As an affiliate marketer, you may find it difficult to come up with fresh ideas all the time or blindly test hypotheses without knowing which way to go. Spy tools or spy services are there to help you with intelligence and reconnaissance, so to speak. And even though we say “spy” it does not mean that simply taking someone else’s idea from the web and using it in your work is a great idea. For many reasons, it’s not just morality.
Long story short, here are our top 15 spy tools that will come in handy for your affiliate adventures.
AdHeart
AdHeart allows monitoring and saving landers, creatives, and offers. It is perfect for Facebook and Instagram campaigns.
You can filter by language, ad type (picture or video), copy, headline, traffic source, etc. There is also a feature for spying Apple and Android mobile apps.
With a promo code from OpenAFF you will get a 15% discount. Navigate to the Bonus section in your affiliate dashboard to claim the promo code.
AdMobiSpy
AdMobiSpy is a spy tool for monitoring ads, searching for suitable traffic sources, and boosting your CTR.
The platform’s database covers 12 popular traffic sources including ad networks and social media. This tool is available for any GEO. You can download promos and track links as well.
Tariff plans range from $49 to $599 per month.
With a promo code from OpenAFF you will receive a 25% discount for any tariff. Valid for the first month of payment. Navigate to the Bonus section in your affiliate dashboard to claim the promo code.
AdPeriscope
AdPeriscope is a niche spy tool that suits marketers who run adult campaigns. The platform features a vast database of adult banner ads, covers 56 GEOs, 150 mobile carriers, and major adult networks. There is a search by ad network, GEO, keyword, carrier, device type, language, tracker, lander, and much more. Users can also download landing pages and compile a list of favorite ads to analyze later. There is also such feature as advance alerts that notify you when your competitors launch new ads.
The price for this service is $89.99
AdPlexity
AdPlexity is one of the most popular spy services that affiliate marketers use to best their competitors. It allows browsing through creatives, text, and landing pages. The tool covers more than 100 ad networks, 80 GEOs, and 90 Internet providers. Attila o’Dree, better known as iAmAttila, has compiled a super handy guide for those of you interested in mastering AdPlexity.
There are multiple versions of this tool that allow searching within a narrow traffic niche: Mobile, Adult, Native, Push, Desktop, eCommerce.
AdPlexity has no trial period. The subscription plans start from $149 per month.
With a promo code from OpenAFF you will receive:
- 20% discount on Push and Carriers
- 50% off Mobile, Desktop, and Adult
- 50% discount for Native ads
Navigate to the Bonus section in your affiliate dashboard to claim the promo code.
AdSpy
AdSpy is a spy service that is best suited for Instagram and Facebook campaigns. Ad Intelligence Tool runs a search through affiliate networks, offer and affiliate IDs, landers, and comments. It also allows you to gather demographics and locate cloaked ads which provides a lot of additional information that you wouldn’t get with other services.
AdSpy covers 116.4 million+ ads, 88 languages, and 216 GEOs.
AdSpy subscription costs $149 per month. There is a free version of the tool with limited features.
AdVault
AdVault is another marketing spy service that is dedicated to native ads. The inventory covers 14 million ads, 13 ad networks (including Outbrain, MGID, and Taboola, the most popular native platforms), and 19 GEOs.
Affiliates can filter by ad strength and popularity which allows you to gather more in-depth data about your competition. There are lists of favorite ads and advertisers that you want to follow more closely. AdVault also allows you to see all steps of the campaign funnel, which is priceless for granular analysis.
AdVault has two tariff plans $97/month and $1499/month. Check their website for more details about the covered features.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is one of the most popular spy tools for SEO campaigns. It analyses many aspects of your competitors’ campaigns, including ranking position, backlinks, domains, bids, creatives, landers, etc.
Ahrefs Organic Search Report shows the keywords with which your competitors rank in organic search. Such tool as Top Pages report helps you discover the pages on the competitors’ websites that drive the biggest volumes of traffic, while the Content Gap feature shows the keywords that you are missing compared with your competition.
There are no discounts or free trials, prices range from $99 to $999 per month.
Anstrex
Anstrex is a spy solution that provides insights for your campaigns and comes in a Native, Push, Dropship, and Pops varieties. It has a big database of promotional materials (landing pages and creatives) and a user-friendly interface that is especially appreciated by novice affiliates. It is possible to search through keywords, ad network, category, country, device, affiliate network, tracking tools, etc. The tool is easily integrated with such platforms as Shopify, WooCommerce, AliExpress, AWS, and Digital Ocean.
The monthly price varies from $59.99 for native ads and $79.99 for push ads. The combined tariff plan is $124.99.
Arbalet
Arbalet is a multi-purpose platform for traffic analysis and reselling. Advanced functionality allows you to automatically download landing pages, work with trackers, and integrate offers. You can filter by offers, save landers, edit code, and use a local hosting service. There is a free trial, paid plans start from $13.
With a promo code from OpenAFF you will get a 20% discount for 1-month and 3-month tariffs. Navigate to the Bonus section in your affiliate dashboard to claim the promo code.
SEMrush
SEMrush is a spy tool that is mostly used for SEO research, but it is also useful for CPA campaigns. With this service, you can analyze keywords and budgets of other people’s campaigns, check their backlinks, landers, and export copy. Keyword analysis will allow you to identify the keys your competitors have overlooked, and keyword suggestions will make your campaigns truly unbeatable.
SEMrush also allows marketers to localize their ad campaigns, which is dead useful if you are driving conversions from a foreign GEO. Such feature as CPC map provides relevant data on current bids for different countries, use it to optimize your campaign budget.
There is a 7-days trial, paid tariffs start from $119.95 per month.
SpyOver
SpyOver is a service for monitoring and analyzing ads. It focuses on teaser advertising and has been operating since 2017. The service contains a constantly growing database with more than 1 million ads. Analyze competitor ads – be one step ahead. The database covers 14 ad networks, 150 GEOs, 5 browsers, and 8 trackers.
There is a free trial version and two paid tariff plans: $149 and $299 per month.
With a promo code from OpenAFF you will get a 30% discount. Navigate to the Bonus section in your affiliate dashboard to claim the promo code.
SpyPush
SpyPush is a monitoring service for push, native, popunder, and adult ads. It works with six popular ad networks: Adsterra, Megapush, MGID, PropellerAds, Evadav, and Datspush. The system’s database contains more than 500,000 ads from 100 countries.
With a promo code from OpenAFF you will get a 20% discount on the first payment. Navigate to the Bonus section in your affiliate dashboard to claim the promo code.
WhatRunsWhere
WhatRunsWhere is a spy tool for marketers that shows traffic sources, landing pages, creatives, and more. You can monitor top creatives in your vertical, define promising traffic sources, filter by keyword, ad type, country, date range, etc. You can export direct placements and upload them to your own campaigns.
Another useful feature is that you can choose a publisher’s website add see which advertisers run ads on this site. This provides valuable insights into the best-performing placements that you might have overlooked in your campaigns.
The platform covers 500 networks, 5 GEOs, and 60 million ads. The platform has a 3-days trial period. Contact the team to find out more about available tariff plans.
Spy tools for SEO campaigns
Hootsuite
Hootsuite spy service specializes in social media analytics and campaign management.
The platform is integrated with 35+ social networks which allows affiliates to monitor and control multiple networks within one dashboard. In addition to all the usual analytics by creatives, landers, and keywords the service allows searching by specific hashtags which is very relevant for social media campaigns.
There is a free plan with limited features, paid tariffs start from $49/month up to a custom solution.
SimilarWeb
SimilarWeb is a tool that is known as one of the best spy services for desktop campaigns. It allows you to check the competitors’ traffic in its entirety, this is what it looks like when you analyze the traffic sources:
SimilarWeb covers 90 countries, 100 million websites, 250 million banner ads, and 4.7 million mobile apps. The advanced tools include niche solutions like Digital Research Intelligence, Digital Marketing Intelligence, Shopper Intelligence, Sales Intelligence, Investor Intelligence, and Advisory Services.
There is a free trial, paid tariffs range from $199.00 to $799.00 per month.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is a highly-competitive industry, and you need all the help you can get to best your competition. In-depth information and granular analysis allow you to gather valuable information and make data-driven decisions instead of grappling in the dark and wasting your ad budget.
Spy tools are only as good as you use them. Identify your goals and know what you are looking for, only then these services will really become your advantage. Also, if you are not ready to pay for a spy tool, don’t forget about open ad libraries that you can access for free, for example, Facebook Ad Library. And remember, information is out there for those who know how to use it.
If you want to reach new GEOs and audiences, maybe it is all waiting for you on Telegram? We’ve prepared some material about Telegram audiences. What are the messenger’s users like this year? How old they are, what they do, and what they are interested in!
