Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Competitor Ads

Google Ads Transparency Scraper is an Apify Actor that returns every ad an advertiser runs on Google, from Google's Ads Transparency Center: format, first and last shown dates, days running, the ad's text and images, and a link to each ad. Look up any brand by name, website domain or advertiser ID, filter by country and format, and get one JSON row per ad.

Example result

nike.com, from a real run on 6 October 2026: 50 ads in 28 seconds. One text ad, for example, was first shown on 16 November 2023 and was still running on 5 October 2026 (902 days).

Each ad includes the advertiser, format, first and last shown dates, days running, preview image, ad text and a link to the ad in the Transparency Center.

Quick facts

• What you get, one row per ad:
  • advertiser name and ID, ad ID and format (text, image or video)
  • first shown, last shown and days running, so you can see what's live and what's been running for months
  • headline, texts, image URLs, landing page and YouTube video, read from the ad's preview
  • a preview image and a link to the ad on Google's Ads Transparency Center
• Any advertiser: names (Nike), domains (nike.com), Transparency Center URLs or advertiser IDs (AR…).
• Filters: country (US, UK, Germany, 50 more or anywhere) and format.
• Price: $1 per 1,000 ads (less on paid Apify plans), ad text included. Apify's free $5 monthly credit covers 5,000 ads.
• AI agents: connect https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automationnation/google-ads-transparency-scraper (setup below).

What can you do with it?

• Competitor research: see every ad a rival runs on Search, YouTube, Display and Shopping, and which ones have been live longest (their winners).
• Creative inspiration: collect headlines, offers and visuals across a whole market.
• Agency pitches and audits: show a prospect what their competitors spend their creative on.
• Brand protection: spot ads that use your brand or point to look-alike domains.
• Market intelligence: track when brands launch, pause and rotate campaigns, by country.
• Ad spy and PPC research: study competitors' ad copy and ad creative in Google's ad library, the Ads Transparency Center.

How to use it

1. Click Try for free.
2. Add advertisers or domains, e.g. nike.com or Nike.
3. Choose the country, ad format and how many ads you want per advertiser.
4. Click Start. 100 ads with their text take about a minute. Download JSON, CSV or Excel, or use the API.

Run it on a schedule: only new ads

Competitor ad alerts: see each new ad a competitor launches on Google Search, YouTube and Display. Turn on Only new ads and each run checks the advertiser's most recent ads and saves, and charges for, only the ones earlier runs didn't return.

1. Add the advertisers or domains you watch and turn on Only new ads ("onlyNewAds": true).
2. Click Save as a new task, then Schedule it daily or weekly.
3. On the task's Integrations tab, send new ads to Slack, email, Google Sheets or a webhook, or pick them up in n8n, Make or Zapier.

{
  "advertisers": ["nike.com", "Adidas"],
  "region": "us",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100,
  "onlyNewAds": true
}

You pay only for new ads, and ads seen before are skipped before their text and images are fetched, so repeat runs are quick. Use Monitor name to keep separate histories for the same advertisers.

Input example

{
  "advertisers": ["nike.com", "Adidas", "AR16735076323512287233"],
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 200,
  "region": "us",
  "format": "all",
  "includeAdContent": true
}

Output example

{
  "input": "nike.com",
  "advertiserId": "AR16735076323512287233",
  "advertiserName": "Nike, Inc.",
  "creativeId": "CR00174332937293004801",
  "format": "image",
  "firstShown": "2026-04-28T15:50:24.000Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-05T09:22:29.000Z",
  "daysShown": 127,
  "headline": "Nike Men's Tech Fleece Windrunner Full-Zip Jacket in Black, Size: Medium | HV0949-010",
  "texts": ["Nike Men's Tech Fleece Windrunner Full-Zip Jacket in Black, Size: Medium | HV0949-010", "Nike"],
  "imageUrls": ["https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSg4CcDe_UlkHO3JDcGrfa24KGsWZxJLi-zluNkfaqJMqX8L3Q"],
  "landingUrl": null,
  "youtubeUrl": null,
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233/creative/CR00174332937293004801?region=US",
  "region": "us",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-05T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Output fields

Field	Description
advertiserId, advertiserName	The verified advertiser
creativeId, format	The ad and its format: text, image or video
firstShown, lastShown, daysShown	When it ran; a recent lastShown means it's still live
headline, texts	The ad's visible text, from its preview (with Ad text and images on)
imageUrls, landingUrl, youtubeUrl	Images, link target and YouTube video, when the preview has them
previewImageUrl	Google's rendered image of the ad (text ads often come this way)
adUrl	The ad on Google's Ads Transparency Center
domain, region, input	Domain, country filter and what you asked for

The Run summary (OUTPUT) shows, per advertiser, which advertiser a name matched, other matches, the total ads Google reports and how many were returned.

How much does it cost?

Ads	Free & Bronze plans	Silver	Gold and above
1,000	$1.00	$0.90	$0.80
10,000	$10	$9	$8

Ad text and images are included. Advertisers that can't be found are free. Set a maximum cost per run in the run options to cap spend.

Use it with AI agents (MCP)

Hosted: add https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automationnation/google-ads-transparency-scraper to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or another MCP client and sign in with Apify.

Local (Claude Desktop or Cursor config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-ads-transparency": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@apify/actors-mcp-server", "--tools", "automationnation/google-ads-transparency-scraper"],
      "env": { "APIFY_TOKEN": "YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

Then ask, for example: "Which Google ads has Adidas run in the UK for more than 60 days, and what do their headlines promise?"

Integrations and API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automationnation~google-ads-transparency-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"advertisers":["nike.com"],"maxAdsPerAdvertiser":40,"region":"us"}'

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("automationnation/google-ads-transparency-scraper").call(run_input={"advertisers": ["nike.com"], "region": "us"})
for ad in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(ad["format"], ad["daysShown"], ad.get("headline"))

Schedule it weekly with an Apify integration (Slack, Google Sheets, webhooks, n8n, Make, Zapier) to catch new competitor ads as they launch.

FAQ

Which ads does Google show here? Ads from verified advertisers across Google Search, YouTube, Display and Shopping, as published in Google's Ads Transparency Center. Spend and targeting aren't public outside political ads.

Name, domain or ID: which should I use? A domain (nike.com) returns every ad that links to that website, whichever advertiser account runs it (for example Nike, Inc. and Nike's regional companies), newest first. A name picks the closest-named advertiser: one based in your chosen region if there is one ("Adidas" with region us is Adidas America, Inc), otherwise the brand's main home-market account ("Apple" is Apple Inc, not a smaller advertiser that's also called Apple). The run summary lists the other matches with their IDs, so you can pass an exact advertiser ID (AR…) next time.

Why do some text ads have no text? Google serves some text ads only as a rendered image; you get it in previewImageUrl.

How many ads can I get? Up to 10,000 per advertiser per run, newest first.

Is it legal? The Ads Transparency Center is a public tool Google provides so anyone can see who advertises. Use the data in line with the laws that apply to you.

Guides: How to see a competitor's Google ads · Side-by-side comparison · Code examples (Python, JavaScript, MCP)

More from AutomationNation

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• Google AI Overview Tracker: AI Overview citations for your keywords.
• Google Shopping Scraper: prices, stores and reviews for any product search.
• Google News Scraper: headlines, sources and article URLs.

Questions or a missing field? Open an issue on the Issues tab; fixes usually ship within a day.