TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SpyFu

    Score7 out of 10
    N/ASpyFu is the eponymous SEO and PPC research platform from the company in Scottsdale, Arizona focused on "spying" on competitors, or basically using their behaviors to refine your own through keyword and content analysis, and backlink poaching. This positional search engine optimization and paid listings management platform touts the ability to lower costs and raise rankings via a Kombat-oriented approach... basically a cute way of saying "it makes comparisons" of how well your site does in niche…

    $39

    per month

    Taboola

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ATaboola is a native advertising platform from the company of the same name in New York for publishing "recommended" content in a variety of popularly visited news sites and spaces. Taboola is partnered with many publishers (the Atlantic, Tribune, MailOnline, Business Insider, etc.).

    $10

    Starting Price Per Day

    Pricing
    SpyFuTaboola
    Editions & Modules
    Basic
    $39
    per month
    Professional
    $79
    per month
    Team
    $299
    per month
    Campaigns
    $10.00
    Starting Price Per Day
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SpyFuTaboola
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    SpyFuTaboola
    SEO
    Comparison of SEO features of SpyFu and Taboola
    Feature
    SpyFu
    6.6
    52 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Taboola
    -
    Ratings
    Keyword analysis7.052 Ratings00 Ratings
    Backlink management6.040 Ratings00 Ratings
    SERP ranking tracking6.044 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page grader7.829 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitive analysis7.051 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site audit / diagnostics7.232 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site recommendations6.031 Ratings00 Ratings
    Task management6.120 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Channels
    Comparison of SEO Channels features of SpyFu and Taboola
    Feature
    SpyFu
    5.8
    39 Ratings
    27% below category average
    Taboola
    -
    Ratings
    Local SEO5.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social SEO5.028 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile SEO8.029 Ratings00 Ratings
    Global SEO5.035 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Platform & Account Management
    Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of SpyFu and Taboola
    Feature
    SpyFu
    7.2
    28 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Taboola
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-domain support6.028 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with web analytics tools8.518 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SpyFuTaboola
    Small Businesses
    Serpstat
    Score10 out of 10
    Amazon Advertising Sponsored Products
    Score5.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Yoast
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Amazon Advertising Sponsored Products
    Score5.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    AdSense
    Score8.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SpyFuTaboola
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (62 ratings)
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (10 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    2.9
    (5 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SpyFuTaboola
    Likelihood to Recommend
    SpyFu
    If you have a Google ads PPC campaign and then I would say this is more or less essential if you want to know what your competitors are doing. You can get very useful data out of it even if you subscribe for one month. And the pricing is very reasonable. Even if you don't use Google ads, I would say this is still useful for your SEO/SMO team since it gives you a great idea of what keywords and traffic your competitors are working on.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Taboola
    If you want to have your company advertised on news websites across the United States then Taboola is perfect. If you're looking for clicks and impressions but not so much interested in traffic that is highly engaged and converting often then I'd suggest Taboola as an option to run traffic, too. This is the perfect platform for grey-hat offers and similar ideas. I wouldn't suggest it for running ads on your website due to some strict conditions and the fact that it might not necessarily play nice with traffic coming from Facebook.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    SpyFu
    • Keeping a tab on competitors organic and inorganic activities
    • Helps identify where the competitor is getting the backlinks from.
    • Identify competitors top content and the keywords that's bringing them traffic
    • Get proper information of their current and past ADS run on Google.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Taboola
    • A good value on clicks -- they have visitors for all CPCs!
    • Worldwide reach and relatability -- so many providers use Taboola. It's very easy to reach your audience wherever.
    • High quality -- their policies ensure that only enjoyable, modest content is provided.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    SpyFu
    • As with any database, their keyword database has limits, so the data returned is relative to their database, not necessarily the full picture.
    • When SpyFu database or scoring chances, the data provided can spike, thus causing confusion among stakeholders, we're reporting to.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Taboola
    • I would like to see an easier way to exclude irrelevant sites that our ads received impressions or clicks on.
    • Being able to bid on specific sites only.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    SpyFu
    Love this tool but would like insights from all 3 major search engines not just Google. I would also like deeper understanding of the placement for local businesses on Google Places/Maps. Insight into mobile search rankings and best landing pages per industry would also help :) Overall, SpyFu is a necessity for serious search marketers.
    Read full review
    Taboola
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    SpyFu
    SpyFu is an easy to use tool, and has a self -explanatroy dashborad to generate the data needed to provide insights into any B2B SEO and PPC campaign. It is not comprehensive, but it certainly provides good enough insight to make it a valuable part of any agency tool stack
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Taboola
    It was pretty straightforward getting an account set up and having an account rep assigned. Compared to some other platforms Taboola is actually rather intuitive when it comes to navigating the user interface. Pixel implementation was easy and we didn't have any discrepancies tracking conversions. Also the ability to target LALs was very useful and semi-straightforward to upload.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    SpyFu
    SpyFu comes with a link to tutorial videos. I recommend you watch them. The software is capable of so much you really need to watch the videos and learn how to get the most out of it. When I have a question 90% of the time it's there. When it isn't, and I reach out to them, support is always quick and concise.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Taboola
    We have a point of contact in Taboola and he has been really great in supporting our campaign. He helped us set up the initial campaign, answered our questions related to the campaign and even agreed when I asked for a lower CPC. Also, while he tried to encourage us to spend more, he never pushed us to the point that it gets annoying.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    SpyFu
    I was surprised to find I preferred Semrush when it comes to keyword research. SpyFu is great (and less expensive than Semrush), but I felt the data Semrush provided was vaster than SpyFu. I was able to get more competitors spending insights in Semrush than SpyFu. Overall, I liked the ability to use both in our keyword research for both paid and organic marketing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Taboola
    Outbrain doesn't charge a fee for automatic credit card billing. Often Outbrain CPC for the same content is cheaper but not always. The Outbrain UX is not as good as Taboola but recent changes had made them better than they used to be. In Outbrain you can not change images or titles once they are submitted. You also can not clone campaigns which you can do with Taboola
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    SpyFu
    • Helping us track our ranking.
    • It helps solve the problem of ambiguity when it comes to Google Ads. It makes the strategy more clear.
    • You can sift through lots of different online analytics to find the information, but it takes way too long. SpyFu has it all in one place!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Taboola
    • Taboola campaigns have had positive effects on top of funnel activities and engagement metrics though the traffic is not always as qualified as one would like. You will need to carefully tailor your campaign to squeeze out the most relevant traffic.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots