Ok to run adverts on competitors website?

One of our competitors runs Google adverts on their website. We've debated running an advert via the Google network on that site. We're in two minds about it:

1. It's going to be amazingly highly targeted and cause a stir and possibly generate a lot more interest/revenue in our alternative product
2. It might make them, and their customers angry

Is it immoral to do this?

The whole point of advertising is to attract buyers to your product or service. Do you question whether to advertise on other sites where your ad might run? You run your ad on the sites that generate the most sales for you. If your competitor allows ads on their site, then advertise there.

I would strongly suspect that as soon as your competitor notices yours ads there, he will block your ads from appearing. But in the mean time, go for it.

Ethically it is not good to place ads on your direct competitor's website(s) but legally and intentionally you can do it in the given scenario because your competitor is already running Google Adverts on their website. So they are generating money from two sources:

• By selling their OWN products
• And from Google AdSense as well which means they have no reason/rights to be annoyed for ads placement no amtter if they are driven from their own competitors.

Regarding their customers; they would love to consider and compare another similar alternative. So don’t think about their customers’ base and go for ad placement.

If they are foolish enough to have competitors Google Ads on their website then that is entirely their choice and their mistake.

However I would keep a very close eye on the traffic from this and the results you get. There are some unscroupulous businesses out there and I'm sure some may click competitors ads on their own sites (not very often if they have any sense or Google will catch them at it), as it will have two effects, increasing their revenue from adsense and burning their competitors budgets.

However anyone daft enought to allow competitors ads onto their site is probably not clever enough to pull that off.