Google Ads has become much more sophisticated — and more of a black box — in recent years, thanks to advancements in AI and machine learning. From pushing broad match and auto-applied recommendations to changing the meaning of ‘exact match’, it’s very clear that Google is expanding its influence over what happens in your accounts, gradually taking the control away from you.
Although the shift towards more automation is great for advertisers, Google has also reduced the control and visibility for you, the advertiser over your ad spend.
And, in light of the recent antitrust lawsuits and scrutiny over its ad business practices, advertisers are becoming more concerned that Google may be overextending their ad budgets. That’s why savvy advertisers need to be vigilant to ensure they are getting true value from their ad spend.
The good news is that there are several tools out there that can help you take back control and manage your Google Ads campaigns the way that works for your business.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- Why do you even need a Google Ads management tool and
- The best Google Ads management tools today with their pricing and top features
Why you should use a Google Ads management tool
A third-party Google Ads management tool helps you create, optimize, and manage your campaigns more efficiently and effectively than you ever can using Google’s default platform. Here are a few reasons why you should use one:
1. Google doesn’t always have your best interests when making product decisions.
Google is a business. So its goal is to do what’s best for its shareholders. The more money you spend on its platform, the more beneficial that is for its shareholders. That’s a big reason for its push to increase ad prices, encourage broad match, and auto-applied recommendations so that your ads are shown for a higher number of search queries, which means more clicks and ultimately more money for Google.
2. Google’s native platform has extremely limited capabilities for advertisers.
A third-party tool can offer features that are not available or limited in Google Ads, such as competitor analysis, cross-channel integration, custom reporting, and AI-powered optimization. These features can help you gain more insights into your market and your campaigns and improve your ROI.
3. Third-party tools can save you time and money.
A third-party tool can automate many tasks that would otherwise take you hours to do manually on Google Ads, such as keyword research, bid management, ad creation, and performance tracking. This can free up your time to focus on much more important aspects of your business and reduce your advertising costs.
With that said, here’s the list of the 10 best Google Ads management tools today.
Best Google Ads management tools
Optmyzr
Pricing: From $208/month ($10K spend, upto 25 accounts)
Rating: Rated 4.6/5 on G2 and 4.7/5 on Capterra
Optmyzr is a powerful, award-winning PPC management software that gives search marketers the tools they need for detailed insights, optimization, reporting, and automation. It is built for accounts of any size, diversity, or complexity.
From search to shopping to Performance Max, you can run Google Ads campaigns the way each account demands with Optmyzr.
Optmyzr’s key features
- Powerful rule-based automation, monitoring, auditing, reporting, bidding, budget management, and analysis capabilities
- In-depth tools for Responsive Search Ads, Value-Based Bidding, Shopping, and Performance Max campaigns (including support for scripts)
- PPC vertical benchmarks, competitor, and auction insights for Google Ads
- Integration with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zapier
What kinds of teams use Optmyzr?
Optmyzr is used by a variety of teams such as:
- Digital marketing agencies: Helps scale their operations and improve their client service by providing them with the tools they need to manage multiple Google Ads campaigns efficiently.
- In-house marketing teams: Helps save time and improve their Google Ads performance by automating many of the tasks involved in managing campaigns. This frees up team members to focus on more strategic initiatives.
- Enterprise marketing teams: Helps manage their Google Ads spending much better by providing them with data-driven insights and recommendations.
- Individual Google Ads consultants: Helps streamline their workflow and manage multiple campaigns without the need for extensive resources.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Offers powerful automation layering capabilities to protect your Google Ads accounts and give you back control
- Monitors anomalies and automatically notifies account owners
- Supports real-time data refresh
- Helps you build shopping campaigns 10 times faster than Google Ads
Cons
- While Optmyzr’s feature-rich platform is designed to empower users, some may find it overwhelming due to the extensive range of tools and customization options available.
- There’s no free version of the platform.
Sign up for our 14-day free trial today to give Optmyzr a try. You will also get the resources you need to get started and more. Our team will also be on hand to answer questions and provide any support we can.
Google Ads Editor
Pricing: Free
Rating: Rated 4.3/5 on G2 and 4.5/5 on Capterra
Google Ads Editor is a free, downloadable application for managing your Google Ads campaigns.
Google Ads Editor’s key features
- Provides bulk editing tools, allowing advertisers to make multiple changes quickly across campaigns
- Users can manage, edit, and view multiple Google Ads accounts simultaneously
- Insights and recommendations to improve campaign performance
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A great tool for beginners who may not have a budget to opt for paid software
- Helps you manage ads or make bulk changes to your campaigns offline across multiple accounts
- Native integration with Google Sheets, Google Analytics, Looker Studio, and other Google tools
Cons
- Extremely limited capabilities for monitoring and reporting compared to most tools in the market
- Although it’s a free tool, you’re subject to what Google allows and that’s usually to their benefit
- The bid management tools are a black box
- Provides little to no automation to give you back the control
- Often enforces auto-apply recommendations that don’t really help your campaigns
- Analyzing PPC performance can be a chore
- Tasks like building and refreshing shopping campaigns which take minutes in Optmyzr take hours in the Google Ads Editor
Opteo
Pricing: From $99/month ($50K spend, 25 accounts)
Rating: Rated 4.5/5 on G2 and 4.8/5 on Capterra
Opteo is a Google Ads management tool that recommends optimizations based on continuous account monitoring of account performance data.
Opteo’s key features
- Monitoring, reporting, bidding, and budget management capabilities
- Integrates with Slack
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy-to-understand UI
- Suitable for SMBs with limited Google Ads needs
Cons
- Uses a 12-hour refresh cycle, not real-time like Optmyzr
- Very limited automation and spend projection capabilities
- Limited support for shopping, RSA, and Performance Max
- Does not integrate with Microsoft Teams or Zapier
Read: How Opteo compares to Optmyzr
TrueClicks
Pricing: From $208/month ($50K spend, unlimited accounts)
Rating: Rated 4.5/5 on G2 and 4.5/5 on Capterra
TrueClicks is a cloud-based marketing software, which helps organizations create, launch, and manage PPC marketing campaigns on a unified portal.
TrueClicks’s key features
- Powerful auditing, monitoring, and budget pacing tools
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Free forever up to $50K monthly ad spend
- Great integrations with Looker Studio, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Power BI, and Tableau
Cons
- Limited rule-based automation
- No support for scripts or native reporting
- Limited capabilities for Performance Max and value-based bidding
- Limited insights and optimization capabilities compared to Optmyzr
- Doesn’t integrate with Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zapier
Read: How TrueClicks compares to Optmyzr
Acquisio
Pricing: On request
Rating: Rated 3.8/5 on G2 and 4/5 on Capterra
Acquisio is an AI-powered solution for marketers, agencies, and local SEM resellers to scale their PPC offerings on advertising platforms like Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
Acquisio’s key features
- Has tools for group optimization, feed audits, and bid management for shopping campaigns
- Offers single-account and multi-account reports, audit reports, and automated delivery for reporting
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy-to-understand UI
- Suitable for SMBs with limited PPC management needs
Cons
- Limited rule-based automation
- Limited capabilities for Performance Max and value-based bidding
- Minimal support for shopping campaigns
- Bidding tools are fully black-box with limited recommendations and user control
- You’ll see a drop in performance when working with a high number of campaigns
- Doesn’t integrate with Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zapier
Read: How Acquisio compares to Optmyzr
Marin
Pricing: From $2000/month (50 accounts)
Rating: Rated 3.8/5 on G2 and 3.4/5 on Capterra
Marin is a campaign management tool that helps marketers create & optimize campaigns for Google, Facebook & Amazon Ads.
Marin’s key features
- Good rule-based automation, RSA capabilities, and audits
- A good number of tools for shopping
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Powerful budgeting and reporting tools
- Really good product training content
Cons
- Marin’s bid management seems very black-box with no ability to apply your own insights
- Limited capabilities for Performance Max and value-based bidding
- Marin’s solutions for search, social, and reporting are very fragmented with complicated pricing
- The access to their tool is gated by a mandatory demo
- Poor reviews on G2 (3.8) and Capterra (3.4) compared to Optmyzr (4.7 G2 / 4.6 Capterra)
- Doesn’t integrate with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zapier
Read: How Marin compares to Optmyzr
Skai
Pricing: On request
Rating: Rated 4/5 on G2 and 4.4/5 on Capterra
Skai is a cloud-based marketing solution, which helps organizations create, launch, and manage PPC marketing campaigns on a unified portal.
Skai’s key features
- Powerful automation, RSA, audits, and reporting capabilities
- Integration with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zapier
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good rule-based automation, RSA capabilities, and audits
- Good reporting features
- Ideal for enterprise teams
Cons
- Expensive, complicated pricing and free trial structure
- No script support for Google Ads Performance Max campaigns
- Has a longer support response time (6-24 hours) than Optmyzr (2 hours)
Read: How Skai compares to Optmyzr
Adalysis
Pricing: From $99/month ($50K spend, unlimited accounts)
Rating: Rated 4.8/5 on G2 and 4.6/5 on Capterra
Adalysis is a PPC management solution designed to help marketers manage advertising campaigns on Google and Bing search engines.
Adalysis’s key features
- Great tools for budgeting, bidding, auditing, and reporting
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Periodic campaign/account health checks
- Fast and intuitive onboarding
Cons
- Limited capabilities for Performance Max, value-based bidding, shopping, and rule-based automation
- Doesn’t integrate with Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zapier
Read: How Adalysis compares to Optmyzr
PPC Samurai
Pricing: From $195/month (Unlimited spend, upto 99 accounts)
Rating: Rated 4.8/5 on G2
PPC Samurai provides PPC analysis, marketing automation, automatic testing, and
shopping campaign management.
PPC Samurai’s key features
- Supports RSAs and shopping
- Powerful reporting and auditing tools
- Integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zapier
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Great tools for reporting and audits
- Good rule-based automation capabilities
Cons
- Can sometimes be a little slow
- Limited support for Performance Max
- Lacks spend projection capabilities for budgets
- Support for RSAs and shopping could be better
Read: How PPC Samurai compares to Optmyzr
Adzooma
Pricing: Has a free plan. The paid plan starts from $99 a month.
Rating: Rated 4.3/5 on G2 and 4.1/5 on Capterra
Adzooma provides PPC analysis, marketing automation, automatic testing, and shopping campaign management.
Adzooma’s key features
- Support for RSAs and Performance Max campaigns
- Reporting, bidding, and budget management capabilities
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Offers a free plan with some useful, but limited features
- Decent capabilities for RSAs and Performance Max
- Good reporting tools
Cons
- Limited support for Performance Max, shopping campaigns, and RSAs
- Longer data refresh cycle of 12 hours compared to Optmyzr’s real-time refresh cycle
- Limited rule-based automation
- No integration with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zapier
Read: How Adzooma compares to Optmyzr
Supercharge your Google Ads campaigns
Using a Google Ads management tool isn’t just about managing your campaigns better—though it absolutely does that. It also makes your life as an advertiser easier by many orders of magnitude. Hopefully, we did our part to help you find a tool that does that for you.
And after what you read here, if you think Optmyzr is the tool for you, sign up for a 14-day free trial today. Thousands of advertisers — from small agencies to big brands — worldwide use Optmyzr to manage over $5 billion in ad spend every year. Plus, if you want to know how Optmyzr’s various features help you in detail, talk to one of our experts today for a consultation call.
