Why is data in Advertising Research different from what I have in Google Ads?

Remember, Semrush is complementary to your Google Ads or Google Analytics data. The Paid Traffic numbers you see in the Domain Overview or Advertising Research reports are not intended to tell you how much you are spending on Google Ads - you should use your internal analytics for that.

Instead, these numbers are intended to give you a benchmark for comparing your site’s advertising to a competitor’s or multiple competitors side by side.

These numbers are calculated using average click through rates and positioning the domain has in the top 8 paid positions on Google Ads for the keywords that we have in our database. These positions are based on national level data, not local level data.

Data in Advertising Research might differ from what you see in your Google Ads because we do not gather data on ads from campaigns that are…

• Running only on the local level
• Shown on a particular time of day that does not correspond with our update time
• Triggered by keywords we do not have in our database

• If the ads target a special audience with different filters by ages, interests, and so on, it is possible that we won’t capture data on these ads either.

Because Google’s SERPs for paid ads can be highly volatile and change multiple times throughout the day, it is impossible for any company to gather all of this data perfectly. That’s why our advertising research solution, with consistent data collection on the top 8 paid ads, offers the closest look you can get at your competitors' advertising.