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.

What Are PPC Tools?

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

Why Are Pay-Per-Click Tools Important?

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

15 Best PPC Tools

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

Google-Focused Pay-Per-Click Tools

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 a competitor domain that 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’s willing to pay a certain amount to target those keywords in their ads)
• The landing pages your competitors' ads were driving traffic to 

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

What it’s best for: Competitive analyses

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 $139.95 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 advertisers pay for a click on their ads

This PPC keyword research tool 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 clicking “+ Add to keyword list” to export them to Keyword Strategy Builder.

Keyword Strategy Builder stores all your keywords in one place. And allows you to generate keyword clusters (groups of highly similar search terms) you can build your campaigns around.

What it’s best for: Keyword research

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 Strategy Builder or as CSV or XLSX files for seamless integration with your existing processes
• Advanced filtering: Use advanced filters to sort by search volume, 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 $139.95 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. Ads Launch Assistant

The Ads Launch Assistant app uses Semrush data and the power of AI to help you quickly create, launch, and evaluate PPC campaigns. 

The tool has a user-friendly interface that makes it suitable for complete beginners. And it eliminates the need for doing lengthy keyword research in advance.

Get started by entering your business’s name, website, preferred language, and location.

If you already have some keywords in mind, enter them in the space provided. Otherwise, select “Generate keyword themes” to let the tool handle it for you.

The tool will then provide keyword ideas to choose from. 

Once you’ve made your selections, click “Generate headlines and descriptions.”

The tool will come up with five headlines and four descriptions. Edit them to suit your needs or click the button again to generate new ideas.

And take a look at the preview to get a sense of what your ads may look like.

From there, set your budget and launch your campaign. 

What it’s best for: Rapid campaign creation

Key Features of Ads Launch Assistant

• Google Ads integration: Launch PPC campaigns effortlessly without ever leaving the app
• Multiple campaign setups: Choose between a beginner-friendly option and one that offers more precision for advanced users
• Holistic dashboard: View all campaigns and their metrics in a single view
• Import option: Automatically import business information from your Google Business Profile
• Advanced reporting: See detailed performance breakdowns revealing which search terms have the greatest impact

Pricing

Ads Launch Assistant is free to use. 

4. AI Narratives for Google Ads

AI Narratives for Google Ads streamlines your campaign management. By transforming Google Ads data into insights that are easy for anyone to understand.

The app connects directly with your Google Ads account. To instantly deliver performance analyses and actionable recommendations.

To get started, connect your Google Ads account. 

Define your objectives, such as conversion tracking, ad monitoring, and ad performance optimization. 

Click on “Additional settings” to open the “Your priorities” window.

Rearrange the list to see your most important metrics first. And click the eye icon to hide or show specific metrics.

In the next screen, click “Enable email reports.” To get notifications.

Now that your app is all set up, it will analyze your data. And send email reports directly to your inbox.

Go to the “Narratives” tab to see even more insights.

What It’s Best For: Data-driven PPC optimization

Key Features of AI Narratives for Google Ads

• Ad Performance Insights: In-depth comparisons of your ads’ performance to uncover insights to optimize your advertising campaigns
• GPT Insights: Detailed weekly and monthly recommendations delivered in natural language
• Scheduled Reports: Get daily, weekly, or monthly reports delivered directly to your inbox 
• Multiple Campaigns Management: Easily connect multiple Google Ads sources to generate comprehensive reports for various campaigns simultaneously
• Anomaly Detection: Receive alerts on unusual activity or sudden changes in your ad metrics, enabling you to respond quickly

Pricing

You can try this app with a free 7-day account. Paid plans start at $49 per month.

6. 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 showing for and which positions they’re in.

What it’s best for: Monitoring paid keyword rankings

Key Features of Position Tracking

• Local tracking: Monitor performance to optimize your PPC campaigns for local search
• Custom notes: Add personalized notes to document specific changes applied to 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 $139.95 per month (save up to 17% by choosing annual billing). Which includes the entire suite of 55+ tools. 

Check out our full pricing details.

7. Keyword Planner

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

It helps you discover new, relevant keywords for your business.

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

Here’s a taste of what it looks like:

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

What it’s best for: Keyword research and grouping

Key Features of Keyword Planner

• Keyword bid estimates: Learn what you might expect to pay for ad clicks
• Localized results: See keyword data for a specified geographic location
• 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

Keyword Planner is free.

8. Google Ads Editor

Google Ads Editor enables advertisers to manage their campaigns using a desktop application. So they 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 reduces the need to log in to a web browser to stay on top of your ads.

What it’s best for: Bulk campaign management

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
• Import and export: Import and export files to share proposals or make changes to an account

Pricing

Google Ads Editor is free.

9. Google Ads Transparency Center

The Google Ads Transparency Center lets you explore ads from different brands across Google's platforms.

You can see who's advertising and what ads they're running. 

This tool is useful for researching your competitors' advertising strategies. And gaining inspiration for your own campaigns.

What it’s best for: Gaining inspiration

Key Features of Google Ads Transparency Center

• Ad content preview: See any copy, images, text, and videos used
• Ad history: View ads an advertiser has run through Google as far back as May 31, 2018. To see changes in their advertising approach over time.
• Regional selection: Filter ads by country to see how campaigns differ across regions

Pricing

The Google Ads Transparency Center is free.

10. Looker Studio

Looker Studio (previously Google Data Studio) can be used to create fully customized dashboards and reports using your PPC data. To visualize your performance and share insights with your team or clients.

Once you connect your Google Ads account to Looker Studio, you can use a variety of charts, graphs, tables, etc. to display your data. 

For example, you might create a high-level dashboard showing your daily ad spend, click-through rates, and conversions across different campaigns. To give you an overview of your PPC performance at a glance.

Here’s a sample Looker Studio report:

You can also set up a schedule to automatically deliver reports to key stakeholders at the interval you specify.

What it’s best for: Data visualization

Key Features of Google Looker Studio

• Data connectors: Easily import data from Google Ads, Google Analytics, and other sources for a more holistic report
• Customizable options: Design reports that fit your specific needs and branding
• Automatic updates: See the latest data by setting data to refresh at your chosen interval
• Collaboration tools: Share reports with team members and set different access levels for seamless teamwork and client communication

Pricing

Looker Studio is free.

11. AdEspresso

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

It’s a popular PPC management tool because of its 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:

Image Source: AdEspresso

AdEspresso also supports Facebook and Instagram ads. 

What it’s best for: Split testing and ad optimization

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: Share a link with your team or clients to get feedback and approval
• Campaign review: Get a 10-minute video review of your campaign from an expert to improve performance
• One-on-one coaching: Book a one-hour session with an expert to get personalized advice on your advertising strategy

Pricing

Plans start at $49 per month.

12. Adzooma

Adzooma helps you create, manage, and analyze ad campaigns from one place. And it’s a popular PPC optimization tool thanks to its automation features.

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

The platform also analyzes campaign data and suggests improvements. 

Image Source: Adzooma

What it’s best for: Automating ad-related tasks

Key Features of Adzooma

• Intelligent recommendations (Opportunities): Receive regular recommendations to improve your ad performance
• Automation: Set rules to automate tasks like bid adjustments, pausing ads, and receiving alerts
• Google Analytics integration: Sync with Google Analytics for website-specific data
• PPC performance score: Get a high-level score to see how well-optimized your campaigns are

Pricing

This is a freemium tool. Paid plans start at $69 per month.

13. Marin Software

Marin Software offers MarinOne, a platform that allows you to identify growth opportunities. By analyzing campaign data and suggesting improvements.

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

The PPC tool can also forecast conversion and revenue numbers. To help you adjust as needed.

And you can build dashboards to meet your specific needs:

Image Source: Marin Software

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

What it’s best for: Forecasting performance

Key Features of Marin Software

• Automate tasks: Automate bid and budget adjustments according to your specifications
• Unified reporting: See performance data from across publishers
• Managed services: Get expert assistance for managing and optimizing your ad campaigns

Pricing

Plans start at $500 per month.

Amazon-Focused Pay-Per-Click Tools

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:

14. Ecommerce Keyword Analytics

The Ecommerce Keyword Analytics app provides insight into the most popular terms users search across major online retailers—including Amazon.

The tool is useful for finding search terms to include in your product listings. But it can also help you determine which terms to use for paid campaigns.

To get started, enter a broad term related to your products. And click “Search.”

Go to the “Related Keywords” tab. And look for some more specific terms that are relevant to your brand.

Make note of ones you’re interested in and click one of them in the table

Click the drop-down next to “Online Retail” and set it to display only results for “amazon.com.” Then, enter up to three of the other terms you’re interested in and click “Compare.”

You can now compare Amazon-specific metrics like clicks, the number of searches (Search Requests), etc., for these terms over the last six months.

Pay particular attention to the “Conversions” tab. Because a high percentage indicates those users are motivated to place an order.

This can help you identify valuable keywords to use in your Amazon campaigns. 

What it’s best for: Finding Amazon-specific keywords

Key Features of Ecommerce Keyword Analytics

• Compare terms: Evaluate up to four search terms at a time
• View historical data: See how metrics are changing to find evergreen, seasonal, and growing terms
• Find audience-specific insights: Use the drop-downs at the top to filter by location, gender, age, and more

Pricing

There’s a free seven-day trial. After that, the app is $19.99 per month.

15. SellerApp

SellerApp provides insights into your overall Amazon business and has a dedicated PPC optimization tool.

The PPC tool helps you identify optimization opportunities with AI suggestions. And automates making certain improvements based on rules you set. 

Image Source: SellerApp

And you can make bulk campaign changes all at once.

What it’s best for: Amazon PPC campaign optimization

Key Features of SellerApp

• Rule-based automation: Automate your campaigns using a rule-based system. Which takes the guesswork out of adjusting bids and other elements.
• 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
• Managed PPC services: Get help from Amazon PPC experts

Pricing

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