AdClarity vs Ads Lighthouse in 2026: Cross-channel competitive tracking vs brand-search evidence

AdClarity consolidates display, video, social, and native activity into a view of a competitor’s media mix. It models estimated budget allocation by publisher, format, and time period, which can flag shifts in investment but should be treated as directional rather than audited spend.

Its creative library and benchmarks can be filtered by format, device, and geography. Share of voice begins on Advanced, while Basic covers display and social with limited competitor tracking. This makes AdClarity stronger for teams asking how a competitor’s broader media programme is changing.

The platform is not a scheduled brand-search evidence system. Its published tiers start at $129 per month, with Advanced at $289, Team at $349, and Enterprise by contact. API access starts at Team.

AdClarity is most credible as a direction-finding tool. A change in modeled media mix, share of voice, or creative activity can prompt a buyer to examine a channel or publisher, but it should not be presented as an advertiser’s audited spend record. Teams needing a time-stamped record of a particular search observation need a different evidence model.

Ads Lighthouse checks Google and Bing for the keyword, location, device, and schedule a project defines. It records the search context, ad copy, destination, and advertiser history. Google Shopping starts on Growth, with product, merchant, price, destination, and position details.

Its policy and evidence workflow is the distinction. Teams can track affiliate identifiers, create cases, trace eligible destinations server-side, and keep a WARC archive when a trace reaches a server. Alerts can go to email, Slack webhook, or webhook JSON when a new advertiser appears or a defined event occurs.

Starter is $49 per month for one project, 20 keywords, two locations, 7,500 scheduled checks, and 100 on-demand checks. Scale, at $299 per month, adds REST API access, API keys, and white-label reports. Those limits should be modelled before monitoring many locations frequently.

The value is in specificity. A saved result records a configured search context, which makes it suitable for an investigation, an affiliate review, or a policy case. It cannot describe the entire paid-search market, and observed visibility must not be confused with Google Ads impression share. The allowance model also means a large multi-market programme needs planning before it is switched on.