As an advertiser, no matter how experienced you are, it’s essential to stay on top of the latest trends and methods to ensure you get the best ROI for your ads.
If you are not connected to the market and not following your competitors’ trends, you will very quickly realize that you are still using methods that no longer work in the market.
In other words, your competitors are the benchmark for your business. Speaking of spying on competitors, no one doubts anymore the potential of social networks.
On the other hand, there is also native advertising, which is widely used today. This is often overlooked by all e-merchants.
In this article, we will talk about native advertising. We will see the best native ads spy tools.
What is native advertising
This name may sound a bit strange to you if you are a beginner in the online business. Native ads mainly refer to ads that are made on social networks or websites in general, but blend in with the appearance of the website’s native content to the point where it’s quite difficult to identify them as advertising.
For example, on Facebook, you will see sponsored content, but it looks like natural posts made by ordinary users of the platform.
Obviously they are not posts or messages from your friends, they are rather ads. In fact, that’s why we call them native ads, because they integrate with the layout of the website they are displayed on. The best way to identify them remains the use of native ad spy tools.
Native ads are quite popular on social networks as well as on other websites like CNN and Washington Post, MSN, BBC, Yahoo pages, and many others.
Native ads are a great way to advertise your website because not only are they not as intrusive as regular banner ads, but they are also more closely related to the content the user is reading in most cases.
And since they don’t spoil the user’s experience, they have a better conversion rate. Users are more likely to click on them and take action.
So whether you are a dropshipper looking for your winning product or an e-merchant looking for more information about your competitors, you should not neglect native ads.That’s why in this article we will learn how to spy native ads. We will even see some free native ad spy tools.
Why use native ad spy tools?
Experience has shown that in e-commerce, you can never be sure of what will work until you try it yourself.
Indeed, as a dropshipper or e-tailer in general, you usually have to experiment with different landing pages, different ad copy, different creative and even perform A/B tests before you finally find the perfect combination that works for your product.
While this strategy works for many businesses, it takes a lot of time and a substantial budget to test and optimize ad variations. And when you’re just starting out in e-commerce or dropshipping, you often don’t have enough budget to invest in advertising.
Before investing all that time, effort, and money with no guarantee of getting the desired results, a great alternative is to spy native ads that work for your competitors. The best way to do this is to use the best native ads spy tools.
Thanks to this, you will be able to quickly identify what works for your competitors. You will only have to implement them on your store. Indeed, the spy tools of native ads allow you to keep an eye on your competitors.
On the other hand, native ads have the particularity of pretending to be ordinary publications to the point where it is quite difficult to identify them directly. This is why they work well, because most users of websites or social networks do not realize that they are ads.
Moreover, these native ads adapt to the content of the player. In fact, if you expect to spy native ads on social networks or websites by scrolling through your news feeds or visiting several hundred websites, you’re just wasting time.
This is why it is actually important to go through the native ad spy tools. These tools are equipped with highly developed algorithms that are able to recognize native ads on any platform. Native ad spy tools collect relevant information about these ads.
Basically, these tools are a huge time saver for everyone in the online retail business. That’s why in this article, we are going to discuss the best native ads spy tools. You will be able to choose the tool that will best suit your needs.
How to spy native ads of your competitors?
The best way to perform this type of competitive analysis is to use one of the many native ad spy tools available on the market.
These tools allow you to know what ads your competitors are running, where they are running them and what makes their ads successful.
With these ad spy tools, you can search for your competitors’ ads in different categories based on criteria such as ad source and ad network, as well as demographics like gender, age, region, etc.
What are the best native ads spy tools?
Is there a free native ad spy tool?
Answers in the rest of this article.
Best native ads spy tools
Best native ad spy tools: Dropispy
We start our list of the best native ads spy tools with Dropispy. If you don’t know yet, Dropispy is a Facebook ads spy tool but unlike other facebook ads spy tool, it also collects native ads.
Dropispy’s algorithms are powerful enough to detect native ads quickly enough. Moreover, the tool collects several useful information about these ads.
Let’s find out together the features of Dropispy and why it is one of the best native ads spy tools. We can even say that it is a free native ad spy tool because of its free plan.
Features
After collecting ads from Facebook, Dropispy stores them in its database, which is then made available to its users. So, once you log in to the tool, you can access this ad library and search for native ads.
This Dropispy ad database comes with several search filters and parameters that make it even easier to find winning ads or products.
We are talking about a database of several million ads. In fact, it would be quite difficult to find advertisements in this library without the help of filters and search parameters that make the search easier.
With Dropispy, spy native ads becomes accessible to everyone.
Discover here the different search filters that are available on Dropispy.
- Filter by keyword;
- Filter by the social engagement of the ad (Likes, Shares, Comments…)
- Filter by the date of creation of the ad;
- Filter by the type of media used in the ad
- Filter by call to action (CTA)
- Filter by the platform used by the advertiser
- Filter by country
- Filter by language
- Filter by page name
- Filter by audience (Gender, age, country…)
In fact, these filters allow you to filter the ads according to the criteria of your choice. You can filter by keyword, by social engagement, by date of publication or any other criteria that seems to be relevant for your business.
As I mentioned above, Dropispy is not just an ad spying tool. It wouldn’t be first on our list of the best native ads spy tools if it only offered that as a feature.
Dropispy is also a tool for spying on online retail stores. Experience shows that spy native ads is not enough for an e-merchant who really wants to have relevant information about his competitors. He also needs to spy on their retail stores. This is where all the sales strategies are put forward to turn the website visitor into a buyer.
By spying on these stores, you will be able to identify the best strategies of your competitors. And Dropispy allows you to do just that.
With Dropispy shop spy, you can spy on any online store and get interesting information or data about them.
As information, you can have, for example,
- Overall rank;
- Daily traffic estimate;
- Facebook ads, native store ads ;
- The theme used by the store ;
- Shopify’s applications installed on the store.
I can assure you that there is nothing better in terms of spying. Combining native ad spying and store spying, Dropispy is the perfect weapon you need to find winning products or to get relevant information about your competitors.
Now that you know the features that Dropispy offers, let’s talk about its price.
Pricing
After the description of all the features of Dropispy, you might probably think that the tool costs several hundred euros in subscription. But that’s not the case at all. Despite what Dropispy offers, its price in even lower than all the tools we will see in this article.
For less than $29 a month, you can get access to the paid version of the tool to take advantage of all the features we saw above.
You also have a free plan that allows you to test all its features. If you are a beginner in the world of online sales, you can already use this plan to take your first steps in the market and find your winning product. That’s why Dropispy is said to be a free native ad spy tool.
Overall rating of Dropispy
Native ad spy tools: Minea
Minea is the second on our list of the best native ads spy tools that we are going to introduce to you in this article. It is one of the most well-known native ad spy and product search tools on the market.
The tool has several features that you will soon discover.
Features
Minea is known as the all-in-one tool for anyone in the internet sales business to have. Unlike other product research tools that often focus on a single product, Minea is a tool that spies on multiple social networks (Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, Instagram).
As a result, it has quite a varied database in which you can find all kinds of ads. The native ads collected on the different platforms mentioned above are stored in different databases. This means that there is a library for each platform.
This is a big advantage, because the search is easier, and we are sure not to get lost in the native ads of a platform when we wanted to see typically for another.
Just like Dropispy, Minea also offers filter and search settings that allow you to optimize your searches. This means you have a better chance of finding your competitors’ listings or finding your winning dropshipping product.
Here are some filters that Minea offers:
- Keyword;
- .NET domain name
- Date posted, date seen;
- Country;
- Language ;
- Number of Likes, Shares,
- Comments;
- Type of e-commerce platform;
- Number of downloads
- Number of views.
In addition, for each of the ads you find on Minea, you will also have access to information that allows you to analyze the performance of the product in a few clicks.
Minea doesn’t just offer its ad spy tool. You also have a shop analysis tool that allows you to analyze your competitors and unearth the best strategies in the market. This tool also has powerful filters that allow you to search for your competitors based on the criteria you set yourself.
We can’t finish the features of Minea without talking about its influencer marketing analytics tool. Minea allows you to spy on even your competitors’ product placements and identify the influencers they collaborate with. Basically, you’ll have a 360 view on your competitors.
Now let’s talk about rate plans
Pricing
Apart from Minea’s free plan (which we find quite limited), Minea offers two paid plans. A basic plan that is accessible for €49/month. Note that this plan does not allow you to see the native ads collected on TikTok. Indeed, if your business is mainly based on the TikTok social network, you’re going to have to opt for the premium plan, which costs €99/month.
Minea seems a bit more expensive, but the features offered are quite interesting. Also, we can’t call Minea a free native ad spy tool, because its free version is quite limited.
Overall rating of Minea
Anstrex
Anstrex is also a giant among native ad spying tools. In fact, it is a tool that is specialized only in spying on native ads. Indeed, if you only want to spy on your competitors’ native ads, Anstrex can be a good solution.
But the advantage with the other native ad spy tools we saw above is that in addition to native ads, these tools also spy on the other standard ads we see on social networks. This means that they have a larger library of ads.
Let’s discover the features of Anstrex
Features
More than 20 channels are spied on by Anstrex. The tool collects information about the native ads it makes available to its users. Like the previous native ad spy tools, you get a library of ads with built-in filters and search parameters that you can use for your search.
For example, you can filter by :
- Keyword;
- Social network or website;
- Category;
- Country;
- Tracking tools ;
- Ad social engagement;
- Date…
Since Anstrex spies on ads in over 80 countries, you’ll be able to get ads from multiple sources and increase your chances of finding your competitors’ ads or finding your winning product.
On the other hand,Anstrex is also one of the best spy tools for affiliate marketing available on the market. If you are into affiliate marketing, do not hesitate to use this tool.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, Anstrex offers 3 pricing plans. You have a basic plan that costs $69.99 per month. This plan allows you to see ads collected from over 64 countries.
To get more advanced and detailed data, you’re going to have to opt for one of the advanced plans. One costs $139.99 per month and the other $219.99 per month. Each of these plans offers special features to help you achieve your search goals.
However, we can notice that Anstrex is much more expensive than the previous two native ad spy tools. The tool also does not have a free plan, as a result, it is not a free native ad spy tool.
Overall rating of Anstrex
Adplexity
Another native ad spying tool that we will discuss in this article is Adplexity. This is a spy tool that spies on over 32 countries and collects ads from over 7 native ad sources.
What does Adplexity offer in terms of features?
Features
Adplexity is firstly a large library of ads in which you will be able to find native ads in different ways. The platform is made in such a way that you can decide what kind of ads you are going to see. For example, you can search for native ads that are only collected on phone, computer.
Once you have chosen the type of ad you are interested in, you can now filter them according to the filters and search parameters available.
Adplexity allows you to filter by keyword, advertiser, category and more. You also have relevant data on the ads that allow you to improve your search and make the right decisions for your online sales business.
Adplexity is also one of the best spy tools for affiliate marketing that you can get on the market.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, Adplexity offers a single pricing plan. The plan is $249 per month and gives you access to all the features of the tool. You can use all the features without any restrictions.
We can clearly see that Adplexity is quite expensive, and it is not recommended for beginners who are taking their first steps in the online sales business.
Overall rating of Adplexity
Mobidea
Now let’s talk about Mobidea which is also a native ad spy tool that allows you to spy on your competitors and keep an eye on how they are showcasing their products in their advertisements.
Here are the features of Mobidea.
Features
Mobidea spies on several major ad channels and collects native ads in its database. You can access this database by logging into the platform.
Over 10 million ads are available. You necessarily need some pretty advanced filters to be able to search through this database of ads. These filters and search parameters are obviously available on Mobidea and you can use them to optimize your searches according to your search intentions.
One feature that differentiates Mobidea from other native ad spy tools is that on Mobidea you can set up alerts about your competitors’ ads. This way, every time they put up new ads, you will receive a notification directly.
So it’s a great way to monitor your competitors and keep an eye on them.
Moreover, thanks to Mobidea, you can directly copy landing pages that already work and integrate them into your online store. You won’t have to bother with landing page designs that don’t convert.
All you have to do is take what is already working and modify it according to your preferences. If you are into affiliate marketing, Mobidea also offers affiliate marketing spy tools with which you can identify the best opportunities in the market.
What does Mobidea offer in terms of price?
Pricing
On Mobidea, we mainly have two pricing plans. We have the basic plan which costs $69.99 per month which allows you to access only native ads and also the premium plan which costs $139.99 per month which allows you, in addition to native ads, to also access the information collected on push ads.
Overall rating of Mobidea
Adflex
We end our list of the best spy native ads tools with Adflex, which is also a well-known tool in the online retail world. Adflex allows you to spy on your competitors’ native ads and also find winning products to sell online.
It is a tool that can be classified in the same rank as the first two tools of our list (Dropispy and Minea).
Features
In terms of features Adflex offers 4 features. The first feature is a Facebook Ads Spy tool. The tool collects information about ordinary ads that are run on Facebook.
In second place comes the native ad spying feature. On the tool’s website, it is mentioned that Adflex spies on large native ad channels and collects several thousand ads that it makes available to its users.
In addition to the ads, you will also get details about the performance of the ad over time. This data will allow you to know if the ad is winning or not. This is much more useful if you want to use the tool for a product search.
In addition to these two features, Adflex also offers a TikTok Ads Spy Tool, which works in much the same way as its Facebook Product Finder tool. Finally, you also have a Google Ads Spy Tool(Google Display Ads).
In addition, the tool’s filters and search parameters are not sufficiently developed, which can therefore have an impact on the search.
Pricing
The most popular and most used plan on Adflex is the pro plan, which costs $99 per month. You also have a free plan, but it is only available for 7 days. After that, you will have to opt for the Pro plan.
Native Ad Spy Tools - Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed the top native ad spy tools that you can use to spy on your competitors.
We have described the features of each tool so that you can choose what is best for your business.
The best of all these tools is of course Dropispy, which is a great product search tool and allows you to spy native ads from your competitors. Feel free to test Dropispy for free here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are ad spy tools?
Ads spy tools are product research tools that spy on social network ads and allow dropshippers or e-merchants to find products that are already working on the market in order to resell them on their stores. The ads spy tools are also competitor spying tools, as they allow you to know more about your competitors’ strategies
Can we make money with native ads?
Native ads can help you monetize your site, but they have to be done right. Here are some basic principles you should follow for your native ads:
- Be creative and propose quality visuals
- Write texts that solicit commitment
- Present the benefits of your product, not its features