Comparing yourself with rivals in ads: what the CAP Code asks

What rules 3.33 and 3.34 say

Rule 3.33 says that comparisons with identifiable competitors must compare products meeting the same needs or intended for the same purpose. Comparing your budget kettle with a rival's premium one, and implying they are like for like, fails at the first step.

Rule 3.34 says the comparison must objectively compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative features of those products, which may include price. Each of those words does work:

• Material and relevant: the feature should matter to a buyer, not be a technicality you happen to win on.
• Verifiable: someone else should be able to check it.
• Representative: it should reflect the normal situation, not a one-off.

Section 3 also says comparisons must not mislead, must not denigrate competitors, and must not create confusion with competitors' trade marks or names.

Keep an evidence file before the ad runs

The simplest way to stay on the right side of rule 3.34 is to gather your evidence first and write the claim second. For every comparison you plan to make, keep:

• Dated screenshots of the rival's public page showing the feature or price.
• The same for your own page, captured at the same time.
• A note of exactly which products were compared and why they meet the same need.
• A note of how often you will re-check the claim while the ad runs.

Hypothetical example: a bike shop wants to run 'Free servicing for a year, unlike [rival]'. Before it runs, it should capture the rival's current servicing terms, confirm the bikes are comparable, and set a reminder to check the rival's page while the ad is live. If the rival changes its terms, the ad must change too.

Price comparisons need extra care

Prices move. A comparison that was true when you wrote it can become misleading without you touching anything. If you compare prices, compare the same product or a clearly equivalent one, include delivery if it is part of what the customer pays, and keep the comparison current.

Our free competitor finder can help you choose which rivals are comparable before you start. If a rival offers something different enough that the comparison needs a paragraph of caveats, it is probably not a fair comparison for an ad.

Researching rivals' ads without costing them money

You do not need to click a rival's paid ads to study them, and you should not, because each click costs them money. Use the public transparency tools instead:

• The Meta Ad Library is a public, searchable library of ads running on Meta's apps. You can search by advertiser, filter by active or inactive status, and see when an ad started running.
• The Google Ads Transparency Center is a searchable repository of advertisers and the ads they have served on Google platforms, with filters for date and targeted location.

Studying how rivals already talk about themselves also helps you avoid comparisons that would create confusion with their names or marks.

When not to name the rival

Often you do not need to name anyone. 'Free delivery on every order' makes the point if most of the market charges for delivery, and it is a claim about you, which is easier to stand behind. Naming a rival brings their brand into your ad, and your audience may not have been thinking about them at all.

Save named comparisons for when the difference is large, stable and easy to verify.

A short pre-flight checklist

Before any comparative ad goes live, run through these questions with whoever wrote it:

• Are the two products or services meant for the same need?
• Is the feature we compare one a buyer would care about?
• Could a stranger check the claim using public pages, today?
• Will it still be true next month, and the month after?
• Have we described the rival accurately, without mocking them or borrowing their branding?
• Who will re-check the claim, and how often, while the ad runs?

If any answer is uncertain, rewrite the ad as a claim about yourself. Service firms in particular, such as solicitors, accountants and clinics, often have professional conduct rules of their own on top of the CAP Code, so check with your regulator or professional body before naming a competitor firm.

Next step

Before you write a comparison, check what the comparison actually shows. Our guide to reading rivals' ads explains how to use the ad libraries properly, and an Intel loop gives you a quoted, side-by-side view of your site against up to three rivals you choose. That evidence is a far better base for an ad claim than a hunch.