If you’ve ever tried to keep tabs on your competitors’ ads, you know it’s a bit like playing digital whack-a-mole. One minute you spot a rival’s Facebook campaign, the next you’re knee-deep in Google Ads, and before you know it, LinkedIn’s got a whole new batch of sponsored posts. With global ad spending pushing , the stakes have never been higher. For sales and marketing teams, being able to view competitor ads isn’t just a “nice-to-have”—it’s mission critical for staying relevant, agile, and, frankly, in business.
But let’s be honest: the old way of tracking competitor ads—manual searches, endless screenshots, and juggling a dozen ad libraries—feels like trying to herd cats. That’s why I’m excited to share how , our AI-powered web scraper, is making this process not just bearable, but actually enjoyable (and dare I say, a little fun). Whether you’re a marketer, sales pro, or just a curious competitor, I’ll walk you through how Thunderbit helps you view, analyze, and act on competitor ads across platforms—no code, no headaches, just results.
What Does It Mean to View Competitor Ads?
“Viewing competitor ads” in digital marketing isn’t just about catching a glimpse of a rival’s latest banner. It’s about systematically finding, collecting, and analyzing the full spectrum of advertising content your competitors are running—across Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and beyond. This means looking at:
- Ad copy and messaging: What are they saying? Which pain points or value props are they hammering home?
- Visual creatives: Are they using slick studio shots, user-generated content, or meme-worthy GIFs?
- Calls-to-Action (CTA): Are they pushing “Buy Now,” “Learn More,” or something more subtle?
- Ad formats and platforms: Are they betting big on video, text, or carousel ads? Which platforms are they prioritizing?
- (Inferred) Targeting and timing: While you can’t always see their exact audience settings, you can infer a lot from where and how their ads appear.
The real goal? Inspiration, benchmarking, and strategic adjustment. You want to know what’s working for your competitors, spot gaps in the market, and adjust your own campaigns to outshine (or outmaneuver) the rest.
Why Viewing Competitor Ads Matters for Your Business
Let’s cut to the chase: competitor ad analysis isn’t just for the nosy or the paranoid—it’s a proven way to boost your own performance. Here’s how different teams benefit:
| Use Case | Benefit of Competitor Ad Insights |
|---|---|
| Messaging Improvement | See which slogans, offers, and pain points resonate—refine your own copy for better engagement. |
| Lead Generation Tactics | Discover what magnets or promos competitors use to attract leads—adjust your offers accordingly. |
| Channel Allocation | Spot where competitors focus their ad spend—find new channels or defend your turf. |
| Product Positioning | Learn how competitors highlight features or pricing—adapt your marketing to stand out. |
| Benchmarking & KPIs | Use competitor ad activity as a benchmark for your own creative testing and cadence. |
| Strategic Planning | Integrate competitor findings into campaign calendars and product launch timing. |
Real-world example: One marketing data scientist put it best—“A competitor’s ad text is like getting a free summary of their customer research.” If all your rivals are shouting about “free shipping” or “24/7 support,” you’d better believe those perks matter to your audience. And if you spot a competitor ramping up TikTok ads while ignoring Google Search, that’s a signal about where they see growth (and maybe where you should, too).
Traditional Ways to View Competitor Ads: Challenges and Limitations
Before tools like Thunderbit, most teams relied on a Frankenstein’s monster of manual methods and scattered tools:
- Ad Library Tools: Facebook’s , Google’s , LinkedIn’s Ads tab, and TikTok’s Creative Center. These are free and official, but only show active ads (no history), lack performance data, and force you to check each platform separately.
- Manual Searches & Retargeting: Googling keywords, following competitors on social, hoping to get retargeted by their ads. Incomplete, inconsistent, and you only see what’s targeted to you.
- Third-Party Tools: Platforms like SEMrush or SpyFu for Google PPC, or Moat for display ads. Powerful, but often expensive, complex, and still siloed by channel.
- Screenshots & Spreadsheets: The old “screenshot and log it in Excel” trick. It works—if you have infinite time and a love for chaos.
Here’s how these methods stack up:
| Aspect | Traditional Methods | Thunderbit AI-Powered Scraping |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | Multiple tools, technical steps, manual labor | No code, natural language, point-and-click simplicity |
| Setup & Speed | Hours to days for each competitor/platform | Ready in minutes; AI suggests what to extract instantly |
| Data Consolidation | Fragmented, requires manual merging | Unified, structured output for all platforms |
| Depth of Insight | Limited; no performance context, no built-in analysis | AI-powered summaries, categorization, and translation on the fly |
| Scalability | Hard to scale across many competitors or frequent checks | Cloud scraping handles 50+ pages at once; scheduled scrapes keep data fresh |
| Maintenance & Cost | “Free” but labor-intensive, or expensive for enterprise tools | Freemium model, affordable paid plans, saves hours of manual work |
In short, traditional competitor ad monitoring is inconsistent, incomplete, and inefficient. Marketers often spend hours “manually sorting saved ads” only to end up with a folder full of screenshots and no actionable insights.
Introducing Thunderbit: The Easy Way to View Competitor Ads
This is where comes in. Thunderbit is an AI-powered web scraper Chrome Extension designed for non-technical users—think marketers, sales ops, and product managers who want results, not headaches.
What makes Thunderbit different?
- No-Code, Natural Language Interface: Just describe what you want (“Ad Text,” “Image URL,” “CTA”) and Thunderbit’s AI figures out the rest.
- AI Suggest Fields: Click one button and Thunderbit scans the page, suggesting the most relevant columns to extract.
- Cross-Platform Support: Scrape Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more—all with the same tool.
- Subpage & Pagination Scraping: Automatically gather ads from multiple pages, campaign variants, or even landing pages.
- Instant Export: Send structured data straight to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, or Notion—free and unlimited.
- AI Data Enhancement: Summarize, categorize, or translate ad content as you scrape, turning raw data into actionable insights.
With Thunderbit, you can go from “I wonder what my competitors are running this week?” to a fully structured, shareable ad report in minutes.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to View Competitor Ads with Thunderbit
Let’s get hands-on. Here’s how to use Thunderbit to view, analyze, and share competitor ads—no coding, no fuss.
Step 1: Install and Set Up Thunderbit
- Sign Up: Head to and create a free account. You’ll get free credits to try out scraping right away.
- Install the Chrome Extension: Download from the . It takes about 30 seconds.
- Log In: Click the Thunderbit icon in your browser, log in, and you’re ready to roll.
Thunderbit’s interface is designed to be intuitive—if you can use a browser and a spreadsheet, you can use Thunderbit.
Step 2: Identify Competitor Ad Pages or Platforms
Decide where you want to gather competitor ads from. The big hitters:
- Facebook/Instagram: Use the —search by competitor’s page name.
- Google Ads: Visit the and search for your competitor.
- LinkedIn: Go to the competitor’s LinkedIn company page and look for the “Ads” tab (if available).
- TikTok: Check the for top ads by industry or brand.
Open the relevant page in Chrome. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can scrape multiple platforms and consolidate the data later.
Step 3: Use AI Suggest Fields to Extract Ad Data
Now for the magic:
- Open Thunderbit on the Ad Page: Click the Thunderbit icon while viewing your competitor’s ad listing.
- Click “AI Suggest Fields”: Thunderbit’s AI scans the page and suggests columns like “Ad Text,” “Image URL,” “CTA,” “Active Since,” and more.
- Customize as Needed: Add or remove columns, tweak data types, or add custom AI prompts (e.g., “Summarize the main offer in this ad” or “Categorize ad tone as urgent, casual, or professional”).
You can even add AI-powered fields for instant summaries, sentiment analysis, or inferred audience targeting. Thunderbit’s AI does the heavy lifting—no need to mess with HTML or write scripts.
Step 4: Scrape Subpages for Comprehensive Ad Coverage
Competitor ads often sprawl across multiple pages or have detail/landing pages. Thunderbit’s subpage scraping makes sure you don’t miss a thing:
- Pagination: Enable auto-scroll or pagination so Thunderbit captures every ad, not just the first batch.
- Subpage Scraping: If each ad has a “details” or “landing page” link, Thunderbit can follow those links and extract additional info (like landing page headlines or offers).
- Multi-Platform: Scrape different platforms in parallel—Thunderbit’s cloud mode can handle up to 50 pages at once.
This means you can gather hundreds of ads, including variants and landing pages, in one go—something that’s nearly impossible by hand.
Step 5: Export and Share Competitor Ad Reports
Once you’ve scraped the data:
- Export: Click “Export” and choose your format—Excel, CSV, Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion, or JSON.
- Collaborate: Share the Google Sheet or Notion database with your team. Add notes, highlight trends, or build dashboards.
- Schedule Updates: Use Thunderbit’s to automate weekly or daily scrapes, keeping your reports fresh and your team in the loop.
Now your competitor ad insights are structured, searchable, and ready for action—no more lost screenshots or forgotten folders.
Thunderbit vs. Traditional Methods: A Side-by-Side Comparison
Here’s a quick look at how Thunderbit stacks up against the old-school ways:
| Aspect | Traditional Methods | Thunderbit AI-Powered Scraping |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | Manual, multi-tool, technical | No code, natural language, intuitive |
| Speed | Hours to days per competitor/platform | Minutes, with AI field suggestion and cloud scraping |
| Data Consolidation | Fragmented, manual merging | Unified, structured, cross-platform |
| Insight | Limited, no built-in analysis | AI summaries, categorization, translation |
| Scalability | Hard to scale, labor-intensive | Cloud scraping, scheduled updates, handles 50+ pages at once |
| Cost | “Free” but high labor, or expensive tools | Free tier, affordable paid plans, unlimited exports |
Thunderbit turns competitor ad monitoring from a chore into a strategic advantage.
How Thunderbit Handles Cross-Platform and Complex Ad Campaigns
Modern ad campaigns rarely stick to just one channel. Thunderbit is built for the real world, where your competitors are running:
- Facebook video ads for brand awareness
- Google search ads for bottom-funnel intent
- LinkedIn sponsored posts for B2B lead gen
- TikTok or YouTube for the next viral push
Thunderbit lets you:
- Scrape any platform: Use the same workflow for Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more.
- Unify your data: Standardize columns (e.g., “Platform,” “Ad Text,” “CTA”) for apples-to-apples comparisons.
- Parallel processing: Scrape multiple platforms at once, then export to a single Google Sheet or Notion database.
- Handle variants: Capture all ad variations, A/B tests, and landing pages for a complete view.
This means you can finally get a 360-degree view of your competitors’ ad strategies—without losing your mind (or your weekend).
Leveraging AI to Analyze and Summarize Competitor Ads
Collecting ads is just the start. Thunderbit’s AI features help you turn raw data into actionable insights:
- Automatic Summaries: Add a “Summary” column and let AI condense each ad’s message into a single, scannable sentence.
- Categorization: Tag ads by theme (“Discount,” “Feature Launch,” “Branding”), sentiment, or urgency with custom AI prompts.
- Highlight Key Elements: Extract offers (“20% off”), CTAs, or even implied target audiences (“New moms,” “IT pros”) automatically.
- Translation: If you’re scraping ads in other languages, Thunderbit can translate them on the fly—no separate tools needed.
This is like having a junior analyst who reads every ad, summarizes the key points, and organizes them for you—instantly.
Having a pile of competitor ads is great, but the real value comes from using those insights to drive your strategy. Here’s how to make it happen:
- Regular Review Meetings: Share Thunderbit reports with your team monthly or quarterly. Discuss trends, new offers, and messaging shifts.
- Campaign Planning: Use competitor ad data as a reference when launching new campaigns—see what’s working (and what’s not) in your space.
- Creative Benchmarking: Build a “swipe file” of competitor creatives and copy to inspire your own ads (or to intentionally differentiate).
- Channel Decisions: Spot new channels your competitors are betting on—or gaps you can exploit.
- Sales Enablement: Arm your sales team with up-to-date competitor offers and messaging for better conversations with prospects.
- Product Feedback: If competitors are pushing features you lack, consider prioritizing them—or double down on your unique strengths.
- Automate & Iterate: Use scheduled scrapes to keep your insights fresh and spot shifts in real time.
The key is to make competitor ad analysis a living, breathing part of your marketing and sales workflow—not just a one-off project.
Conclusion & Key Takeaways
Let’s bring it home. Here’s why Thunderbit is the best way to view competitor ads in 2025:
- Ridiculously easy to use: No code, no templates, just describe what you want and let the AI do the rest.
- Cross-platform power: Scrape Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more—all in one workflow.
- AI-driven insights: Summarize, categorize, and translate ad content as you scrape, turning data into strategy.
- Instant export & sharing: Move data straight to Excel, Google Sheets, Notion, or Airtable—free and unlimited.
- Scalable & up-to-date: Cloud scraping and scheduled runs keep your reports fresh and your team ahead of the curve.
In a world where digital ad budgets are soaring and the competition never sleeps, having a tool like Thunderbit isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity for any team that wants to stay sharp, agile, and a step ahead.
Curious to see how Thunderbit can transform your competitor ad analysis? , give it a spin on your top competitors, and see what insights you uncover. And for more tips, guides, and deep dives into web scraping and marketing intelligence, check out the .
Happy scraping—and may your competitors’ secrets be just a click away.
FAQs
1. Can Thunderbit really scrape ads from multiple platforms at once?
Yes! Thunderbit can be used on Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more. You can run scrapes on each platform and export the data into a single, unified report for cross-channel analysis.
2. Do I need to know how to code to use Thunderbit for competitor ad analysis?
Not at all. Thunderbit is built for non-technical users. Just use the Chrome Extension, describe the data you want, and let the AI handle the rest.
3. How does Thunderbit’s AI help with analyzing competitor ads?
Thunderbit’s AI can automatically summarize ad copy, categorize ads by theme or sentiment, and even translate content. You can add custom AI prompts to extract deeper insights as you scrape.
4. Can I schedule regular competitor ad reports with Thunderbit?
Absolutely. Thunderbit’s Scheduled Scraper feature lets you automate scrapes daily, weekly, or on any schedule you choose. Your reports stay up-to-date without manual effort.
5. Is Thunderbit free to use for competitor ad monitoring?
Thunderbit offers a generous free tier (scrape up to 6 pages, or 10 with a trial boost), with unlimited free exports to Excel, Google Sheets, Notion, and more. Paid plans are available for higher-volume needs.
Ready to level up your competitor ad intelligence? and see what you’ve been missing.