Targeting your ad to a competitor's brand is a common practice. Although some may consider this immoral, from a marketing point of view it is an interesting way to get new clients. However, everything has its own rules and it is not always worthwhile to target advertising on a competitor's brand. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of such advertising and when should it be avoided?
Advantages of targeting advertising to the competition
The article was revised and updated in May 2026.
1. Competitive offer
The competition is really tough, especially if someone has been selling the same product or service as you for a long time and has built up a strong client base. However, it is not always the case that the offer of a larger and more seasoned company is more advantageous for the customer. You can use this in your advertising. If you really have an advantage over your competition and can attract new customers to it, try it. However, it must be an action that will force them to change their decision. Think about the fact that the customer has just entered your competitor's brand into Google.
2. Lower competition for the given keyword
It is very likely that only two people will target the keyword (in this case, the brand of a competing company) - you and the company in question. Sometimes it can happen that the company does not use brand advertising, and so you will be the only ones targeting their brand. In that case, you won't have any competition in AdWords, and thus the click-through rate will increase and their price will decrease.
3. Product Comparison
A direct product comparison is often used when targeting ads to a competing brand. You can entice customers to lower prices, but also higher quality, more functions, or a longer warranty. However, this type of advertising is mostly used only if the competition sells only one type of product (e.g. shoes, books, tires, etc.).
4. Increasing brand awareness
The goal of this type of advertising does not have to be only direct sales. You can properly introduce yourself to your competitor's customers and show them that there is an alternative on the market for the products and services they are looking for. You will thus build awareness of your brand.
5. Advantageous targeting of typos and selected keywords
It happens to each of us (regularly) that he makes a typo in the search. You can take advantage of this and target your advertising to "typs" in the competitor's brand. It is very likely that the competition for ads on such keywords will be very low. It is also advantageous to target selected keywords, such as "complaint" or "cancellation of the contract" in connection with the brand of a competing company. A client dissatisfied with your competition is an ideal target group for your advertising.
Disadvantages of targeting your ad to competitors
1. Low efficiency and higher costs
It is extremely difficult to convince a customer to change his preferences and prefer you over the company he was initially looking for. In some cases, this type of advertising can be very costly and ineffective. Especially if you decide to target advertising at too strong competition, which has a much higher advertising budget than you or has many times more satisfied clients.
2. Demanding executive
Finding competition and keywords to target your ad is not an easy task at all. The target should be companies that have the same or smaller advertising budget and realistically have some disadvantage compared to you. In some cases, your ad can end up being a complete fiasco, so a lot of testing and optimization is necessary. Sometimes it is therefore worthwhile to focus on advertising your own products and general keywords and not unnecessarily provoke the competition.
3. Inability to target dynamic words
When creating an advertisement of this type, you cannot use the so-called DKI (Dynamic Keyword Insertion). This is a function that replaces part of the text in your advertisement directly with the search term. But since it is a search term competitor's brand, when placed in your ad, it would directly violate the terms of AdWords advertising set by Google.
4. Necessity of a comprehensive marketing campaign
We definitely do not recommend that you use competitive advertising as your only type of PPC advertising. Consider it more like a supplement, a bonus to your main advertising campaign. It is important that you also attract customers in the form of remarketing or a special landing page that describes your advantages over the competition. If you don't have the budget for it, start with a simpler form of advertising.
5. Immorality and legal aspects
Advertising targeted at your competitor's brand is your public declaration of war. From an ethical point of view, this type of advertising may not be understood by your (potential) clients. And he definitely won't find understanding even with your competitor. There are also known cases from Slovakia and the Czech Republic where this type of advertising culminated in a lawsuit. Therefore, when creating an ad, think about its neutral processing.
Veríme, že ste si urobili komplexný názor na to, aké výhody a nevýhody ponúka reklama cielená na značku konkurenta. Ide o netypickú formu inzercie, ktorá si vyžaduje naozaj hĺbkovú analýzu a prehodnotenie rizík. Ak sa však rozhodnete takýto typ reklamy vyskúšať, prípadne máte záujem o akúkoľvek inú formu online reklamy, neváhajte nás kontaktovať. A neprehliadnite ani naše ďalšie články.
