Google Ads Transparency Scraper - Competitor Ads

Get every ad a company runs on Google — Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps and Play — straight from the Google Ads Transparency Center: advertiser, verification status, creative ID, format, preview image, and when each ad was first and last shown. Search by domain, advertiser name or advertiser ID, one row per ad — or just check which domains run ads at all.

All fees at a glance (event fees; Apify platform usage billed separately): $0.0023 per advertiser/domain search that returns ads · $0.00051–$0.001 per ad or advertiser row (Gold → Free) · $0.0028 per Check (Only-check line, advertiser-name lookup, or a search with nothing to deliver) · $0.0001 per fetched ad not delivered (repeats in "Only new ads"). Details under Pricing.

Why this Actor

• Ad metadata, not ad copy: you get advertiser, creative ID, format, preview image/link, dates and a Transparency Center link per ad. The ad's headline/text, landing page URL and impressions are not included (see Not included); if you need those, some pricier Actors in the comparison below return them.

• From $0.51 per 1,000 ads on Gold plans ($1.00 on Free) plus $0.0023 per advertiser or domain searched. Apify platform usage is billed separately by Apify (at the default 256 MB a small run typically uses about $0.001–$0.005). See the dated comparison below.

• Check 1,000 domains for ads for $2.80 with "Only check whether each domain/advertiser runs ads": one row per line with hasAds, total ads, format mix and first/last shown dates ($0.0028 per checked line).

• Only new ads since the last run: schedule the same list and get just the creatives that appeared since the previous run. Ads you already received are skipped and cost only $0.0001 each (they still have to be fetched to be recognized).

• Up to 700 ads per advertiser or domain, with filters for region (249 countries), platform, ad format and date range. 25 fields per ad, including a stable row id, preview image size, days the ad ran and a direct link to the ad in the Transparency Center.

• Small runs are processed instantly (up to 20 advertisers or domains, no queue); bigger batches go through a queue and usually take a few minutes.

• Failed searches are retried automatically (up to 2 more times) and are not charged if they still fail (the one exception, a request that got no answer at all, is explained under Pricing).

• No login, no API key, no proxies. Enter a domain and press Start.

Compared with alternatives

Typical run: 1,000 ads from 10 domains (100 ads each).

Option	Free plan	Gold plan	Ad text / impressions	Only-check mode (1 row per domain)	Only new ads since last run	Failed searches retried
Most-used Actor (~4,400 users), $1.90 / $0.90 per 1,000 ads	$1.90 + $0.00005 start fee	$0.90 + $0.00005 start fee	✓ ad copy (per its listing)	not stated	not stated	not stated
Second most-used Actor (~2,100 users), $1.48 / $0.77 per 1,000 ads	$1.48 + $0.00005 start fee	$0.77 + $0.00005 start fee	✓ ad copy + impressions (per its listing)	not stated	not stated	not stated
Third most-used Actor (~2,100 users), $1.50 / $0.80 per 1,000 results	$1.50 + $0.001 start fee	$0.80 + $0.001 start fee	not stated	✗	✗	not stated
Fourth most-used Actor (~1,400 users), $0.002 per ad	$2.00	$2.00	not stated	✓ ($0.003 per advertiser row)	✓	not stated
Smaller Actor (~790 users), $1.80 / $0.70 per 1,000 ads	$1.80	$0.70	✓ impressions (per its listing)	not stated	not stated	not stated
Smaller Actor (~740 users), $1.50 per 1,000 results	$1.50 + $0.00005 start fee	$1.50 + $0.00005 start fee	not stated	✗	✗ (compare runs yourself)	not stated
This Actor ($0.0023 per search + per-ad price)	$1.02	$0.53	✗ (metadata + preview only)	✓ ($0.0028 per checked line)	✓ (repeats $0.0001 each)	✓

Prices from public Apify Store listings, checked September 2026. The amounts above are event fees only; for this Actor, Apify platform usage is billed separately by Apify on top (at the default 256 MB a small run typically uses about $0.001–$0.005); the second Actor's listing also bills platform usage to the user. Platinum and Diamond plans pay the Gold price here; the listed rivals charge the same as on Gold on those plans. For this typical run our event fees are 30.9% lower than the cheapest of these options on Free ($1.023 vs. $1.480) and 30.8% lower than the cheapest of the three most-used on Gold ($0.533 vs. $0.770, start fees included). Rivals that return the ad text or impressions give richer data per ad — if you need the copy itself, compare on that basis, not on price alone. We are not the cheapest in every configuration: the ~790-user Actor above costs $0.70 on Gold (we are 23.9% lower there, not 30%), and a few small Actors (under 200 users) list lower per-ad prices, some well under $0.50 per 1,000 ads. Our $0.0023 search fee is charged per domain that returns ads, so a run that fetches only one or two ads from each of many domains can cost less with a per-result Actor; for those, "Only check" mode ($0.0028 per line, no per-ad fee) is usually the cheaper way to screen domains. Store prices change; check the current listing before you decide.

Not included

Not included	Why	Use instead
Ad headline/text copy and landing page URL	The Transparency Center archive we read gives the preview image or preview link, not the text or target URL	For the text and URL of ads shown on Google Search for a keyword: Google SERP Scraper (paidResults)
Impressions, spend, targeting, regions an ad ran in	Not provided for regular (non-political) ads	—
Keyword CPC and competition	Not part of the ads archive	Keyword Research Tool
Who ranks organically for a competitor's keywords	Different data source	Domain SEO Analyzer
Ads on Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn	Google ads only	—

What data you get

The Actor has three modes (What do you want to get?). Each mode writes its own kind of row.

Ads mode — one row per ad (default)

Field	Type	Example
id	string	3f9c1e0a7b2d4c5e6f70 (stable: same ad, input and filters = same id in every run)
input	string	nike.com
inputType	string	domain, advertiserId or advertiserName
position	integer	1
advertiserId	string	AR04489795172984422401
advertiserName	string	Example Store Ltd (the advertiser's verified legal name, which Google shows as the ad's title)
verified	boolean	true (Google has verified the advertiser's identity)
creativeId	string	CR00276381635123871745
format	string	text, image or video
adUrl	string	Link to this ad in the Transparency Center
previewImageUrl	string	https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/1594…
previewImageWidth / previewImageHeight	integer	348 / 134
previewUrl	string	Google's preview link for the ad, when it has one (often for video ads)
firstShown / lastShown	ISO date-time	2026-03-20T21:01:38.000Z
daysShown	integer	188
advertiserPageUrl	string	https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR0448…
totalAdsFound	integer	92 (the total Google reports for this search)
region, platform, adFormatFilter, dateFrom, dateTo	string	The filters used for this row
scrapedAt	ISO date-time	2026-09-28T15:55:20.549Z

Only check mode — one summary row per line

Field	Type	Example
id	string	stable ID of the line + filters
input, inputType	string	nike.com, domain
checkStatus	string	adsFound, noAds, advertiserNotFound, failed or invalidInput
hasAds	boolean	true (false = no ads for these filters; null = the line could not be checked)
totalAdsFound	integer	92 (Google's total for the search)
adsChecked	integer	40 (the most recent ads looked at, up to 40)
advertiserCount, advertiserIds, advertiserNames	integer, array, array	1, ["AR0448…"], ["Example Store Ltd"]
verified	boolean	true if any advertiser in the checked ads is verified
formats, formatCount	array, integer	["image","text","video"], 3
textAds, imageAds, videoAds	integer	32, 5, 3 (among the checked ads)
firstShownEarliest, lastShownLatest	ISO date-time	2026-01-20T16:22:37.000Z, 2026-09-24T22:09:42.000Z
lastShownDaysAgo	integer	4 (days between the latest ad and the run)
transparencyUrl	string	Transparency Center page for the domain or advertiser
region, platform, adFormatFilter, dateFrom, dateTo, scrapedAt	string	Filters used and time of the run

The format counts and the date range come from the checked ads (the 40 most recent). totalAdsFound is Google's full total.

Find advertisers mode — one row per advertiser account

Field	Type	Example
id	string	stable ID of search term + advertiser + region
searchTerm	string	apple
position	integer	1
resultType	string	advertiser, multiAccountAdvertiser (a brand with several accounts) or domain (a matching website)
advertiserId	string	AR03186575737440174081 (the first account for multi-account brands)
advertiserName	string	Apple Inc.
verified	boolean	true
advertiserCountry	string	US
approxAdsCount	integer	500 (Google's rounded ad count)
advertiserIds	array	["AR0318…", "AR1599…"] — paste these into Ads mode
accounts	array	Only on multiAccountAdvertiser rows: each account's advertiserId, country, verified, approxAdsCount, advertiserPageUrl
domain	string	apple.com (only on domain rows)
advertiserPageUrl	string	Advertiser page, or the domain search page for domain rows
region, scrapedAt	string	Region used and time of the run

Why some fields are empty (null by mode)

All three row types share one dataset, so a CSV export has every column. id, region and scrapedAt are filled on every row. Columns that belong to another mode stay empty:

Field	Ads rows	Only-check rows	Find-advertisers rows
creativeId, format, adUrl, previewImage*, previewUrl, firstShown, lastShown, daysShown, position	filled	empty	only position
hasAds, checkStatus, adsChecked, formats, textAds/imageAds/videoAds, firstShownEarliest, lastShownLatest	empty	filled	empty
searchTerm, resultType, advertiserCountry, approxAdsCount, accounts, domain	empty	empty	filled
advertiserIds	empty	filled	filled

Within a mode, a field is null when Google has no value: for example previewImageUrl for ads that only have a previewUrl, advertiserName/advertiserId on domain rows, and all counts on only-check rows with checkStatus failed or invalidInput. Each dataset view (Ads, Ad timeline, Ad check, Advertisers) shows only the columns of its mode.

How to use

1. Open the Actor in the Apify Console.
2. Choose What do you want to get? — every ad (default), Only check whether each domain/advertiser runs ads, or Find advertisers.
3. Enter one or more domains, advertiser names or advertiser IDs (for example nike.com). You can also paste links copied from adstransparency.google.com.
4. Optionally set Maximum ads per advertiser or domain (default 100, up to 700) and a Region.
5. Many domains already in another run's dataset (for example a company list with a website column)? Put its ID into Source dataset ID (Advanced) instead of pasting them.
6. Press Start and download the results as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML from the Output tab, or use the API.

Ready-to-paste input:

{
    "targets": ["nike.com", "AR03186575737440174081", "Booking.com"],
    "maxAdsPerTarget": 200,
    "region": "US",
    "platform": "youtube",
    "adFormat": "video",
    "dateFrom": "2026-01-01"
}

Check a list of domains for ads (one row per domain):

{ "mode": "presence", "targets": ["nike.com", "adidas.com", "example-bakery.com"], "region": "US" }

Load domains from the dataset of an earlier run (e.g. a company list with a website column), plus one typed line:

{ "mode": "presence", "sourceDatasetId": "<DATASET_ID>", "targets": ["nike.com"] }

Find advertiser IDs first:

{ "mode": "advertisers", "targets": ["apple", "samsung.com"] }

API

cURL:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/cheapapi~google-ads-transparency-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"targets": ["nike.com"], "maxAdsPerTarget": 100, "region": "anywhere"}'

JavaScript (apify-client):

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('cheapapi/google-ads-transparency-scraper').call({
    targets: ['nike.com', 'adidas.com'],
    maxAdsPerTarget: 100,
    region: 'US',
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items.length, items[0]);

Python (apify-client):

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("cheapapi/google-ads-transparency-scraper").call(run_input={
    "targets": ["nike.com", "adidas.com"],
    "maxAdsPerTarget": 100,
    "region": "US",
})
for ad in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(ad["advertiserName"], ad["format"], ad["firstShown"], ad["lastShown"])

Use cases

• Competitor ad research: see every creative a competitor runs, which formats they use and how long each ad has been live.
• Creative inspiration: collect preview images of long-running ads (a high daysShown usually means the ad performs well).
• Market and regional monitoring: compare a brand's ads across countries, platforms (YouTube vs. Search) and time ranges.
• Lead generation for agencies: run "Only check" on a list of prospect domains to see who advertises on Google right now (hasAds, lastShownDaysAgo), how much (totalAdsFound) and in which formats — for $0.0023 per advertiser.
• Brand protection: detect advertisers using your brand name or domain.
• New-campaign alerts: turn on "Only new ads since the last run" and schedule the run weekly — each run returns only the creatives that appeared since the previous one.

Advanced options

Option	Default	What it does
What do you want to get? (mode)	ads	ads = one row per ad; presence = only check whether each line runs ads (one summary row per line, looks at the 40 most recent ads); advertisers = find advertiser accounts by name or domain
Maximum ads per advertiser or domain (maxAdsPerTarget)	100	1–700 (Ads mode only)
Region (region)	anywhere	Only ads shown in this country (ISO code), or all regions
Platform (platform)	all	googleSearch, youtube, googleShopping, googleMaps, googlePlay
Ad format (adFormat)	all	text, image, video
Shown from / Shown until (dateFrom, dateTo)	empty	Date range, YYYY-MM-DD, from 2018-05-31. Set one date and the other is filled in for you
Region by name (location)	empty	Full location name, e.g. United Kingdom. Overrides Region
Coordinates (coordinates)	empty	latitude,longitude. Overrides Region and Region by name
Treat every line as (targetType)	auto	Force domain, advertiserId or advertiserName (e.g. for a brand called Booking.com)
Advertiser name matching (advertiserNameMatch)	best	best = exact name match, otherwise the top result; all = combine every account found (up to 25)
Combine advertiser IDs into one list (combineAdvertiserIds)	false	Up to 25 IDs per list, charged as one search
Source dataset ID (sourceDatasetId)	empty	Reads domains / advertiser IDs from another run's dataset: advertiserId (or advertiserIds), otherwise the first domain in domain, website or url. Merged with the lines above, duplicates removed, up to 50,000 rows. Google Maps/Search links are ignored. RUN_SUMMARY.sourceDataset shows rows read, values found and rows skipped
Only new ads since the last run (onlyNewAds)	false	Ads mode only. Delivers only ads not delivered in an earlier run for the same line and monitoring name; repeats are not delivered and cost $0.0001 each (Ad check); a line with nothing new costs one Check ($0.0028)
Monitoring name (monitoringName)	default	Each name keeps its own list of seen ads (e.g. one per watch list or schedule)
Processing speed (processingSpeed)	auto	auto, instant, fast, standard. Same price. Runs with up to 20 searches always run instantly; bigger runs use the fast queue (about a minute)
Maximum wait (maxWaitMinutes)	60	Searches that don't finish in time are listed in the run summary. They may already have been processed, so each costs one Check ($0.0028), plus $0.0001 per requested ad in Ads mode

Monitoring: only new ads since the last run

1. Enter your competitors' domains or advertiser IDs in Ads mode and turn on Only new ads since the last run.
2. Optionally give the list a Monitoring name (e.g. competitors-us).
3. Save it as a task and add a Schedule (e.g. every Monday).

The first run delivers every ad (up to your maximum per line) and remembers their creative IDs. Every later run delivers only creatives that were not delivered before. A line with no new ads delivers nothing and costs one Check ($0.0028) plus one Ad check ($0.0001) per repeat that was fetched and skipped — the ads have to be fetched to know they are repeats. Seen creative IDs are kept per line and monitoring name in your account's key-value store google-ads-transparency-new-ads and are forgotten after 365 days without being seen. Delete that store (or use a new monitoring name) to start over. RUN_SUMMARY shows onlyNewAds.newAds and onlyNewAds.repeatsSkipped.

Only ads within Maximum ads per advertiser or domain (most recent first) are compared, so set it high enough to cover the ads an advertiser launches between two runs.

Output example

Example output, Ads mode (one row per ad):

{
    "id": "3f9c1e0a7b2d4c5e6f70",
    "input": "nike.com",
    "inputType": "domain",
    "position": 1,
    "advertiserId": "AR04489795172984422401",
    "advertiserName": "Example Store Ltd",
    "verified": true,
    "creativeId": "CR16364962713689915393",
    "format": "text",
    "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR04489795172984422401/creative/CR16364962713689915393?region=GB",
    "previewImageUrl": "https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/16027894890232583589",
    "previewImageWidth": 348,
    "previewImageHeight": 134,
    "previewUrl": null,
    "firstShown": "2026-04-09T06:25:20.000Z",
    "lastShown": "2026-09-26T13:01:34.000Z",
    "daysShown": 170,
    "advertiserPageUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR04489795172984422401",
    "totalAdsFound": 92,
    "region": "anywhere",
    "platform": "all",
    "adFormatFilter": "all",
    "dateFrom": null,
    "dateTo": null,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-09-28T15:55:20.549Z"
}

Example output, Only check mode (one row per line):

{
    "id": "a41d07c9e2b85f6031c4",
    "input": "examplebrand.com",
    "inputType": "domain",
    "checkStatus": "adsFound",
    "hasAds": true,
    "totalAdsFound": 92,
    "adsChecked": 40,
    "advertiserCount": 1,
    "advertiserIds": ["AR04489795172984422401"],
    "advertiserNames": ["Examplebrand OU"],
    "verified": true,
    "formats": ["image", "text", "video"],
    "formatCount": 3,
    "textAds": 32,
    "imageAds": 5,
    "videoAds": 3,
    "firstShownEarliest": "2026-01-20T16:22:37.000Z",
    "lastShownLatest": "2026-09-24T22:09:42.000Z",
    "lastShownDaysAgo": 4,
    "transparencyUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/?region=anywhere&domain=examplebrand.com",
    "region": "anywhere",
    "platform": "all",
    "adFormatFilter": "all",
    "dateFrom": null,
    "dateTo": null,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-09-29T05:06:29.348Z"
}

Example output, Find advertisers mode (a brand with two accounts):

{
    "id": "c7e2a90d5f1b3864e0a2",
    "searchTerm": "apple",
    "position": 1,
    "resultType": "multiAccountAdvertiser",
    "advertiserId": "AR03186575737440174081",
    "advertiserName": "Apple Inc.",
    "verified": true,
    "advertiserCountry": "US",
    "approxAdsCount": 500,
    "advertiserIds": ["AR03186575737440174081", "AR15992851274060005377"],
    "accounts": [
        { "advertiserId": "AR03186575737440174081", "country": "US", "verified": true, "approxAdsCount": 300, "advertiserPageUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR03186575737440174081" },
        { "advertiserId": "AR15992851274060005377", "country": "US", "verified": true, "approxAdsCount": 200, "advertiserPageUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR15992851274060005377" }
    ],
    "domain": null,
    "advertiserPageUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR03186575737440174081",
    "region": "US",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-09-29T05:06:29.348Z"
}

The key-value store record RUN_SUMMARY lists how many advertisers or domains returned ads, returned none or failed, and why.

Pricing

Apify Free plan: Apify does not pay developers for usage on its Free plan, so on the Free plan this Actor can be used for up to $0.25 of results per calendar month — enough to try it on a small input. When the allowance is used up, the run ends with a clear message (not an error). Any paid Apify plan removes the limit; prices are the same.

Pay per event. Every lookup in Google's ad library is a paid request for us, so every lookup is charged: a search that delivers rows costs the Search fee plus one fee per row; a lookup that ends without delivered rows costs one Check. Invalid lines and searches the data service rejects are free. Apify platform usage is billed separately by Apify (at the default 256 MB a small run typically uses about $0.001–$0.005); the prices and examples in this section are event fees only.

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold, Platinum, Diamond
Search with results (per advertiser, domain or ID list that delivers ads; per Find-advertisers search that delivers advertisers)	$0.0023	$0.0023	$0.0023	$0.0023
Ad (per row, Ads mode)	$0.001	$0.00068	$0.00061	$0.00051
Advertiser (per row, Find advertisers mode)	$0.001	$0.00068	$0.00061	$0.00051
Check or lookup (see below)	$0.0028	$0.0028	$0.0028	$0.0028
Fetched ad not delivered (Ad check, see below)	$0.0001	$0.0001	$0.0001	$0.0001

When a Check ($0.0028) is charged: each line in Only check mode (with or without ads); each advertiser-name lookup (found or not — a name therefore costs one Check more than a domain or ID); a domain, ID list or Find-advertisers search that finds nothing for your filters; a line with nothing new in "Only new ads" mode; and a request that got no answer or never finished (it may still have been processed).

When an Ad check ($0.0001) is charged: per ad that was fetched but not delivered — in practice the repeats skipped by "Only new ads since the last run". In the rare case that an ad list request got no answer at all, it is also charged once per requested ad (up to your "Maximum ads per advertiser or domain"), because those ads may have been fetched. With default settings and normal answers you never pay an Ad check.

Your Apify plan sets the price automatically.

Worked examples

Run	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold+
1,000 ads from 10 domains (100 each): 10 searches + 1,000 ads	$1.02	$0.70	$0.63	$0.53
All ads of one domain (700 ads): 1 search + 700 ads	$0.70	$0.48	$0.43	$0.36
Only check 1,000 domains (with or without ads): 1,000 checks	$2.80	$2.80	$2.80	$2.80
Weekly "only new ads" for 10 domains, 100 ads each, 5 new per domain: 10 searches + 50 ads + 950 ad checks	$0.17	$0.15	$0.15	$0.14
Advertiser name, 100 ads: 1 check + 1 search + 100 ads	$0.11	$0.07	$0.07	$0.06
Find advertisers for 20 brand names (about 10 accounts each): 20 searches + 200 advertisers	$0.25	$0.18	$0.17	$0.15

For example on a Bronze plan, 1,000 ads from 10 domains cost 10 × $0.0023 + 1,000 × $0.00068 = $0.70; on Silver the same run costs 10 × $0.0023 + 1,000 × $0.00061 = $0.63. If one of those 10 domains had no ads for your filters, it would cost one Check ($0.0028) instead of a Search plus ads. Platform usage is billed separately by Apify.

Set a maximum charge per run in the run options. The Actor plans around that limit (it lowers the number of ads per line, or skips the last lines) and stops cleanly when it is reached. Skipped lines are listed in RUN_SUMMARY.

Integrations

• Make, Zapier, n8n: start runs and pass the rows on with the Apify apps for each platform.
• Google Sheets: export the dataset directly, or use the Google Sheets integration to append rows after every run.
• Webhooks: get a call to your own URL when a run succeeds or fails.
• Schedules: check competitors daily or weekly with "Only new ads since the last run", or a prospect list with hasAds/lastShownDaysAgo in Only check mode.
• API and MCP: call the Actor from your code with the Apify API or client libraries, or from AI assistants through the Apify MCP server.

FAQ

Is there a limit on the Apify Free plan? Yes: up to $0.25 of this Actor's results per calendar month, enough to try it. Apify pays developers nothing for Free-plan usage while our data costs are real, so this keeps the Actor sustainable. Runs that reach the allowance stop cleanly and keep everything collected so far; the allowance resets on the 1st of the month. Any paid Apify plan has no limit.

Is it legal? The Google Ads Transparency Center is a public library that Google publishes so anyone can see who is advertising. This Actor only collects that public information. You are still responsible for how you use the data, so follow the laws that apply to you.

How fresh is the data? Each run collects it live, at that moment. lastShown tells you when Google last served each ad.

Why did I get fewer ads than the advertiser has? You can get up to 700 ads per advertiser or domain per run. Region, platform, format and date filters narrow the list, and Google itself only lists ads it has archived. A maximum charge per run can also lower the number. To go past 700, split the run with date ranges or regions.

How do I only check whether a list of domains runs ads? Choose "Only check whether each domain/advertiser runs ads". You get one row per line with hasAds, totalAdsFound, the format mix and first/last shown dates, and you pay $0.0028 per checked line, with or without ads (two Checks for an advertiser name: the name lookup and the check).

Does it include the ad text, landing page or impressions? No (see Not included). You get the preview image or preview link, which usually shows the ad as it looked.

Domain, advertiser name or advertiser ID — which should I use? A domain gives every ad that points to that website, even across several advertiser accounts. An advertiser ID is the most precise. A name is convenient, but it runs an extra lookup, which is charged as one Check ($0.0028), found or not. Big brands often use several advertiser accounts: Find advertisers mode lists them all, and "Advertiser name matching: all" combines up to 25 of them.

Why is previewImageUrl empty for some ads? Some ads, mostly video and some text ads, have only a previewUrl (Google's interactive preview) and no static image.

Can I monitor competitors automatically? Yes. Turn on "Only new ads since the last run", save your input as a task and add a Schedule (e.g. every Monday). Each run then returns only new creatives; repeats cost $0.0001 each and a line with nothing new costs one Check ($0.0028). Connect a webhook or Google Sheets to receive the new rows.

What happens when a search fails? Searches that fail because the data service is busy or the network drops are retried automatically (up to 2 more times, with a short wait). If a search still fails, it is listed in RUN_SUMMARY and not charged. The one exception: a request that was sent but got no answer at all (the connection dropped, or a queued search never finished within your maximum wait) is not resent, because it may already have been processed — it costs one Check ($0.0028), plus $0.0001 per requested ad in Ads mode.

Why was I charged a Check or Ad check? A Check ($0.0028) means we looked something up that did not end in delivered rows: a line in Only check mode, an advertiser-name lookup, a line without ads (or without new ads) for your filters, or a request that got no answer. Ad checks ($0.0001) are ads that were fetched but not delivered, almost always repeats skipped by "Only new ads since the last run". RUN_SUMMARY shows checksCharged and adChecksCharged, and the reason per line under problems. To keep costs down, set a maximum charge per run in the run options, lower "Maximum ads per advertiser or domain", and use domains or advertiser IDs instead of names. Apify platform usage (compute) is billed separately by Apify on top of these fees (at 256 MB a small run typically uses about $0.001–$0.005) and is shown per run in Apify Console.

Where do I get help? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab and include your run ID. We read and answer every issue.

Limitations

• See Not included: no ad text, landing page URL, impressions or targeting.
• Up to 700 ads per advertiser, domain or combined ID list per run.
• Only check mode looks at the 40 most recent ads of each line: totalAdsFound is Google's full total, but the format counts and firstShownEarliest cover only those 40 ads. It always runs through the fast queue, so results take about a minute.
• An advertiser name that matches several companies uses the best match (or all matches if you choose that). For exact results, use the domain or the advertiser ID.
• Data comes from Google's own public archive, so it only covers ads Google shows there. Political and some policy-restricted ads may appear differently.
• The ad order and the totalAdsFound count come from Google and can change from run to run.

Privacy

The Actor collects only what Google publishes in the Ads Transparency Center: advertisers' verified business names, IDs, countries and their ads. It does not collect data about people who see or click ads. Some advertisers are individuals who advertise under their own name; handle such names according to the data protection rules that apply to you (e.g. GDPR).