Google Shopping is a competitive marketplace. Multiple advertisers often bid on the same products, competing for the same customer's attention. But unlike most competitive situations, Google actually tells you who you're competing against and how you stack up—through Auction Insights.
Auction Insights is one of the most underutilized reports in Google Ads. As SEMrush notes, while most advertisers focus exclusively on their own metrics, the real strategic advantage comes from understanding the competitive landscape. Who's gaining ground? Who are you consistently beating? Where are you losing visibility to specific competitors?
This guide explains how to access and interpret Auction Insights for Shopping campaigns, what each metric means, and how to turn competitive intelligence into actionable optimization strategies. For a broader understanding of Shopping campaign metrics, see our metrics glossary.
What is Auction Insights?
Auction Insights is a Google Ads report that shows how your Shopping campaigns perform relative to other advertisers participating in the same auctions. It doesn't tell you what competitors are bidding or their exact strategies, but it reveals the outcomes: who's showing up, how often, and who's winning.
According to Google's Auction Insights documentation, the report is available for Search and Shopping campaigns and compares your performance with other advertisers who participated in the same auctions.
Key Insight
Auction Insights shows you competitors you might not know about. Many advertisers discover new or growing competitors through this report before seeing them in market research.
What Auction Insights Does and Doesn't Show
What you can see:
- Which domains are competing in the same auctions
- How often each competitor appears alongside you
- Who tends to win when you compete directly
- Relative visibility (impression share) of each competitor
What you cannot see:
- Competitor bids or budgets
- Which specific products they're advertising
- Their targeting settings or strategy
- Their conversion rates or ROAS
How to Access Auction Insights for Shopping
There are several ways to access Auction Insights in Google Ads:
Method 1: From the Campaign Level
- Navigate to your Shopping campaign
- In the left sidebar, find "Insights and reports"
- Click on "Auction insights"
Method 2: From Product Groups
- Go to your Shopping campaign
- Click on "Product groups" in the left menu
- Select one or more product groups
- Click the three-dot menu and select "Auction insights"
The product group method is particularly valuable because it lets you see competitive dynamics for specific segments of your catalog. Using custom labels to structure your product groups makes this analysis even more actionable. The competition for electronics might look very different from the competition for apparel.
Choosing the Right Date Range
Auction Insights data is more meaningful over longer periods. A single day can be noisy—look at 7, 14, or 30-day windows to identify real trends rather than daily fluctuations. Keep in mind that conversion lag also affects recent data, so factor that in when choosing date ranges.
For trend analysis, compare the same metrics across different time periods (e.g., this month vs. last month) to see if competitors are gaining or losing ground.
Understanding Auction Insights Metrics
Auction Insights provides six key metrics. Here's what each one means and how to interpret it:
Impression Share
Definition: The percentage of impressions you received out of the total impressions you were eligible for.
What it tells you: How much of the available opportunity you're capturing. A 42% impression share means you're appearing in 42% of the auctions where your products were eligible to show.
How to use it: Compare your impression share to competitors. As Google's Smart Bidding documentation explains, automated bid strategies factor in competitive signals. If a competitor has significantly higher impression share, they're either bidding more aggressively, have better quality scores, or have larger budgets. For more on improving this metric, see our impression share optimization guide.
Overlap Rate
Definition: How often a competitor's ad appeared in the same auctions where your ad appeared.
What it tells you: Who your direct competitors are. A high overlap rate (70%+) means you're frequently competing for the same searches—this competitor is targeting similar products or keywords.
How to use it: Identify your closest competitors. High-overlap competitors deserve more attention in your competitive analysis. Low-overlap competitors might be targeting different product segments or geographies.
Outranking Share
Definition: The percentage of auctions where your ad ranked higher than a competitor's ad, or where you showed and they didn't.
What it tells you: Your win rate against each competitor. An outranking share above 50% means you're beating that competitor more often than not.
How to use it: This is your head-to-head scorecard. If your outranking share is declining against a specific competitor over time, they're likely increasing bids or improving their product listings.
Outranking Share Benchmarks
- 70%+: You're dominating this competitor
- 50-70%: Healthy competitive position
- 30-50%: Competitor has an edge
- Below 30%: Competitor is significantly outperforming you
Position Above Rate
Definition: How often a competitor's ad appeared in a higher position than yours when both ads appeared in the same auction.
What it tells you: When you both show up, who tends to appear first? This is pure position competition.
How to use it: High position above rate for a competitor suggests they have stronger Ad Rank—either from higher bids or better quality. This metric is especially relevant for Shopping campaigns where position significantly impacts CTR.
Top of Page Rate
Definition: How often your ad (or a competitor's ad) appeared at the top of the search results page.
What it tells you: Overall visibility quality. Being "top of page" in Shopping usually means appearing in the main Shopping carousel rather than further down the page.
How to use it: Compare your top of page rate to competitors with similar impression share. If they have higher top of page rate, they're winning better placements even when you both appear.
Absolute Top of Page Rate
Definition: How often your ad appeared as the very first ad in the top position.
What it tells you: True top position dominance. This is the most premium real estate in Shopping results.
How to use it: If you have high impression share but low absolute top of page rate, you're showing frequently but rarely in the best position. This might indicate bid or quality issues for your most competitive products.
Competitive Analysis Strategies
1. Identify Your Key Competitors
Not all competitors in Auction Insights deserve equal attention. Focus on those with:
- High overlap rate (60%+): Direct competitors for your target audience
- Growing impression share: Competitors on the rise
- High outranking share against you: Competitors consistently beating you
Create a shortlist of 3-5 priority competitors and track their metrics monthly. Tools like Similarweb can supplement Auction Insights with broader competitive data. This focused approach is more actionable than trying to monitor every domain in the report.
2. Track Trends Over Time
Single snapshots of Auction Insights are useful, but trend analysis reveals strategic shifts:
- Rising competitor impression share: They're increasing investment—consider whether you need to respond
- Declining outranking share: A competitor is improving their position against you
- New entrants appearing: Keep an eye on new domains with significant presence
- Competitors disappearing: Opportunities to capture their former market share
Export Auction Insights data periodically and build a simple spreadsheet to track changes. As Search Engine Land has reported, tracking competitive trends over time is one of the most underutilized tactics in paid search. This historical perspective is invaluable for understanding market dynamics.
3. Segment by Product Category
Your competitive landscape likely varies by product type. Access Auction Insights at the product group level to understand category-specific competition:
- Which categories face the most competitive pressure?
- Are different competitors dominant in different categories?
- Where do you have a natural advantage vs. where are you struggling?
This segmented view helps you allocate resources strategically. You might choose to compete aggressively where you have advantages and maintain position where you're at a disadvantage. Our brand segmentation guide covers how to structure campaigns around these competitive insights.
4. Cross-Reference with Your Performance Data
Auction Insights tells you about competitive dynamics, but it doesn't tell you about profitability. Cross-reference with your own data:
- Are you beating competitors in categories with good ROAS?
- Are you losing in categories where you're still profitable?
- Does higher impression share correlate with better performance for your products?
Tools like SKU Analyzer combine Google Ads performance data with Merchant Center attributes, making it easier to identify which product segments deserve increased competitive investment based on actual profitability, not just competitive position.
Important
Winning every auction isn't the goal—profitable growth is. A competitor with 60% impression share might be losing money on every sale. Focus on winning the auctions that matter for your business.
Making Strategic Decisions from Auction Insights
When to Increase Bids
Consider increasing bids when:
- Your impression share is declining in profitable product categories
- Outranking share is dropping against a key competitor
- You have budget headroom and want to capture more volume
- A competitor has exited creating an opportunity to gain share
When to Hold Position
Maintain current bids when:
- Your ROAS is at target and volume is stable
- Competitors are aggressively overspending—let them pay premium prices
- Your impression share is adequate for your budget and goals
When to Reduce Bids or Refocus
Consider reducing investment when:
- You're paying premium prices to beat well-funded competitors in low-margin categories (learn to identify wasted ad spend)
- A category is becoming unprofitable due to competitive pressure
- Better opportunities exist in less competitive segments of your catalog
Alternative Competitive Strategies
Instead of always competing on bids, consider:
- Improve product data quality: Better titles, images, and attributes improve Quality Score and Ad Rank without higher bids
- Focus on price competitiveness: Competitive pricing improves conversion rates, making your bids more effective
- Target underserved segments: Find product niches where competition is lower
- Differentiate on non-price factors: Fast shipping, better reviews, and trust signals can improve conversion rates
Limitations of Auction Insights
While Auction Insights is valuable, understand its limitations:
Aggregate Data Only
The report shows aggregate metrics, not product-level details. You won't know which specific products a competitor is bidding on or how they segment their campaigns.
No Bid or Budget Information
You can infer relative competitive intensity, but you can't see actual bids or budgets. A competitor with high impression share might be spending 10x your budget or using much higher bids—you can't tell which.
Domain-Level Identification
Competitors are identified by display URL domain. If a competitor uses multiple domains or if multiple businesses share a marketplace domain (like Amazon sellers), the data may be misleading.
No Profitability Context
A competitor "winning" in Auction Insights might be losing money on every sale. Their aggressive bidding could be a market entry strategy, a mistake, or unsustainable. Don't assume winning means profitable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google Shopping Auction Insights?
Auction Insights is a Google Ads report that shows how your Shopping campaigns perform compared to other advertisers competing in the same auctions. It reveals metrics like impression share, overlap rate, and outranking share for your competitors, helping you understand your competitive position.
How do I access Auction Insights for Shopping campaigns?
In Google Ads, navigate to your Shopping campaign, then click on "Auction insights" in the left sidebar under "Insights and reports." You can also access it by selecting a campaign, ad group, or product group and clicking the Auction insights icon in the toolbar.
What metrics are shown in Auction Insights?
Auction Insights shows six key metrics: Impression Share (your share of available impressions), Overlap Rate (how often a competitor appeared with you), Outranking Share (how often you ranked higher), Position Above Rate (how often they appeared above you), Top of Page Rate (how often your ad appeared at the top), and Abs. Top of Page Rate (how often you appeared in the first position).
Can I see which specific products my competitors are bidding on?
No. Auction Insights shows aggregate competitive data at the campaign, ad group, or product group level, but doesn't reveal which specific products competitors are advertising. It shows overall competitive pressure, not product-level competitor intelligence.
How should I use Auction Insights to improve performance?
Use Auction Insights to identify your main competitors, track competitive trends over time, find opportunities where you're underperforming, and make informed bidding decisions. If a competitor's impression share is growing while yours shrinks, investigate their strategy. Focus on winning against competitors where the ROI makes sense, not on dominating every auction.
Conclusion
Auction Insights transforms Shopping campaign management from a solo exercise into strategic competition. By understanding who you're competing against and how you're performing relative to them, you can make smarter decisions about where to invest, where to hold, and where to find opportunities.
Key takeaways:
- Identify your key competitors: Focus on 3-5 high-overlap, high-impact competitors
- Track trends over time: Single snapshots are less valuable than trend analysis
- Segment by product category: Competitive dynamics vary across your catalog
- Cross-reference with profitability: Winning unprofitable auctions is worse than losing them (see our ROAS guide for calculating profitability)
- Don't obsess over dominance: Strategic, profitable competition beats blanket aggression
Used correctly, Auction Insights provides the competitive context you need to optimize Shopping campaigns strategically rather than in isolation.