Google Ads has introduced a new feature called Spend Benchmarks. It shows the average weekly spend of other advertisers from a similar niche and GEO, as well as how many clicks they receive on average over the same period.
Your own campaign statistics for the week are displayed next to it. However, you cannot see the spend of a specific advertiser. Google only shows the average spend and number of clicks for those it uses for comparison.
The launch of Spend Benchmarks became known on September 16 thanks to PPC specialist Thomas Eccel. He discovered the new feature in his Google Ads account and wrote about it in an article for Search Engine Land.
Google has not separately announced the update yet, so it is unknown how widely it has already been rolled out.
How Spend Benchmarks works
Spend Benchmarks compares statistics for the past week. The media buyer sees their own spend and clicks, and next to them the average spend and clicks of other advertisers.
In Thomas Eccel’s account, where Spend Benchmarks was first discovered, €284 was spent over the week and 912 clicks were received. The new feature compared these statistics with the average data of other advertisers. Their spend over the same period was €268, while the number of clicks was 765.
That means that with almost the same spend, Thomas Eccel’s campaign received 147 more clicks. This is what Spend Benchmarks is based on: the media buyer sees their own weekly result and the average result of other advertisers with comparable spending.
Who Google compares the data with
For Spend Benchmarks, Google selects advertisers itself. Judging by the feature description, the niche and GEO where the traffic is being run are taken into account.
You cannot see exactly who is being used for comparison. Google also does not specify how many advertisers are included when calculating the average spend and number of clicks.
Therefore, Spend Benchmarks cannot be used to find out the spending of a specific competitor. Only the average spend across all advertisers Google used for comparison is available.
Why media buyers need Spend Benchmarks
The main benefit of Spend Benchmarks is that you can now compare your own spend with the average of other advertisers from the same niche and GEO. Previously, Google Ads did not show this data.
For example, suppose a campaign spends $1000 per week, while the average spend in Spend Benchmarks is $2000. The media buyer can immediately see how much their volumes differ from those Google compares their statistics with.
Spend alone is not enough for this kind of comparison, so Google also shows clicks alongside it. If spending is roughly the same, you can see whether there is a difference in the amount of traffic received.
Spend Benchmarks does not currently show more detailed statistics. You cannot find out the spend of a specific advertiser or see how their budget is distributed between campaigns. The feature is more intended for a general assessment of volumes in your niche and GEO.
