# Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Ads by Advertiser or Domain (`clearfeed-labs/google-ads-transparency-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Google Ads Transparency Center: every search, display, shopping and YouTube ad of any advertiser or domain. First/last shown dates, regions, ad copy, landing pages, images and video IDs. Filter by country, format and date. No login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/clearfeed-labs/google-ads-transparency-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Clearfeed Labs](https://apify.com/clearfeed-labs) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.80 / 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.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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 Transparency Scraper

Get every ad an advertiser runs on Google — Search, Display, Shopping and YouTube — straight from the public [Google Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com). Enter a **competitor's domain**, an **advertiser name** or an **advertiser ID** and get clean, structured ad data in minutes. No login, no browser, no API key.

### What you get

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `advertiserName`, `advertiserId` | Nike, Inc. · AR16735076323512287233 |
| `adFormat` | TEXT, IMAGE or VIDEO |
| `firstShown`, `lastShown`, `daysShown` | 2024-07-26 → 2026-10-24, 681 days |
| `regions` | every country the ad ran in, with last-shown date |
| `headline`, `description`, `displayUrl` | search ad copy (when Google exposes it as text) |
| `productTitle`, `merchant` | shopping ads |
| `youtubeVideoId`, `youtubeUrl` | YouTube video ads |
| `landingUrls` | landing pages found in the ad |
| `imageUrl`, `imageUrls` | ad image / snapshot and all variations |
| `variationCount`, `adTexts` | number of variations and all visible ad texts |
| `adUrl` | link to the ad in the Transparency Center |

### Use cases

- **Competitor research:** see which ads competitors run, since when, in which countries and which landing pages they push.
- **Ad creative inspiration:** collect headlines, images and video ads for a niche.
- **Lead generation for agencies:** find businesses that actively advertise on Google (and for how long).
- **Brand monitoring:** find advertisers bidding on your domain or brand.
- **Market research:** count active ads per brand, format and country over time.

### How to use

1. Add one or more **advertisers or domains** (one per line):
   - a domain: `hubspot.com` → ads from *every* advertiser promoting this domain
   - a name: `Nike, Inc.` → the best matching verified advertiser (set *Advertisers per name* > 1 for more accounts)
   - an advertiser ID: `AR16735076323512287233`
   - a Transparency Center URL: `https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233?region=US`
2. Optionally pick a **region**, **ad format** and **date range**.
3. Set **Max ads per advertiser/domain** and run. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel or use the API.

#### Input example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": ["hubspot.com", "Nike, Inc."],
  "region": "US",
  "adFormat": "ALL",
  "maxAdsPerSearch": 200,
  "includeAdDetails": true
}
```

#### Output example

```json
{
  "advertiserId": "AR10072600183532683265",
  "advertiserName": "Hubspot, Inc.",
  "creativeId": "CR07675632201819488257",
  "adFormat": "VIDEO",
  "firstShown": "2026-06-29T21:05:25Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-24T21:32:30Z",
  "daysShown": 118,
  "regions": [{"regionCode": "US", "regionName": "United States", "lastShown": "2026-10-24"}, {"regionCode": "CA", "regionName": "Canada", "lastShown": "2026-10-24"}],
  "variationCount": 4,
  "youtubeVideoId": "FtxDWmbqaiI",
  "youtubeUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtxDWmbqaiI",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR10072600183532683265/creative/CR07675632201819488257",
  "status": "success"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per result: you are charged per **ad** saved, plus a small **ad details** add-on per ad when *Include ad details* is on (turn it off for the cheapest bulk listing). Inputs that return no ads or fail are **not charged**. Set a max charge per run in the run options and the Actor stops cleanly at your limit.

### Notes & limits

- Many search text ads are shown by Google only as an image snapshot. In that case you get `imageUrl` (snapshot) instead of `headline`/`description`.
- `daysShown`, first/last shown dates and regions come directly from Google; the Transparency Center does not publish spend or impressions for commercial ads.
- Ads are returned newest first. Google reports total ad counts only as ranges (e.g. 8,000–9,000), see the run `SUMMARY`.
- The Actor uses only the public Transparency Center, the same data you see in the browser. It does not collect personal data.

### FAQ

**Do I need a proxy?** The default Apify proxy works. The Actor rotates IPs automatically when Google rate-limits.

**Can I monitor new ads?** Yes — schedule the Actor daily with a start date of yesterday and pipe results to Slack, Google Sheets or a webhook via Apify integrations.

**Something broke or you need a field?** Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab — we fix fast.

# Actor input Schema

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

One per line. Accepts an advertiser name (e.g. 'Nike, Inc.'), a website domain (e.g. hubspot.com - returns ads from every advertiser that promotes this domain), an advertiser ID (AR...) or an adstransparency.google.com URL (advertiser, domain or single creative page; its region parameter is respected).

## `region` (type: `string`):

Only ads shown in this country. 'Anywhere' = all regions.

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

Filter by ad format.

## `startDate` (type: `string`):

Only ads shown on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for all time.

## `endDate` (type: `string`):

Only ads shown on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to today when a start date is set.

## `maxAdsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Newest ads first (by last shown date).

## `maxAds` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many ads across all inputs. 0 = no limit.

## `maxAdvertisersPerName` (type: `integer`):

When you enter a name, how many matching advertiser accounts to scrape (sorted by number of ads). Companies often run several accounts per country.

## `includeAdDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Adds the regions where each ad ran (with last-shown date per country), number of variations, ad copy (headline, description, visible texts when Google exposes them), landing page URLs, YouTube video ID for video ads, product title for shopping ads and all image URLs. Charged as an extra 'ad details' event.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Lower it if you see many retries.

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

Apify datacenter proxy works well. The Actor rotates IPs automatically when Google rate-limits.

## `residentialFallback` (type: `boolean`):

If Google rate-limits datacenter and direct IPs, small search/detail requests are retried via Apify residential proxy. Large ad previews never use residential IPs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "hubspot.com",
    "Nike, Inc."
  ],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "adFormat": "ALL",
  "maxAdsPerSearch": 100,
  "maxAds": 0,
  "maxAdvertisersPerName": 1,
  "includeAdDetails": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 15,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  },
  "residentialFallback": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `all` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "hubspot.com",
        "Nike, Inc."
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("clearfeed-labs/google-ads-transparency-scraper").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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "hubspot.com",
        "Nike, Inc.",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("clearfeed-labs/google-ads-transparency-scraper").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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "hubspot.com",
    "Nike, Inc."
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call clearfeed-labs/google-ads-transparency-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/C8a3w9Flg2n4KpFGD/builds/VhL0guS5OBrlXGC3e/openapi.json