or domain. Searching for the competitor’s domain or page can reveal other creatives connected to the same advertiser and makes it easier to see how many ads are running around the same campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Creatives connected to the same advertiser<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Instead of judging one isolated creative, compare several versions from the same advertiser. If you see many near identical versions, the advertiser may be pushing the same approach into different ad sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That alone does not prove profitability, but it gives you more context than a single ad and helps you see how the campaign is structured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Follow the User Journey<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After finding the advertiser’s ads, open the destination and go through the entire funnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check where the user lands after the click. It may be a direct landing page with an order form, a news style prelander built around a story, a quiz, or another intermediate page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This helps you understand how the advertiser moves the audience from the initial ad toward the target action, such as a lead, purchase, or deposit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Analyze Split Tests<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Looking at several creatives from one advertiser can also reveal what they are testing.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Creatives’ test<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Pay attention to the individual elements being changed. The advertiser may test:<\/p>\n\n\n\n