Auction Insights is one of the most useful competitive intelligence tools in Google Ads, and most store owners either do not know it exists or look at it without knowing what to do with the data.
The report answers a question that matters for every account: are you losing ground to competitors, and if so, where and why?
Where to Find Auction Insights
Auction Insights is available at three levels: campaign, ad group, and keyword. Navigate to the level you want to analyze, then click the blue Auction Insights button above the data table.
For Shopping campaigns, Auction Insights is available at the campaign level and shows competitor domains. For Search campaigns, it is available at campaign, ad group, and keyword level.
The report is only available for time periods and campaigns with sufficient impression data — you need a meaningful volume of impressions for the data to appear.
What Each Metric Means
Impression Share
Your impression share is the percentage of eligible auctions where your ad actually showed. If your impression share is 45%, your ad showed in 45% of the auctions where it was eligible to compete.
This is not a percentage of all possible auctions — it is a percentage of auctions where Google determined your ad was eligible based on your targeting, bid, and quality signals. A 45% impression share means you won roughly half the auctions you were eligible for.
Higher impression share generally means more aggressive bidding, higher quality, or larger budget. But impression share is not a goal in itself — you want the impression share that maximizes profitable conversions, which is different from maximum impression share.
Lost Impression Share (Rank)
The percentage of eligible auctions where your ad did not show because your bid or quality was too low. This is the most actionable metric in the impression share family — it tells you that competitive bid pressure or quality issues are limiting your visibility.
Lost Impression Share (Budget)
The percentage of eligible auctions where your ad did not show because your daily budget ran out. If this number is significant (above 10-15%), you are losing auctions not because of competition but because you exhausted your budget before the day ended. Increasing budget is the fix.
Overlap Rate
How often a competitor’s ad showed at the same time as yours. An overlap rate of 60% with a specific competitor means that in 60% of auctions where your ad showed, that competitor’s ad also showed.
High overlap rate with a competitor does not mean you should respond. It means you are competing in the same auctions. What matters is whether your position relative to them is acceptable.
Outranking Share
The percentage of auctions where your ad ranked higher than a specific competitor’s ad, or where your ad showed and theirs did not. A 40% outranking share against a competitor means you ranked above them in 40% of the auctions where you both competed.
This metric is particularly useful for understanding your competitive position relative to a specific rival. If your outranking share against your main competitor is 30% and declining, that competitor is bidding more aggressively or improving quality relative to you.
Position Above Rate
How often a competitor’s ad showed in a higher position than yours when both ads appeared. A position above rate of 65% for a competitor means they showed above you in 65% of the auctions where you both appeared.
Top of Page Rate
The percentage of your impressions where your ad appeared at the top of the search results page (above organic results). This is relevant for Search campaigns. Higher top-of-page rate generally correlates with higher CTR.
Absolute Top of Page Rate
The percentage of your impressions in the very first ad position. For high-purchase-intent keywords, this position often has materially higher CTR than positions 2-4.
How to Read Auction Insights for Shopping vs. Search
Shopping Auction Insights shows competitor domains (e.g., competitor.com appeared in your auctions). It does not show you their specific keywords or ads. The metrics tell you how often you are competing with specific retailers and who ranks above you more often.
Use Shopping Auction Insights to monitor the competitive landscape in your product category. If a new competitor appears with high overlap rate and high position-above rate, they have entered your market aggressively. If an existing competitor’s overlap rate drops significantly, they may have reduced budget or paused campaigns.
Search Auction Insights is more granular — you can view it at the keyword level. This lets you understand competition for specific, high-value queries separately from broader match traffic.
For a branded keyword, your outranking share should be near 100%. If it is not, someone is consistently beating you on your own brand terms — fix your brand campaign bidding.
For non-brand keywords, the competitive picture tells you whether your impression share loss is competitive (Lost IS Rank) or budget-based (Lost IS Budget). These require different responses.
When to Respond to a Competitive Threat
Not every change in Auction Insights data warrants action. Here is when to respond and when to hold steady:
Respond when: A competitor’s position above rate against you increases significantly (10+ percentage points) over 2-4 weeks, AND your conversion volume or impression share has declined noticeably. This is evidence that competitive pressure is actively costing you traffic and revenue.
Response options: Improve bid (raise tROAS ceiling or increase manual bids), improve Quality Score through better ad relevance and landing page experience, or accept the position change if the competitor is buying their position at a CPA that is not profitable for you.
Respond when: Lost Impression Share (Budget) is above 15-20% during peak hours. You are running out of budget before capturing available demand. Increase budget or shift budget timing toward your peak conversion hours.
Hold steady when: A new competitor appears with high overlap rate but your own conversion rate and ROAS are unchanged. Their presence in the auction does not necessarily mean you are losing — they may be paying above-market CPCs to establish presence, which is not sustainable. Monitor for 4-6 weeks before adjusting your own bidding.
Hold steady when: Your outranking share declines but your conversion volume and ROAS remain stable. Position is not the goal — profitable conversions are. If you are winning fewer auctions but the auctions you win are still profitable, the change in competitive position is not a problem.
Hold steady when: A competitor appears on your branded keywords but your brand impression share remains above 85-90%. Their presence is noted but your brand coverage is not meaningfully threatened.
Using Impression Share as a Bidding Signal
Impression Share metrics are particularly useful for diagnosing whether a performance problem is competitive or structural.
If your campaign ROAS declined and you see:
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High Lost IS (Budget): You are running out of budget before the day ends. Performance is declining because you are missing auctions during peak hours. Fix: increase budget or adjust bid schedule.
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High Lost IS (Rank): You are losing auctions to competitors or your own quality signals declined. Fix: investigate Quality Score for Search, or feed quality for Shopping. Consider raising bids if quality is already strong.
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Both Lost IS metrics low but ROAS still declined: The problem is not impression share — it is conversion rate or conversion value on the traffic you are already capturing. This points to a landing page, product, or pricing issue rather than a bidding or competitive issue.
Target Impression Share as a Bid Strategy
For Search campaigns where competitive visibility on specific queries is important, Target Impression Share is a bid strategy option that directly uses Auction Insights data as the optimization target.
You set a target (e.g., 65% impression share) and a maximum CPC cap. Google sets bids to achieve that impression share percentage.
This strategy is useful for brand campaigns (where you want high but not necessarily 100% impression share) and for specific high-value non-brand queries where maintaining competitive presence is a priority.
It is not a good fit as your primary bid strategy for Shopping or PMax — those should be optimizing toward conversion value, not position. But for targeted Search campaigns with competitive visibility objectives, it is a legitimate choice.
The Practical Audit Cadence
Check Auction Insights monthly for your most important campaigns. Look for:
- New competitors that have entered your auction space with significant overlap
- Meaningful changes in your outranking share against established competitors
- Impression share trends over time — gradual erosion often signals a quality or bid pressure issue that is worth investigating before it affects conversion volume significantly
Auction Insights is a directional tool. It tells you the competitive context around your campaigns, which helps you interpret performance changes that otherwise look mysterious. A 15% impression share decline combined with a new competitor showing 70% position-above rate is a different problem than a 15% impression share decline with no competitive change — and it requires a different response.
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