# Spy on a Competitor's Google Shopping Ads

**Use case:** 

The Shopping ads a store runs on Google: the product picture, format, countries and the first and last day each ad was shown, from the Google Ads Transparency Center. Add a date filter to see the products a competitor pushes this month.

## Input

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "walgreens.com"
  ],
  "resultType": "ads",
  "region": "US",
  "adPlatforms": [
    "SHOPPING"
  ],
  "creativeFormat": "ALL",
  "politicalAds": false,
  "maxAdsPerSearch": 30,
  "maxAdvertisersPerQuery": 5,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includeAdText": true,
  "ocr": true,
  "ocrAllVariations": true,
  "landingPages": false,
  "onlyNewAds": false,
  "monitorStoreName": "google-ads-library-monitor",
  "notifyWhen": "ads",
  "skipDuplicateAds": true,
  "includeErrorRows": true,
  "fastMode": false,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  },
  "residentialFallback": true,
  "failIfAllInputsFail": false,
  "strictInput": false
}
```

## Output

```json
{
  "imageUrl": {
    "label": "Ad",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "advertiserName": {
    "label": "Advertiser",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "format": {
    "label": "Format",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "headline": {
    "label": "Headline",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "description": {
    "label": "Description",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "displayUrl": {
    "label": "Display URL",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "firstShown": {
    "label": "First shown",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "lastShown": {
    "label": "Last shown",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "daysShown": {
    "label": "Days",
    "format": "integer"
  },
  "regionCount": {
    "label": "Countries",
    "format": "integer"
  },
  "youtubeVideoId": {
    "label": "YouTube",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "adUrl": {
    "label": "Link",
    "format": "string"
  }
}
```

## How it works

### 1. Sign up on Apify or log in

The Google Ads Library Scraper — Google Ads Transparency Center Actor is ready to run with the inputs already set for "Spy on a Competitor's Google Shopping Ads". [Sign up or log in](https://console.apify.com/create-task-from-example/tpaOig1yXnyTAylkZ) and you'll land in Apify Console with a copy of this exact task.

### 2. Start the "Spy on a Competitor's Google Shopping Ads" task

The Google Ads Library Scraper — Google Ads Transparency Center Actor will start running based on the input automatically. You can also change all the input fields, like brands, websites, advertiser ids or links, what to return, and more, to match your specific use case.

### 3. Receive the "Spy on a Competitor's Google Shopping Ads" output

Monitor the progress in real time. You will be notified as soon as your dataset is complete and ready for review. Each result includes data such as ad, advertiser, format, and more.

### 4. Integrate into your workflow

The final output is delivered in JSON, CSV, or Excel format, ready to be plugged into your workflow. You can also [run the "Spy on a Competitor's Google Shopping Ads" task via API](https://apify.com/anuarbakty/google-ads-library-scraper.md).

## FAQ

### Can I see only the ads of this month?

Set "Shown on or after" to a date or to "30 days".

### Can I watch the new Shopping ads of a store?

Turn on "Only new ads" with a memory name and schedule the task.

## About this Actor

This example demonstrates how to use [Google Ads Library Scraper — Google Ads Transparency Center](https://apify.com/anuarbakty/google-ads-library-scraper.md) with a specific input configuration. Visit the [Actor detail page](https://apify.com/anuarbakty/google-ads-library-scraper.md) to learn more, explore other use cases, and run it yourself.


## How to integrate an Actor?

This Task's input is already configured above. Use it as-is rather than inventing a new one.

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 full API examples (JavaScript, Python, CLI, MCP, OpenAPI), see this Task's Actor page: https://apify.com/anuarbakty/google-ads-library-scraper.md

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`).