The Competitor Conquest Campaign

The play

1. Pick competitors where you can actually win

   List the managers and resorts guests cross-shop with you. For each, ask: do we have comparable inventory and a real edge (price, quality, policies, location)? Conquesting someone whose product beats yours just pays to advertise their category.

2. One ad group per competitor

   Structure: a single campaign, one ad group per competitor brand, exact and tight phrase match on their name and name + “rentals/promo/reviews” variants. Per-competitor ad groups keep the data readable and let you kill losers cleanly.

3. Write trademark-safe ads

   Never put the competitor’s name in your ad copy — that’s the trademark line you don’t cross. Instead, compete on the choice they’re making: “Comparing [town] rental managers? See rates with no service fees.” Honest comparison framing converts and keeps you clean.

4. Cap CPCs hard and start narrow

   Competitor clicks are worth less than brand or generic clicks — searchers have someone else in mind. Cap bids low (a $2–4 ceiling is a sane start in most markets), run Search only, and give it a modest daily budget until the data says otherwise.

5. Build the protective negative list

   Attach a shared negative list from day one: jobs, careers, owner login, [competitor] owner portal, phone number — the searches with zero booking intent that otherwise leak through phrase match.

6. Watch week one like a hawk

   Check the search terms report within the first week. Some competitor names are also generic phrases — those ad groups will leak generic queries at conquest settings. Tighten match types or add negatives immediately; this is where conquest campaigns quietly die.

What to expect