Budget band
An estimated monthly paid-search budget, shown as a band with its basis.
Report section · paid search
Is your rival paying for search, and roughly how much?
For each firm in Intel loops for local services we read SpyFu's paid-search data: an estimated monthly budget, shown as a wide band, and the keywords they bid on. Every estimate carries the label "estimated".
Live Live inside Intel loops for local services. The standalone tool page shows a sample while its own runner is fitted.
- Third-party paid-search data, UK
- SpyFu
- Source: src/lib/connectors/spyfu.ts · checked 2026-10-13
- Shown with the basis it was worked from
- A band, not a number
- Source: src/lib/connectors/spyfu.ts · checked 2026-10-13
- Never presented as measured
- Labelled estimated
- Source: src/lib/mirror/schema.ts · checked 2026-10-13
What it is
What it is, and how it works.
An estimated band for a rival's monthly paid-search budget and the keywords they bid on, from SpyFu's data, shown inside Intel loops for local services and labelled as an estimate.
A rival paying heavily for search ads needs a different answer from one that is not. You cannot see their ad account. Third-party data gives a sense of scale, and this section shows it as a band, with its basis.
Inside Intel loops for local services, we look up each firm's domain in SpyFu's UK data. SpyFu publishes an estimated monthly ad budget and the paid keywords it has seen a domain bid on. We convert the budget into pounds at a fixed rate and show it as a wide band around SpyFu's figure, with a line saying how the band was worked out, rather than as a single number that would look more precise than it is.
Next to the band you see the paid keywords, which are often more useful than the budget: they show which searches a rival thinks are worth paying for.
The standalone tool page at /tools/ad-spend shows a worked sample today while its own runner is being fitted; the live figures come from an Intel loop. Either way, the figure is a third-party estimate. It can be wrong in either direction, including well outside the band.
Who it is for
- Local firms wondering whether rivals are buying search traffic
- Owners deciding whether to start or stop paid search
- Anyone wanting the keywords rivals think are worth paying for
What it does
What it reads, and what you see.
Paid keywords
The search terms SpyFu has seen the rival bid on.
Side by side
You and three rivals, next to reviews and organic rankings.
By hand, or with it
The same job, two ways.
By hand
- Search your own terms and count the ads
- Guess a rival's spend from how often you see them
- Not know which keywords they pay for
- Mistake a guess for a fact
With Ad-spend estimate
- A budget band from third-party data
- The paid keywords listed
- Every figure labelled as an estimate
- Context next to reviews and rankings
What you walk away with
What you keep.
A sense of scale
Whether each rival's paid search is negligible, moderate or heavy.
A keyword list
The searches rivals are paying to appear for.
A label on every estimate
Every estimate marked, with how it was worked out.
A decision input
One piece of evidence for whether paid search is worth it for you.
How it works
Three steps.
Run an Intel loop
Enter your site and area, and pick three rivals.
We look up each domain
SpyFu's UK paid-search data for each firm.
Read the paid channel
Budget band and keywords, labelled estimated.
Limits
What it does not do.
- It is a third-party estimate, not the rival's real spend, and can be wrong by a wide margin.
- SpyFu reports in dollars; we convert at a fixed rate, which adds its own error.
- It covers paid search only. Social ads, display and marketplaces are not included.
- Smaller advertisers may not appear in the data at all.
Price
Run an Intel loopPart of Intel loops for local services, which is free.
FAQ
Ad-spend estimate: questions
How accurate is it?
It is an estimate from third-party data, which is why it is shown as a band. A rival's real spend can fall outside the band. Use it for scale, not for a precise figure.
Can I look up any domain on its own?
The standalone tool page shows a sample while its own runner is fitted. Today the live figures run inside Intel loops for local services.
Does it cover social ads?
No. It covers paid search. A competitor ad watch covering public ad libraries is in build and being validated.
Where does the data come from?
SpyFu's UK data for each domain, read by our engine.
Run it on your own business.
Live inside Intel loops for local services. The standalone tool page shows a sample while its own runner is fitted.