SearchSnitch vs searching for your brand yourself
Most businesses start by typing their own name into Google every so often to see who is advertising. It costs nothing and it is a sensible first step. The trouble is what it misses.
Last reviewed November 2026
| Feature | SearchSnitch | Checking Google yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | From $19/month | Free, plus your time |
| How often it checks | Daily to every 6 hours, automatically | Whenever someone remembers |
| Countries | Checks as a searcher in each country you pick | Usually only your own location |
| Personalisation | Clean, signed-out searches | Results shaped by your history and location |
| Record of what appeared | Ad text, advertiser, keyword, landing link and time, kept as history | Only if you screenshot it |
| Affiliate links | Reads the landing link and flags affiliate IDs | Hard to see without clicking, and clicking costs the advertiser |
| Alerts | Email when a new advertiser appears | None |
Why one search is not enough
Google runs a fresh ad auction for every search. Budgets run out, bids change by time of day, and ads are targeted by location and device. A competitor can be on your brand every afternoon in Manchester and never show up when you search from home in the morning.
Your own searches are also personalised. Google knows who you are, where you are and what you have searched before, so what you see is not necessarily what a new customer sees.
The clicking problem
To find out where an ad really goes, you have to click it. That charges the advertiser for the click, and if it is an affiliate, it can even set their tracking cookie on your own browser. SearchSnitch reads the landing link straight from the results and never clicks ads.
When manual checking is fine
- You only want a rough idea once in a while.
- You sell in one area and have one or two brand keywords.
- You have time to check at different times of day and keep notes.
The short version
Manual checks are a good place to start. If you want to know about new advertisers without remembering to look, and keep a record you can act on, automated monitoring saves the time and catches far more.
Questions
Does searching for my own brand and not clicking cost me anything?
No. Ads are charged per click, so searching without clicking costs no one money. Repeatedly searching can make your own results less representative, though, because Google personalises them.
Can I use incognito mode instead?
Incognito removes some personalisation, but your location still applies and you still only see one auction at one moment. It helps, but it does not solve the timing problem.
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