The 16 Best Free Google Tools Most Marketers Have Never Opened

Almost anyone with access to the internet relies on Google for almost everything. This is especially true if you’re a digital marketer or SME owner wanting to get your service or product noticed by potential customers online. But apart from the Search, Gmail and Drive tools you use every day, did you know there are several valuable Google marketing tools to help your efforts that are entirely free? 

These underused Google products can support you in every stage of marketing, from research to reports. Best of all? Several of these are free Google tools that replace paid software you may not have funds for. 

Whether you’re a small business owner or a marketer working with a limited budget, read on to discover free Google tools for marketers. Some you may already use; others are hidden gems that are guaranteed to help you work faster and spend less. 

This guide covers 16 free Google tools across strategy, research, SEO, visibility, analytics and reporting, including some that most marketers have never opened, despite them hiding in plain sight. 

For strategy and insight

1. Think With Google

What it is: A free hub for market research, industry insights and case studies to help marketers stay ahead. AI is used to personalise user experiences, so the most relevant information is surfaced according to your needs. 

What it replaces: Paid market intelligence subscriptions, trend reports and analyst briefings. 

How to get started: 

• Visit thinkwithgoogle.com and create your profile for the personalised feed. 
• Explore by topic and filter by location, content type and industry to see tailored recommendations. 

2. Google Market Finder

What it is: A tool that helps businesses evaluate international markets using Google search data, consumer behaviour signals and market indicators. It not only identifies promising markets, but also suggests how best to sell there. (For example, it reveals regional payment preferences, shipping expectations and online buying behaviour.) 

What it replaces: Multiple paid or time-consuming sources for international market research, including keywords, consumers and export planning data. 

How to get started: 

• Enter your website URL at marketfinder.thinkwithgoogle.com 
• Follow the prompts to review demand, opportunity and competition across markets.
• Use the insights to create country-specific ad campaigns and localised landing pages. 

3. Google Meridian (and Scenario Planner) 

What it is: Google’s open-source Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) framework (available via GitHub) that helps you see what part of your marketing is driving sales, and where to spend money next. It uses statistical modelling to consider the bigger picture beyond tracking individual user journeys. Google Meridian analyses historical marketing and business data to estimate how different channels contribute to business outcomes and KPIs.

Google’s Scenario Planner (currently in the open beta stage) helps apply Meridian’s insights to practical budget decisions. Users can test different spending scenarios and compare projected outcomes before reallocating budgets.

Together, Meridian and Scenario Planner help marketers make data-driven budget decisions, rather than spreading spend across channels and hoping for the best.

Note: Unlike the other tools on this list, running Meridian requires Python and data-engineering know-how. Scenario Planner is the no-code layer that sits on top once a model exists.

What it replaces: Costly attribution studies, econometric modelling projects and large-scale MMM work that smaller teams can’t justify. 

How to get started: 

• Download Meridian from GitHub. 
• Connect historical campaign and sales data. 
• Use Scenario Planner to compare budget options before you spend.  

For market and audience research

4. Google Trends

What it is: A trend-tracking tool to spot relative search interest for keywords, topics, brands, products or questions over time and across regions. Use it to identify seasonal patterns, rising topics, and the language people actually use when searching. This is helpful for keyword ideas and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).

What it replaces: Premium SEO, market research, trend forecasting or audience intelligence services or platforms. While specialist platforms offer deeper insights and precise search-volume estimates, Google Trends is good for trend-spotting and validating direction. 

How to get started: 

• Go to trends.google.com, type in your search term, and select the location, time and search type (Web, Images, Shopping, YouTube). 
• Explore ‘interest over time’, compare multiple terms, and check related queries (‘Top’ vs ‘Rising’). 

(Note: Google Trends is a rabbit hole. Five minutes of keyword research can quickly turn into 20 minutes of being distracted by visualisation projects like ‘The Rhythm of Food’. You’ve been warned…)

5. Google Keyword Planner

What it is: A Google Ads tool to learn what people are searching for, and how competitive those searches are. It’s useful for testing content and product ideas, and for using the right terms when optimising for AI search. 

What it replaces: Third-party keyword research and search-demand tools, SEO software, and content ideation platforms. (But you’ll still need specialist tools for deeper SEO insights around backlinks, keyword difficulty scores, etc.). 

How to get started: 

• Sign in to ads.google.com with your existing Google Ads account or create one. 
• Go to Tools → Planning → Keyword Planner. 
• Choose ‘Discover new keywords’ or ‘Get search volume and forecasts’. 
• Enter keywords or a website, set your country/language/date range, then review average monthly searches, competition, trend data and related suggestions. 
• Export results to CSV or Google Sheets for analysis, and cross-check with Google Trends for seasonality. 

6. Google Alerts

What it is: A web-monitoring service to keep track of competitors, industry news and influencers, brand mentions and keywords, with alerts sent straight to your inbox or via RSS. How often depends on your preference: daily, weekly or as it happens. 

What it replaces: Paid PR or brand-monitoring tools. It’s great for small teams or as a lightweight, early warning system that flags new mentions and outreach opportunities. 

How to get started: 

• Go to google.com/alerts and sign in. 
• Enter your query, choose sources, language, region, frequency and delivery, then Create Alert. 
• Edit or delete alerts from the Manage Alerts page.

Tip: Use search operators (such as site:, intitle:, OR) in your chosen keywords to focus results. 

For SEO and search visibility

7. Google Search Console 

What it is: A first-party tool to monitor and improve how your site appears in Google Search. This console shows real search data, such as impressions, clicks, average position, which queries drive traffic, and technical issues that can affect visibility. Use its reports to prioritise content and technical fixes. Google has begun rolling out Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console, currently limited to UK sites. It shows your impressions within AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover. 

What it replaces: While it doesn’t replace advanced third-party rank-tracking tools (Semrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, etc.), it’s essential for Google-sourced search and troubleshooting. 

How to get started: 

• Go to google.com/search-console. 
• Add your property: choose Domain (covers all protocols and subdomains) or URL prefix (single protocol/host). Domain verification requires a DNS TXT record; URL prefix supports HTML tag, file upload, Google Analytics, or Google Tag Manager verification. 
• Submit your sitemap. 
• Data should show within a few days. Check the Performance, Coverage, URL Inspection and Enhancement reports regularly to fix errors or request re-indexing. 

8. Google Rich Results Test

What it is: A way to check whether a page’s structured data can generate rich results, such as recipes, products and events. It reports detected schema types and any warnings or errors that would prevent these enhanced search features.

What it replaces: This practical, Google-specific troubleshooting step complements manual schema validation and other testing tools before and after publishing. 

How to get started: 

• Visit search.google.com/test/rich-results and enter your page’s URL or paste code. 
• Click ‘Test URL’ or ‘Run Test’ to see whether any rich results are detected, and specific warnings or errors to fix. 
• Re-test after you’ve made the schema markup changes.  

Note: Rich results also depend on content quality and Google’s policies.

9. Google PageSpeed Insights (PSI) 

What it is: As its name suggests, PSI analyses a site’s loading performance on mobile and desktop, so you can spot page-speed issues that hurt engagement, conversions and SEO. PSI reports lab data (Lighthouse) and field data from Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) when available, including the Core Web Vitals (CWV) that Google may use for user-experience signals.  

What it replaces: Paid speed-testing tools for initial troubleshooting checks and CWV assessments. Enterprise performance testing may require paid tools. 

How to get started: Simply enter a page URL into pagespeed.web.dev to discover what real users are experiencing, and receive a report of performance and issues to address. 

For brand and product visibility

10. Google Business Profile

What it is: A business listing tool for controlling your company’s presence on Google Search and Maps. Think of it as your Google business card, showing address, opening hours, contact or booking details, photos, product/service listings, posts, and to reply to reviews. This is one of the most important Google tools for business, as local profiles increase trust and drive high-intent leads in local searches.  

What it replaces: The older Google My Business name. It can be used instead of paid local directory listings or third-party review platforms. 

How to get started: 

• Go to business.google.com and sign in with your business Google account. 
• Add or claim your business; choose name, address, category.
• Verify (methods depend on business type but include phone, email and others). Verification may take a few days. 
• Complete your profile with photos, hours, services, booking links and a business description. Remember to keep this information updated and respond to customer reviews. 

11. Google Merchant Centre

What it is: A seriously underused product-management tool for retailers and e-commerce businesses. It acts as a control panel for your product inventory across Google. Upload product data to make them eligible to appear in results across Google Search, Images, YouTube, Maps and shopping experiences. 

What it replaces: The need for hefty ad spend you might not (yet) have. Still, it doesn’t trump Google Business Profile for local presence or a full e-commerce backend. 

How to get started: 

• Create an account at merchants.google.com using your Google account.
• Add business details and verify/claim your website.
• Upload product information. You can do so manually, via your website, with a file, or by linking to partner e-commerce providers (such as Shopify).
• Fix feed errors in Diagnostics, review Product Insights, then opt into free listings or into Google Ads/Performance Max for paid campaigns. 

12. YouTube Studio 

What it is: A creator dashboard for managing your YouTube channel. Apart from publishing videos, you can moderate comments and monitor analytics (audience demographics, views, traffic sources, retention, watch time). Use retention and traffic reports to improve video scripts, thumbnails, and your posting strategy. 

What it replaces: The legacy Creator Studio, and third-party YouTube video analytics platforms.

How to get started: 

• Create/sign in to a Google account and set up a YouTube channel. 
• Once you’ve posted videos, click your profile icon to open YouTube Studio (via desktop or app). 
• Navigate to Analytics to review performance and see reports. 
• Go to the Content section to manage videos, playlists and metadata.

For web and campaign analytics

13. Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

What it is: Google’s analytics platform for websites and apps that tracks user interactions (clicks, scrolls, page views, purchases) as events. GA4 monitors user journeys, conversion paths, retention and can provide predictive metrics such as churn probability for eligible properties. This lets you see where users drop off and which actions lead to conversions. 

What it replaces: Google Universal Analytics. For businesses, it can substitute for paid behavioural and conversion-tracking services. 

How to get started: 

• Visit analytics.google.com to create an account and GA4 property. 
• Add a data stream for your website or app. 
• Install the GA4 tag via gtag.js or Google Tag Manager. 
• Verify data in Realtime and standard reports. 
• Mark key events as conversions and create audiences, funnels or explorations to analyse behaviour. 

Note: GA4 doesn’t provide any information on whether your pages are getting cited in external AI/generative search platforms. There are also common GA4 setup mistakes to avoid, which we outline in this article. 

14. Google Tag Manager (GTM) 

What it is: A tag-management system that lets you add and update tracking codes for a website or app, without repeatedly editing the site’s code. One interface lets you implement measurement and marketing tags, without a developer having to hard-code every script separately. 

What it replaces: The need for a colleague’s manual support every time a simple tracking tag needs to be added or updated. 

How to get started: 

• Create an account and container at tagmanager.google.com. 
• Add the two container snippets to your site (or use a CMS/plugin). 
• In GTM, create tags (GA4 configuration, conversion/event tags), triggers and variables. You may need a dev’s support for this the first time.
• Use preview mode to test before publishing. Publish the container when tests pass.

For reporting and dashboards 

15. Google Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)

What it is: A data visualisation and reporting tool that pulls data from GA4, Search Console, YouTube and other sources to create custom, shareable visual dashboards. It lets marketers combine traffic, engagement and conversion metrics into one client-friendly report without any coding.

What it replaces: Looker Studio, and time-consuming manual reporting.

How to get started: 

• Sign in to datastudio.google.com. 
• Click Create → Report, then add data to connect a source (such as GA4, Search Console, Sheets, Google Ads, etc.). 
• Choose a template or start a blank report. Drag charts, tables and controls onto the canvas, configure metrics and dimensions, and style as needed. 
• Use Data Refresh settings to control update frequency, then Embed or Share the report with colleagues or clients. 

16. Google Data Studio connectors

What it is: Formerly called Data Studio connectors, these connectors (built into Data Studio) link to Google’s products (like GA4 and Google Ads) to keep data live and automatically refreshed in your reports. They’re the bridge between the data sources and your report. Third-party community connectors are also supported, so you can pull data from other places, such as Facebook Ads. 

What it replaces: Manually exporting CSVs or copying data from different places into one spreadsheet. 

How to get started: 

• In Data Studio, click Create → Data source and choose a connector (e.g. Sheets, a database, Google Ads). 
• Authorise access, configure fields and data types, then Add to Report. 
• To blend data, use the Blend Data feature or create combined charts that reference multiple data sources. 
• Set refresh schedules or use BigQuery/Sheets for near real-time data. 

Conclusion

While there are plenty of paid tools and platforms to help you get your business found within the world’s most popular search engine, these hidden Google products for digital marketers offer budget-friendly ways to reach your goal, whatever stage of marketing you’re focusing on. 

If your website relies on these Google tools for business growth, you might also want to read ‘How to Rank in Google AI Overviews in 2026: What Gemini Really Looks For’. Or, for a lighter side to the search engine, see ‘28 Google Easter Eggs & Hidden Secrets’.

FAQs

Are these Google tools all really free?

Yes, all 16 of them have a free tier that can be used with a Google account. But there are some caveats to take note of: You need a free Google Ads account to access Keyword Planner (but no ad spend is needed to browse it). And Meridian is free/open-source, but it needs Python and data-engineering skills to run the core model. Scenario Planner is the no-code layer on top. 

Which Google tool should a small business start with first? 

Start with visibility before measurement. So set up your Google Business Profile for immediate local visibility, and use Search Console to get baseline diagnostics on your website’s performance. Once your website’s generating traffic, try out GA4. 

What’s the difference between Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and the old Universal Analytics (UA)? 

UA measured sessions (user arrives, browses, then leaves = one session), while GA4 measures events (every interaction, including page views, scrolls, clicks, starting a video, downloading a file, completing a purchase, submitting a form). GA4 is better suited to multi-device user behaviour, and it measures both websites and apps. GA4 was designed for a more privacy-focused web and relies less heavily on traditional cookie-based measurement than Universal Analytics. In short, while UA showed how many visits your site got, GA4 reveals what users actually do on your site. 

Can I track how my website appears in AI Overviews for free?

You should be able to now (if you’re in the UK at the time of writing in July 2026) or soon (as Google continues to roll out its Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console). These reports show impressions across AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Discover’s AI features. They don’t yet show clicks or clickthrough rates (CTR).