🔎 Google Ads Transparency Scraper

Returns the ads any advertiser runs on Google Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps and Play, read from Google's Ads Transparency Center without a login, a cookie or a browser. Enter a domain such as nike.com, a brand name or an advertiser id and get one row per ad: advertiser, format, first and last day shown, number of days shown, the picture or the preview link, and the link to the ad. On request each row also carries the regions the ad ran in, Google's impression ranges, every variation, and the ad's text or YouTube link where Google publishes them.

Price: $1.50 per 1,000 ads on the Apify Free plan, down to $1.20 from the Gold plan up. Details add $2.00 per 1,000 (down to $1.60). An entry without ads costs nothing. Export to JSON, CSV or Excel, run on a schedule, call via API, or connect to Make, Zapier or n8n.

🔎 What is the Google Ads Transparency Scraper?

Google lists the ads of every verified advertiser in its Ads Transparency Center. The site shows them forty at a time in a grid and has no export. This Actor makes the same requests the site's own page makes and returns the result as a table: 5,000 ads in about 35 seconds.

What data does it extract?

• Advertiser: name as Google verified it, advertiser id (AR…), the domain the ad links to
• Ad: id (CR…), format (text, image or video), first and last day shown, number of days shown
• Creative: the picture Google stores for the ad, or the link of the script that draws it
• Link: the ad's page in the Transparency Center
• With details: each region with first and last day shown, impression ranges overall, per region and per platform (where Google publishes them), all variations, and for ads drawn by a script the headline, description, display address, merchant name or YouTube link

How it reads the site

	This Actor	A scraper that drives a browser
Memory	512 MB	2 to 4 GB
How it reads	The site's own data requests, 100 ads each	Scrolls the grid and reads the page
Region, format, platform and date filters	Applied by Google in the request	Often applied afterwards, on what was loaded
Text of an ad	Taken from Google's preview data where it exists; never guessed	Picture only, or text recognition on the picture
A search without ads	No rows, no charge, and the status message says so	Varies

⬇️ Input

Field	Type	Default	What it does
queries	array		Domains, brand names, advertiser ids or links copied from the Transparency Center. An empty input reads the sample nike.com
maxResults	integer	20	Ads to save per domain or advertiser, up to 20,000
region	string	empty	Two-letter country code (US, DE, GB): only ads shown there. Empty means anywhere
adFormat	string	ALL	TEXT, IMAGE or VIDEO
platforms	array	empty	SEARCH, YOUTUBE, SHOPPING, MAPS, PLAY
startDate, endDate	string	empty	Only ads shown in this period (YYYY-MM-DD)
includeDetails	boolean	false	Adds regions, impression ranges, variations, ad text and YouTube link. Second charge event
maxAdvertisersPerQuery	integer	3	For a brand name: how many advertiser accounts to read, those with the most ads first
onlyNewAds	boolean	false	Skip every ad an earlier run with the same monitor name delivered
monitorId	string	empty	Name of that memory

A domain is the most reliable entry: it returns every ad that links to it, whichever account runs it. A brand name is matched through Google's own suggestions, and large brands run one account per country or agency, so a name can miss accounts a domain would catch.

Input names of other Ads Transparency Actors are read as well (searchQuery, domains, advertiserIds, startUrls, maxAdsPerSearch, resultsLimit, dateFrom, dateTo, platform, detail), so a saved input keeps working.

Example input

Every ad of one domain in Germany since September, with details:

{
  "queries": ["zalando.de"],
  "maxResults": 500,
  "region": "DE",
  "startDate": "2026-09-01",
  "includeDetails": true
}

Video ads of three competitors on YouTube:

{
  "queries": ["hellofresh.com", "gousto.co.uk", "marleyspoon.com"],
  "maxResults": 200,
  "adFormat": "VIDEO",
  "platforms": ["YOUTUBE"]
}

A brand by name, one advertiser by id and one single ad by its link:

{
  "queries": [
    "adidas",
    "AR14017378248766259201",
    "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR11154049584043393025/creative/CR18332474338495692801"
  ],
  "maxResults": 100
}

⬆️ Output

One row per ad. A row from the default run:

{
  "creativeId": "CR02220147468081823745",
  "advertiserId": "AR18378488041124659201",
  "advertiserName": "Nike Retail BV",
  "domain": "nike.com",
  "format": "TEXT",
  "firstShown": "2025-09-19",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-03",
  "shownForDays": 380,
  "imageUrl": "https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/13470210608396104477",
  "previewUrl": null,
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR18378488041124659201/creative/CR02220147468081823745",
  "query": "nike.com",
  "region": "ANYWHERE",
  "position": 1,
  "hasDetails": false,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-03T15:20:57.153356+00:00"
}

With includeDetails, the same columns plus the ad's own record. A video ad found for the brand name "adidas" (two of its 4 regions and one of its 5 variations shown, preview links shortened):

{
  "creativeId": "CR00231634406681346049",
  "advertiserId": "AR14017378248766259201",
  "advertiserName": "Adidas America, Inc",
  "domain": null,
  "format": "VIDEO",
  "firstShown": "2024-11-07",
  "lastShown": "2026-04-01",
  "shownForDays": 511,
  "imageUrl": null,
  "previewUrl": "https://displayads-formats.googleusercontent.com/ads/preview/content.js?client=ads-integrity-transparency&creativeId=720473943737…",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR14017378248766259201/creative/CR00231634406681346049",
  "query": "adidas",
  "region": "DE",
  "position": 16,
  "hasDetails": true,
  "youtubeUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEHNZlxanwY",
  "regions": [
    {
      "region": "NL",
      "firstShown": "2024-11-12",
      "lastShown": "2025-12-01",
      "impressionsMin": null,
      "impressionsMax": 1000,
      "platforms": [
        {"platform": "MAPS", "impressionsMin": null, "impressionsMax": 1000},
        {"platform": "SEARCH", "impressionsMin": null, "impressionsMax": 1000}
      ]
    },
    {
      "region": "US",
      "firstShown": null,
      "lastShown": "2026-04-01",
      "impressionsMin": null,
      "impressionsMax": null,
      "platforms": []
    }
  ],
  "regionCount": 4,
  "impressionsMin": null,
  "impressionsMax": 1000,
  "variations": [
    {"previewUrl": "https://displayads-formats.googleusercontent.com/ads/preview/content.js?client=ads-integrity-transparency&creativeId=720473943737…"}
  ],
  "variationCount": 5,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-03T15:22:41.701692+00:00"
}

Text fields of a search ad Google draws with a script, from a Booking.com run in the Netherlands:

{
  "headline": "Al Maha Desert Resort Dubai",
  "description": "Kies Uit Een Groot Aantal Verschillende Accommodaties Die Booking.com Aanbiedt Hotels, Huizen, En Alles Ertussenin. Bespaar 10% Met Genius. Geweldige Beschikbaarheid. Onmiddellijke Bevestiging.",
  "displayUrl": "www.booking.com/",
  "adText": [
    "Al Maha Desert Resort Dubai",
    "Kies Uit Een Groot Aantal Verschillende Accommodaties Die Booking.com Aanbiedt Hotels, Huizen, En Alles Ertussenin. Bespaar 10% Met Genius. Geweldige Beschikbaarheid. Onmiddellijke Bevestiging.",
    "Booking.com",
    "Boek Je Vakantie",
    "Boek Voor Morgen",
    "Boek Voor Vanavond",
    "Geweldige Prijzen"
  ]
}

impressionsMin empty with impressionsMax 1000 is Google's lowest range, "0 to 1,000". An empty impressionsMax with a filled minimum means "more than". The run also writes a SUMMARY record with the entries that returned nothing and the reason a run stopped.

💰 What a run costs

Apify plan	Per 1,000 ads	Per 1,000 ad details (added)
Free	$1.50	$2.00
Bronze	$1.40	$1.90
Silver	$1.30	$1.80
Gold, Platinum, Diamond	$1.20	$1.60

Apify's standard start event ($0.00005) is the only other charge. Not charged: an entry that has no ads, a brand name without an advertiser, an ad already delivered in only-new mode, and the same ad found a second time in one run. A single ad opened by its link always comes with its details and is charged as one ad plus one detail. Set the run's maximum charge and the Actor stops at it with the rows it has saved.

⏱️ Measured on Apify (October 3, 2026)

Run	Ads	Time
Default input (nike.com, 20 ads)	20	4.6 s
zalando.de, no filter	5,000	35 s
nike.com, no filter	5,398	37 s
booking.com in the Netherlands, with details	300	36 s
Only-new watch on hellofresh.com (US), second run	0 new of 940	5.5 s

All of them at 512 MB. An aborted and resumed run of 4,000 ads saved no ad twice.

🔔 Watching for new ads

Turn on onlyNewAds, give the watch a monitorId and put the run on a schedule. The first run delivers what is there (set maxResults high enough to take in the existing ads). From the second run on, the Actor reads the ads shown since the last run and delivers only those it has not delivered to you before; a run without news ends with zero rows and "Nothing new". The memory is a key-value store named google-ads-transparency-monitor in your own account; delete a record there to start a watch over.

🤖 For AI agents

Smallest useful call:

{"queries": ["nike.com"], "maxResults": 50, "region": "US"}

Each row is one ad with advertiserName, format, firstShown, lastShown, shownForDays, imageUrl or previewUrl, and adUrl. Add "includeDetails": true for regions, impression ranges, variations, headline, adText and youtubeUrl. queries takes several entries at once. An entry without ads returns no rows; the status message and the SUMMARY record name it. No credentials are needed.

💡 Use cases

• 🎯 Competitor research: every ad a competitor runs in a country, with how long each has been running. Long-running ads are the ones that pay.
• 🎬 Creative research: the YouTube links of a category's video ads, ready for a transcript or a view count.
• 🔔 Launch monitoring: a daily watch that reports only the ads that appeared since yesterday.
• 🇪🇺 Reach in the EU: impression ranges per country and platform for ads shown in the European Union.

⚠️ Limits, stated plainly

• Ad text. Google stores most text ads as a picture. For those you get the picture, not the words. Text fields are filled only for ads Google draws with a script: in the Booking.com test above that was 2 of 300 text ads. Shopping ads have their product title and merchant.
• Video links. In one test 26 of 53 video ads carried their YouTube link. The others are drawn in a way that does not name the video.
• No landing page and no spend. Google does not publish them here.
• Impressions are ranges and exist only for regions where Google publishes them, mainly the EU.
• Totals Google reports are ranges ("100,000 to 200,000 ads"). When a search stops at your limit, the status message quotes that range.
• 20,000 ads per entry and run is the upper limit. Use dates, a region or a format to split a larger advertiser.
• One region per run.
• Google limits how often one address may ask. The Actor changes addresses by itself. If Google stops answering in the middle of a search, the rows saved so far stay and the status message says which search was cut.

❓ FAQ

Do I need a Google account, cookies or an API key? No. The Transparency Center is public and the Actor reads it as a visitor.

How do I find an advertiser id? You do not need one: enter the domain. If you want it, it is the advertiserId column of any row, or the AR… part of an advertiser page's link.

Why do I get fewer ads than Google's count? maxResults is 20 by default. Raise it. Google's own count is a range, and with filters it becomes smaller.

Why is domain empty in some rows? Google names the domain only in a domain search. Rows found through an advertiser id or a brand name have the advertiser, not the domain.

Can it return the text of every ad? No, see the limits above. Where the text is missing you still get the picture of the ad.

Does it cover political ads? Ads of verified election advertisers appear like any other ad. The separate political report with spend is not part of this Actor.

Can I run it every day? Yes. Use a schedule with onlyNewAds so you pay only for ads you have not received.

How do I call it from code? With the Apify API or the Python and JavaScript clients; every run returns a dataset you can fetch as JSON or CSV. It also works as a tool through Apify's MCP server.

What changed for me if I come from another Ads Transparency Actor? Your input names are accepted. Output columns use the same names where they mean the same (creativeId, advertiserId, advertiserName, firstShown, lastShown, shownForDays, adUrl, previewUrl); regions are in regions with ISO country codes.

Is it legal? The Actor reads what Google publishes for everyone under its transparency rules. Advertiser names can be names of persons; GDPR, CCPA and similar rules apply to how you store and use them, and Google's terms apply to you as well.

🔗 You might also like

• Meta Ad Library Scraper: the same question for Facebook and Instagram ads
• LinkedIn Ad Library Scraper: and for LinkedIn ads, with landing pages and EU targeting
• YouTube Video Metadata Scraper: exact views, likes and date for the YouTube links this Actor returns
• YouTube Transcript Scraper: what a video ad says
• YouTube Comments Scraper: how viewers react to it

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