Ads Lighthouse vs Free Ad Diagnosis Tool in 2026: Search-ad evidence vs guided campaign triage

Ads Lighthouse is for a recurring question about advertising a team does not own. A project stores the brand, its domains, keywords, markets, devices, sources, and check schedule. Its paid-result records retain the search term, source, place, device, time, advertiser domain, copy, and destination, making later review more reliable than a screenshot without search context. Results can be explored by advertiser, keyword, copy change, or destination. Observed visibility means the share of saved monitored searches in which a domain appeared, not platform-reported impression share, spend, or proof that an advertiser bought a particular keyword.

It also has an investigation layer. Teams can declare affiliate URL parameters and known IDs, inspect unfamiliar identifiers in saved links, apply policy rules, and create cases around prohibited copy, direct linking, promo codes, or unauthorized IDs. Eligible server-side traces retain status codes, final pages, affiliate IDs, and a WARC archive when a trace reaches a server. Email, Slack incoming-webhook, and JSON-webhook alerts can notify a team about new or returning advertisers, brand mentions, and affiliate markers. The workflow preserves material for a human decision, rather than declaring that an observation proves an infringement.

Starter costs $49 per month for one project, 20 keywords, two locations, daily checks, 7,500 scheduled checks, and 100 on-demand checks. Growth at $99 introduces Google Shopping, while Scale at $299 adds API keys, REST API access, and client-branded PDF reports. Exports, team roles, reports, alerts, and the hosted MCP server are available across plans. The product is focused by design: it will not diagnose why your own conversion rate fell, but it will keep an evidence trail when an external paid-search issue repeats.

Free Ad Diagnosis Tool is a browser questionnaire for an advertiser who knows performance is wrong but has not isolated the likely stage. It begins with six problem choices, including poor lead quality, high CPL, a performance drop, high CPC, enough leads but weak sales, or uncertainty about the problem. It then follows different routes for Google Ads and Meta Ads. That separation is valuable because assessing search intent and post-click flow is not the same task as checking Meta creative, audience exposure, or lead capture.

The Google Ads path can ask about campaign type, search intent, spend, clicks, leads, CPC, Quality Score, location targeting, tracking, and the next step after the click. The Meta path covers format, objective, audience, spend, impressions, reach, clicks, leads, frequency, and lead capture. For short video or Reel work, entered three-second views and ThruPlays can produce directional hook and hold signals. The output can name a first focus, show a health score and confidence indicator, and suggest up to four checks. Its usefulness is tied directly to the quality and completeness of the numbers entered.

The tool is free, does not require account access, and offers a printable result. It can compare a later diagnosis with the last browser result using local storage. It does not publish paid tiers, API access, integrations, scheduled monitoring, multi-account workflows, or client-report delivery. Treat it as a compact triage checklist before opening the actual account, analytics, and landing experience. It is not proof of a root cause, and it is not a substitute for Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, or a full audit.