# Google Ads History & Ad Copy Exporter (`adhistory/google-ads-history-actor`) Actor

Export every Google ad a competitor runs from the Ads Transparency Center: decoded headline and description text, first/last shown dates, days running, and a longest-running 'proven ads' summary per advertiser. Bulk domains in, CSV out. No login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/adhistory/google-ads-history-actor.md
- **Developed by:** [Brandon Ob](https://apify.com/adhistory) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 ads

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Google Ads History & Ad Copy Exporter

Export every Google ad a competitor has run, with the **ad copy decoded**, **first and last shown dates**, **days running**, and the **countries** each ad ran in. Paste in competitor domains and get a CSV, plus a **"proven ads" summary**: the ads each advertiser kept running longest, which are usually the ones that make them money.

Data comes from the public [Google Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com/). No login, no Google Ads account, no API key.

### What you get for each ad

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Advertiser | Booqable |
| Format | text / image / video |
| Headline | Shopify Rental Plugin |
| Description | Increase your bookings with our rental plugin. Try it risk-free and see the results! |
| Days shown | 1022 |
| First shown / last shown | 2023-02-09 / 2026-10-20 |
| Countries (optional) | US, GB, DE, NL… with per-country first and last dates |
| Links | Transparency Center page and rendered preview image |

Search (text) ads are only published by Google as images. This Actor reads the headline and description out of them for you, at no extra charge. Turn on **Per-country history** to add country-level dates.

### Proven ads summary

Each run also saves an `ADVERTISER_SUMMARY` record in the key-value store:

- how long the advertiser has been running Google ads
- how many ads are live right now
- median days an ad stays live
- the 10 longest-running ads with full text

An ad that has run for 800+ days is an ad someone has kept paying for. That makes it the best copy to study before you write your own.

### Who uses it

- **PPC freelancers and agencies:** competitor ad copy research for a client audit or a new account, in minutes.
- **SaaS and ecommerce marketers:** see which offers, headlines and landing pages competitors keep running.
- **Founders checking a niche:** a business that has advertised for 3+ years without stopping is probably profitable on ads.
- **Lead generation:** find out which companies are actively spending on Google Ads right now.

### How to use

1. Add one or more **domains** (e.g. `competitor.com`), **advertiser names**, or **advertiser IDs**.
2. Optional: pick a **country**, an **ad format** (text = search ads), a date range, or **Only ads running now**.
3. Set **Max ads per advertiser**. Newest ads come first, so raise it to reach older long-running ads.
4. Run, then export the dataset as CSV, Excel or JSON, or call it from the API, Make, Zapier or n8n.

#### Example input

```json
{
  "domains": ["booqable.com", "truckingoffice.com"],
  "country": "US",
  "adFormat": "text",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 200
}
```

#### Example output

```json
{
  "input": "booqable.com",
  "advertiserName": "Booqable",
  "format": "text",
  "headline": "Shopify Rental Plugin",
  "description": "Increase your bookings with our rental plugin. Try it risk-free and see the results!",
  "daysShown": 1022,
  "firstShown": "2023-02-09T20:08:42+00:00",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-20T08:46:48+00:00",
  "regions": [{"country": "NL", "firstShown": "2023-02-09", "lastShown": "2026-10-16", "surfaces": ["google_search"]}],
  "transparencyUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR17625691874566078465/creative/CR02688493327925379073"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per ad saved. Decoded text, country history and the advertiser summary are included in that price, with no separate "details" charge. 100 ads from one competitor costs about $0.15. Set a maximum cost per run in Apify and the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

### Notes

- Per-country start dates are published for European countries. For the US and some others Google publishes only the last shown date per country. Overall first/last shown dates and days shown are available for every ad.
- Text is read from Google's rendered ad image, so long descriptions that Google cut off end in "…", and an occasional character may be misread.
- This Actor only reads public data that Google publishes for ad transparency.

### FAQ

**Can I get a competitor's ad spend or keywords?** No. Google does not publish spend or keywords. Days running and number of live ads are the best public proxies.

**Do I need proxies?** The default residential proxy is included in the per-ad price. Google blocks IPs that send many requests, and the Actor rotates to a fresh IP when that happens.

**Something broke or you need a field?** Open an issue on the Issues tab. I usually reply within a day.

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

Websites whose Google ads you want, e.g. competitor.com. One per line. URLs are fine.

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Company names to look up in the Google Ads Transparency Center. The best match is used.

## `advertiserIds` (type: `array`):

Transparency Center advertiser IDs (start with AR).

## `country` (type: `string`):

Only ads shown in this country. ANY returns ads from all countries.

## `adFormat` (type: `string`):

Text = Google Search ads. Image and video cover Display and YouTube.

## `maxAdsPerAdvertiser` (type: `integer`):

Newest ads come first. Raise this to reach older, long-running ads.

## `onlyActiveAds` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only ads shown in the last 3 days.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD

## `decodeAds` (type: `boolean`):

Reads the headline and description of text (search) ads. Included in the per-ad price.

## `includeCountryHistory` (type: `boolean`):

Adds first/last shown dates per country for each ad. Makes one extra request per ad, so large runs take longer.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Google rate-limits repeated requests from one IP. Residential proxy is recommended and included in the price.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "booqable.com"
  ],
  "country": "ANY",
  "adFormat": "all",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100,
  "onlyActiveAds": false,
  "decodeAds": true,
  "includeCountryHistory": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `ads` (type: `string`):

No description

## `advertiserSummary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "booqable.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("adhistory/google-ads-history-actor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "domains": ["booqable.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("adhistory/google-ads-history-actor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "booqable.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call adhistory/google-ads-history-actor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,adhistory/google-ads-history-actor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/stH1EOYrUgSiyAY4n/builds/S8525qqlqeqbZ7cqz/openapi.json