SERP Tracker Settings

  • Updated

Advert text policy

You may report advertisers who misuse your trademark in the ad title or description. However, Google does not accept trademark complaints related to the use of a brand name in an advertiser's display URL, as this alone does not necessarily indicate misuse or deception.

Google permits the use of trademarked terms in display URLs under certain conditions, such as:

  • Authorized resellers or distributors: an advertiser may use the brand name to indicate that they legitimately sell the brand's products.
  • Referencing or reviewing: websites that mention, compare, or review a brand (e.g., in blog posts or articles) may use the brand name in the display URL for context or commentary.

Navigate to SERP tracker

To access SERP Tracker Settings, click the Settings  (⚙️) icon in the bottom-left corner of your Adthena account. Under Product Settings, select SERP Tracker.

Rule overview

This view lists all configured rules and their current status, ordered alphabetically by rule name. Each row shows whether a rule is live or paused, how many recipients are linked to it, and the available actions.

The table includes the following details:

  • Rule – lists existing rules
  • Status – shows whether a rule is Live or Paused
  • No. of Recipients – shows how many users receive a daily summary of matches by email. To edit, open the rule and add or remove recipients on the edit screen
  • Action – lets you pause, reactivate, or delete a rule

Live rules are actively matching: they're checked against the results page every hour and record every ad that trips their conditions. Paused rules stop matching from the moment you pause them and record nothing while paused, but keep their full configuration and everything already recorded — select Set live to resume with the same setup.

Important: Deleting a rule is permanent, and it also removes the matches and evidence the rule recorded from the SERP Tracker report — not just the rule itself. If you only want to stop new matches, pause the rule instead: a paused rule keeps its history and can be set live again at any time.

Rule management

Before creating a rule, you need hourly search terms set up. For more information, see Search Term Groups. Once your terms are added to the hourly group, click + New SERP Tracker rule.

  1. Rule name – enter a name for the rule, e.g. "Brand Bidding | Google | Desktop".

  2. Rule type – select the search engine and device you wish to monitor:

    • Google watches Google results and picks its search terms from your account's hourly Google term group.
    • Bing watches Bing results (offered when Bing is enabled on your account); Bing rules run on desktop only and pick their terms from your Bing terms group.
    • Desktop checks the desktop results page.
    • Mobile checks the mobile results page (offered when mobile tracking is enabled on your account).

    Important: once you save the rule, the search engine and device selection can't be changed — create a separate rule for each combination you want to cover.

  3. Notification email(s) – enter an email address to receive a daily summary of all matches. You can add multiple addresses — click Add after each one. All recipients must have an Adthena login to see the evidence previews linked from the digest.
  4. Selecting a rule lets you configure it under three tabs: Search terms, Competitors, and Ad text.

Search terms

Pick the hourly terms the rule watches.

  • Use the dropdown to switch between All hourly terms, Selected, and Unselected views
  • You can select terms across multiple pages
  • Picks only take effect once you save the rule
  • Switching search engine while creating the rule discards your picks, since each engine has its own term pool
  • If you update your hourly terms later, apply the changes to the rule manually — updates aren't reflected automatically

Competitors

Choose which domains the rule applies to.

  • Only the following domains – monitor specific competitors (e.g. your affiliates)
  • All domains except the following – exclude certain domains (e.g. your own)
  • Add domains one at a time: type a valid domain (e.g. "adthena.com") and press Enter. Suggestions will appear, but you can add any domain even if it's not listed
  • To add several at once, click Bulk Add, paste your domains one per line or separated by commas, then click Add Domains

Ad Text

Require specific wording before a match counts. Skip this tab if you want to report on all adverts.

  • Each row checks one piece of text in the placements you tick
  • Rows inside the same group must all match at once
  • Separate groups act as alternatives — the rule fires if any one group fully matches
  • Click + Add row to add another condition to a group
  • Click + Add group to add an alternative set of conditions
The four placements are:
  • Title – the ad's headline
  • Description – the ad's description lines
  • Display URL – the web address shown on the ad
  • Click URL – the address the ad actually links to
Each row matches its text in one of four ways:
  • Contains – matches when your text appears anywhere in that placement, even inside a longer word
  • Contains (whole word only) – matches only when your text appears as a standalone word
  • Doesn't contain – matches ads where your text doesn't appear at all
  • Doesn't contain (whole word only) – matches ads where your text never appears as a standalone word

5. When finished, click Save at the top left of the page.

Use cases

Report trademark infringements

It's important to keep this rule up to date. If a competitor uses your trademarked brand term in their ad copy, you can report it to the publisher, who will then remove the ad. To set up:

  1. It's recommended to select all hourly terms.
  2. Competitors: exclude your own domain, affiliates, and authorized resellers.
  3. Ad text: include all variations of your trademarked brand term.

Monitor brand bidding

This rule monitors who is bidding on your brand. To set up:

  1. Select hourly terms that contain your brand.
  2. Competitors: exclude your own domain, affiliates, and authorized resellers.

If a competitor frequently bids on your brand, consider creating a separate rule to track them. Also, if you have a non-bidding agreement with a competitor, set up two rules — one to ensure they honor the agreement, and another to monitor your own compliance, especially when working with a team or agency.

Affiliate/reseller management

If you have contracts with specific sites, you can monitor them to ensure they avoid banned terms and follow rules on ad messaging and pricing. To set up:

  1. Select which hourly terms to monitor.
  2. Competitors: list of affiliates or resellers to track.
  3. Ad text: prohibited phrases in their ads, such as "Cheap" or "Discount," that violate your agreement.