12 Best PPC Tools for Research, Automation, and More

Pay-per-click (PPC) ads drive results quickly.

But you need the best pay-per-click tools to implement an effective strategy and achieve a high return.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the best PPC tools for running successful ad campaigns.

But first, some quick background.

PPC tools are software applications that help marketers create, manage, analyze, and optimize their pay-per-click advertising campaigns. 

Like Google search ads:

Different PPC tools can specialize in various aspects of running an ad campaign, including:

• Keyword research: Identifying the most effective keywords for your ads
• Competitive analysis: Understanding your competitors’ strategies
• Ad creation: Designing compelling ad content
• Campaign management: Overseeing, adjusting, and optimizing your ad campaigns
• Automation: Using software to automatically handle certain tasks (e.g., bidding)
• Performance tracking: Monitoring your ads’ success

PPC marketing tools streamline the process of running pay-per-click ads. Making it more efficient and effective. 

Here are some of the specific reasons why they’re important:

• They automate complex tasks to save you time and minimize errors
• They provide insights into market trends and competitors’ strategies
• They help you create and manage campaigns more efficiently
• They enable real-time performance tracking, so you can make adjustments for better results
• They help you better manage your budget

Note: Not every PPC tool offers all of these benefits.

There are tons of different pay-per-click tools.

We’ve listed these PPC marketing tools under two broad categories:

1. Google-Focused PPC Tools

2. Amazon-Focused PPC Tools

Note: Many advertising platforms have the pay-per-click pricing model. Like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bing. In this guide, we will focus on PPC tools designed for Google and Amazon.

These PPC tools allow you to maximize the effectiveness of your Google PPC ads.

They offer features for keyword discovery, competitive analysis, ad creation, bid management, detailed analytics, and more.

Here are some of the most popular Google PPC tools:

1. Advertising Research

Semrush’s Advertising Research tool allows you to analyze your competitors’ Google ad strategies.

It provides insight into your competitors’ ad keywords and ad copy.

Open the tool, enter the domain of the competitor you want to research, and click “Search.” 

You’ll then see an overview of that competitor’s total number of paid keywords driving users to their site, their estimated traffic from paid search, and their estimated traffic cost in the “Positions” tab.

Next, go to the “Ads Copies” tab. To see your competitors’ actual ad copy and the corresponding keywords.

You can also change the date to see campaigns that were run in previous months. The tool allows you to access historical data dating back to 2012.

Advertising Research also lets you see how your competitors’ paid search rankings have changed over time, who else is bidding on those keywords (meaning who is willing to pay a certain amount for those keywords to target in their ads), and the landing pages your competitors’ ads were driving traffic to. 

These insights can help you shape and refine your own PPC campaigns. 

Key Features of Advertising Research

• Budget and traffic estimates: Evaluate your competitors’ advertising costs and traffic to understand their PPC investment and results.
• Historical data: Access and analyze historical data to track your competitors’ advertising strategies over time.
• Ad copy analysis: Break down your competitors’ ad copy to understand their messaging strategy.
• Keyword analysis: Find out which keywords your competitors are using and gain an understanding of their keyword strategy and its effectiveness.

Pricing

You can sign up for a free account to get limited access. Paid plans start at $129.95 per month (save up to 17% by choosing annual billing). Which includes the entire suite of 55+ tools. 

You can also check out our full pricing details.

2. Keyword Magic Tool 

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool provides keyword suggestions (ideas for new keywords you could target). And additional information such as:

• Monthly search volume: The estimated number of searches for a particular keyword in a month.
• Competitive density: An estimate of the level of competition in Google Ads for a particular keyword.
• Cost per click (CPC): The average amount an advertiser pays for a click on their ad.

It helps you manage, optimize, and expand your keyword lists to use in PPC campaigns.

You can identify cost-effective keywords, understand their search intent (the reason behind searchers’ queries), and analyze their search trends.

Open the tool, enter your seed keyword (a broad search term related to your business) into the search bar, choose a country, and click “Search.”

You’ll see a list of keywords. Use the match modifiers (highlighted below) and filters to refine your results.

Select relevant keywords by checking the boxes and then clicking “+ Add to keyword list” to export them to Keyword Manager.

Keyword Manager stores all your keywords in one place. And allows you to generate keyword clusters, sort clusters in a mind map, and refresh metrics in real-time.

Note: You can also export your keywords list into a CSV, XLSX, or CSV file.

Key Features of Keyword Magic Tool

• Vast keyword database: Draw from a database of over 25 billion keywords to find the best keywords for your campaigns.
• Export and integration: Export your selected keywords to Keyword Manager or as CSV and XLSX files for seamless integration with your existing processes.
• Advanced filtering: Use advanced filters to sort by search volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, competitive density, and more.
• Keyword grouping: Explore keyword groups and subgroups to find more specific and relevant terms (see the screenshot below).

Further reading: Advanced Keyword Research with Semrush (ft. Keyword Magic Tool)

Pricing

You can sign up for a free account to get limited access. Paid plans start at $129.95 per month (save up to 17% by choosing annual billing). Which includes the entire suite of 55+ tools. 

And you can take a look at our full pricing details.

3. Ad Assistant

Ad Assistant sends real-time alerts about your ad accounts and campaigns. To help you monitor your PPC campaigns at all times.

It saves time in investigating issues. And helps you monitor ad performance and optimize campaigns faster.

You can create custom alerts that will keep you informed of whether your campaign is underperforming, when you’ve reached a milestone, whether there are errors you need to address, and more.

You’ll see these alerts in the Alerts Log.

The tool is especially great for agencies that handle ad accounts for multiple clients. 

Key Features of Ad Assistant

• Cross-platform control: Manage your ads across multiple platforms. Including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
• Forecast detection: Get predictions about your accounts’ future performance.
• Landing page alert: Identify when your campaign experiences a broken landing page to take immediate action.

Pricing

You can try this tool for free with a seven-day trial. After that, it costs $129 per month.

4. Headline Optimizer

Headline Optimizer helps you create and optimize Google Ads headlines. By getting real people to review them.

The tool allows you to test headline variations with your own audience by providing a link. Or hear from a pool of 500,000+ possible testers who provide unbiased feedback. 

And you can run unlimited A/B tests (also known as split testing, which compares two variations to determine which performs better) on your ad headlines like this for a fixed monthly cost.

The benefit?

Headline Optimizer eliminates the guesswork. And finds you the Google ad headline version that’s most likely to drive better results.

Key Features of Headline Optimizer

• AI-generated headlines: Use artificial intelligence to quickly and easily generate headline ideas.
• Unlimited testing: Run unlimited headline tests per month. Get your ad headlines reviewed and approved by real people.
• Paid audience panel: Use the paid audience panel to poll a pool that draws from over 500,000 testers.
• Follower panel option: Generate a poll using your own followers and customers to get feedback.

Pricing

The tool is available for free with limited access. Paid plan starts at $65 per month.

5. Position Tracking

Position Tracking monitors your website’s daily rankings for a custom set of target keywords, including the ones you’re bidding on for your Google PPC ads. 

It also helps you monitor your competitors’ positions.

To start tracking your PPC keywords, open the tool and follow our detailed instructions on setting it up.

Once it’s configured, you’ll see the main dashboard.

To see data related to the keywords you’re bidding on in your PPC campaigns, click the settings icon in the top right corner and select “Google Ads” under “Type.”

Navigate to the “Overview” tab and scroll down to see a snapshot of which keywords your ads are ranking for and which position they’re in.

Key Features of Position Tracking

• Local tracking: Discover local competitors easily to optimize your PPC campaigns for local search.
• Custom notes: Add personalized notes to document specific changes applied to your PPC campaigns.
• Advanced filters: Apply specific tags to keywords from your ad groups to focus on specific aspects of your PPC campaigns.
• Powerful reporting: Schedule daily, weekly, or monthly reports to be automatically sent to your, your clients’, or your coworkers’ inboxes.

Pricing

You can sign up for a free account to get limited access. Paid plans start at $129.95 per month (save up to 17% by choosing annual billing). Which includes the entire suite of 55+ tools. 

Check out our full pricing details.

6. Google Ads Keyword Planner

Keyword Planner is a free pay-per-click tool from Google Ads that generates keyword ideas based on the search term you enter.

It helps you discover new, relevant keywords for your product or service.

You’ll find key metrics such as search volume, competition level, and bid range for each keyword. 

Check out the screenshot below for a taste of what it looks like:

The tool also provides forecasts of expected conversions, clicks, and impressions. Which can help you anticipate how your keywords might perform.

Key Features of Google Keyword Planner

• Keyword bid estimates: Learn what you might expect to pay for ad clicks for your keywords.
• Localized results: See keyword data specific to geographic locations.
• Ad group ideas: Get ad groups suggestions based on your keywords to better organize your ads.
• Add keywords to existing campaigns: Streamline your workflow by directly adding the discovered keywords to your existing Google Ads campaigns.

Pricing

This tool is free.

7. Google Ads Editor

Google Ads Editor enables advertisers to manage their campaigns using a desktop application. So you can work offline.

You can use this tool to review specific campaigns and the keywords used in those campaigns.

And it allows you to make bulk changes (like adjusting bids, adding keywords, and editing ad text). After making changes offline, you can upload them to Google Ads to implement them.

Here’s the Google Ads Editor dashboard:

It’s great because it reduces the need to log into a web browser to stay on top of your ads.

Key Features of Google Ads Editor

• Bulk editing: Make large-scale edits quickly across your campaigns.
• Performance review: Download and view performance statistics for your campaigns, ad groups, and keywords for a specified date range.
• Advanced search functionality: Use filters to quickly locate specific elements (like keywords and ad groups) in your campaigns.
• Import and export files: Import and export files to share proposals or make changes to an account.

Pricing

This tool is free.

8. AdEspresso

AdEspresso simplifies campaign management. By allowing you to create, analyze, and optimize campaigns for Google Ads.

As one of the most popular PPC management tools, it stands out for its robust split testing feature. Which allows you to experiment with different ad variations to find the most effective messaging for your campaigns.

Here’s AdEspresso’s Google Ads dashboard:

AdEspresso also supports Facebook and Instagram ads. 

Key Features of AdEspresso

• Analytics and reporting: Get detailed analytics and custom reports on your ad performance.
• Asset manager: Store and manage your ad images and copy in one place.
• Campaign approvals: Collaborate with your team and clients on your ad campaigns. Share a link with them to get their feedback and approval.
• Campaign review: Get a 10-minute video review of your campaign from an expert to improve your campaign’s performance.
• One-on-one coaching: Book a one-hour session with an expert marketer to get personalized advice on your advertising strategy.

Pricing

Plans start at $49 per month.

9. Adzooma

Adzooma helps you create, manage, and analyze ad campaigns centrally. And it’s one of the most popular PPC optimization tools thanks to its automation features.

You can set custom rules to automatically adjust budgets and receive performance alerts.

The platform allows you to identify growth opportunities. By analyzing campaign data and suggesting improvements through actionable insights. Like the screenshot below shows:

Adzooma also includes a simplified rule builder (a tool for creating automation rules without coding). And it offers several premade templates to speed things up.

Key Features of Adzooma

• Intelligent recommendations (Opportunities): Receive recommendations every week to improve your ad performance.
• Automation: Set rules to automate tasks like bid adjustments, pausing ads, and setting alerts.
• Google Analytics integration: Sync with Google Analytics for additional user behavior insights on your website.
• Reporting: Generate detailed, custom reports for comprehensive insights into your ad performance.
• PPC performance score: Get an instant performance score to see how optimized your ad accounts are.

Pricing

This is a freemium tool. Paid plans start at $99 per month.

10. Marin Software

Marin Software offers MarinOne, an advertising platform that allows you to identify growth opportunities. By analyzing campaign data and suggesting improvements through actionable insights.

Its automation capabilities enable you to set up performance alerts and adjust budgets automatically.

The PPC tool can also forecast conversions, revenue, and profit for your account. To help you adjust your targets and campaign budgets.

This ensures better resource allocation across campaigns and accounts. Which increases the impact of every marketing dollar you spend.

Here’s the MarinOne main dashboard:

Marin Software also supports other advertising platforms, including Bing, Amazon, and Instagram.

Key Features of Marin Software

• Bidding adjustment: Leverage machine learning to adjust bids based on a variety of factors like historical performance and market trends.
• Budget optimizer: Automate budget adjustments by setting custom rules to maximize your ad spending.
• Analyze: Gain a comprehensive view of your campaign performance by pulling data from your web analytics, mobile tracking, CRM, and more.
• Managed services: Get more bandwidth and assistance in managing and optimizing your ad campaigns from marketing experts.

Pricing

You’ll have to reach out to get a custom quote.

These PPC tools are specifically designed to help with keyword research, bid management, and ad campaign optimization tailored to the Amazon Marketplace. 

Here are two popular Amazon PPC tools:

11. PPC Optimizer for Amazon

PPC Optimizer for Amazon automates your Amazon ad campaigns.

It can automatically adjust your bidding based on your target specifications. 

And it considers a range of factors (like negative keywords) that you might miss when making your bidding decision.

The tool also helps identify relevant keywords for your ad scenario.

And it tracks each search query that leads to a sale. To make sure the right keyword is matched to the appropriate ad campaign.

You can even view individual product campaigns. To see detailed information on each ad variation.

Key Features of PPC Optimizer for Amazon

• Negative keywords: Identify and isolate negative keywords to avoid overlapping with other campaigns.
• Quick data sync: Stay updated with the latest trends through hourly data syncs.
• Product selection: Choose the products to feature from an auto-generated list of your available products.
• Reporting insights: Gain detailed insights into your ad campaigns.

Pricing

There’s a free seven-day trial. Paid plans start at $50 per month.

12. SellerApp

SellerApp is an ecommerce intelligence platform that provides insights into your overall Amazon business and helps with competitive analysis.

It automates your bids based on your goals. Allowing you to focus on growing your business while it takes care of the bidding process.

The tool combines data intelligence and machine learning algorithms to optimize and streamline your Amazon ad campaigns.

Here’s an overview dashboard of SellerApp’s Amazon PPC optimization tool:

Key Features of SellerApp

• Rule-based algorithmic bidding: Automate your bids and campaigns using a rule-based system. Which makes bidding decisions based on predefined rules you set.
• Keyword harvesting: Manage your Amazon PPC campaigns better by finding top-converting keywords.
• Negative keyword optimization: Reduce wasted ad spend by preventing your PPC campaigns from appearing for irrelevant phrases.
• Comprehensive dashboard: Monitor bids, budget, frequency of ads, and more with an easy-to-use dashboard.
• Managed PPC service: Get help from certified Amazon PPC experts.

Pricing

It’s a freemium model. Paid plans start at $39 per month.

Step Up Your PPC Campaigns

PPC ads deliver quick results. 

But only if you know how to plan, manage, and optimize your campaigns efficiently. And for that, you need the right PPC marketing tools.

It’s a good idea to get started with something that helps you dig into your competitors’ strategies—like Advertising Research.