Google Ads Transparency Scraper - Ad Text, No Login

Google Ads Transparency Scraper gets the ads that a brand or website runs on Google. Add a domain, an advertiser name or an advertiser ID (AR…), and the Actor returns one row per ad from the public Google Ads Transparency Center: ad text, image or YouTube link, first and last shown dates, countries and impression ranges.

No Google login, cookies or API key. The prefilled run (20 ads for apify.com) usually takes about 30–70 seconds and costs about $0.028 ($0.004 start + 20 ads, from $0.024 on paid plans).

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quick start
• Input
• Output
• Pricing
• Use cases
• Scheduling and monitoring
• API, export and integrations
• Limits and partial results
• Troubleshooting
• FAQ
• Related Actors
• Support

What it does

The Google Ads Transparency Center shows the ads that verified advertisers run on Google: search (text) ads, image and display ads, and YouTube video ads. This Actor reads the same public pages for you and saves each ad as a clean dataset row.

For every ad you get:

• Who: advertiser name, advertiser ID (AR…), domain.
• What: format (text, image, video), headline, description, display URL, call-to-action, image URL, YouTube link.
• When: first shown, last shown, days shown, as reported by Google.
• Where and how much: countries where the ad ran, with dates and impression ranges per country, plus a total impression range.
• Links: the public Transparency Center page of the ad and the Google preview URL.

Filters: region (one country or anywhere), format, and a date range.

Good fit

• See which ads a competitor runs on Google right now, and when Google first showed them.
• Collect ad copy (headlines and descriptions) of a brand for PPC research.
• Check in which countries a brand advertises and how big the reach is.
• Save image ads and YouTube ads of a brand for creative research.

Not a fit / limits

• The Actor shows what Google publishes in the Transparency Center. It does not show clicks, spend, keywords or targeting.
• Impressions are ranges from Google (for example 1,000–2,000), not exact numbers. Google does not show them for every ad.
• Some text ads exist only as a picture. For them headline and description are null, and imageUrl has the picture.
• Up to 500 ads per advertiser or domain, and about 600–800 ads per run in total. For more, split the job across several runs.
• The Actor does not solve CAPTCHAs. If Google blocks all requests, the run stops with a clear error.

Quick start

1. Open the Input tab.
2. Keep the prefilled domain apify.com in Domains, or add your own domain, for example shopify.com.
3. Keep Max ads per advertiser or domain at 20 and Region at anywhere.
4. Click Start.
5. Open the Output tab. The Ads view shows advertiser, format, dates, impressions and ad text.

Expected result: about 20 ad rows for the domain, each with status complete.

Input

Input fields

Field	Plain name	Type	Required	Default / prefill	Allowed values	Effect	Example	Recommendation
domains	Domains	array of strings	one of domains / advertisers	prefill ["apify.com"]	domain or URL	ads of every advertiser that links to the domain	["shopify.com"]	best way to find a brand
advertisers	Advertisers (name or ID)	array of strings	one of domains / advertisers	empty	name, AR… ID or advertiser page URL	ads of one advertiser account	["AR04545223091738902529"]	use the AR… ID for an exact account
region	Region	string	no	anywhere	anywhere or a 2-letter country code	only ads shown in this country	US, DE	keep anywhere for all countries
format	Ad format	string	no	all	all, text, image, video	only this ad format	text	use for copy or creative research
dateFrom	Shown from	string	no	empty	YYYY-MM-DD, from 2018-01-01	only ads shown on or after this date	2026-09-01	for a time window
dateTo	Shown until	string	no	empty (today)	YYYY-MM-DD, not before dateFrom	only ads shown on or before this date	2026-09-30	leave empty for today
maxAds	Max ads per advertiser or domain	integer	no	20	1–500	max ad rows for each domain or advertiser	100	each ad row is charged
includeDetails	Per-country reach and impressions	boolean	no	true	true, false	adds regions and impression ranges	true	keep on; it is in the price
includeAdText	Ad text and YouTube link	boolean	no	true	true, false	reads headline, description, image and YouTube link from the ad preview	true	keep on; it is in the price
proxyConfiguration	Proxy	object	no	Apify Proxy (datacenter)	Apify Proxy settings	how requests reach Google	{"useApifyProxy": true}	keep the default

Notes:

• Add at least one domain or advertiser. You can mix both, up to 20 inputs in total.
• Duplicates are merged: apify.com and https://www.apify.com/ count as one input.
• An advertiser name must match whole words of an advertiser in the Transparency Center. If several advertisers match, the Actor takes the best match and writes a warning in the run summary. If nothing matches, you get a free not_found row that lists the closest names with their AR… IDs.
• With the default proxy, the Actor switches to Apify residential proxy by itself when Google blocks the datacenter proxy. If you choose your own proxy group or URLs, this switch is off.

Interacting settings

When	Input A	Input B	Effective behavior	Example	Cost/result effect
Filter by country and date	region	dateFrom / dateTo	only ads shown in this country in this window	FR, September 2026	fewer rows, fewer charges
Only text ads	format = text	includeAdText = true	headline and description for each text ad that has them	shopify.com	some text ads have only an image
Faster light run	includeDetails = false	includeAdText = false	no regions, no headline/description/YouTube link (image and creative links stay)	—	same price per row

Input examples

Ads of a website

{
  "domains": ["apify.com"],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "maxAds": 20
}

Expected behavior: finds all advertisers that link to apify.com and returns up to 20 ads. Expected output: rows with advertiserName, format, headline, firstShown, regions. Limit or cost note: 20 ad rows + start = about $0.028.

Image ads of one advertiser in France, one month

{
  "advertisers": ["AR04545223091738902529"],
  "region": "FR",
  "format": "image",
  "dateFrom": "2026-09-01",
  "dateTo": "2026-09-30",
  "maxAds": 50
}

Expected behavior: returns only image ads of this account shown in France in September 2026. Expected output: rows with imageUrl, callToAction, firstShown, lastShown. Limit or cost note: if the advertiser had no such ads, you get one free not_found row.

Output

Each ad is one row in the default dataset. Each input without ads gives one free not_found row, so you always see what happened to every input.

Output example

Input: {"domains": ["apify.com"], "maxAds": 20}. One row, regions trimmed to two countries:

{
  "status": "complete",
  "statusReason": null,
  "errorCode": null,
  "input": "apify.com",
  "inputType": "domain",
  "advertiserId": "AR04545223091738902529",
  "advertiserName": "Apify Technologies s.r.o.",
  "advertiserCountry": null,
  "domain": "apify.com",
  "creativeId": "CR12249652250414153729",
  "format": "text",
  "firstShown": "2026-07-02T13:54:49.000Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-14T10:26:38.000Z",
  "daysShown": 105,
  "regions": [
    { "code": "IE", "name": "Ireland", "criteriaId": 2372, "firstShown": "2026-07-03", "lastShown": "2026-10-13", "impressionsMin": 0, "impressionsMax": 1000 },
    { "code": "IL", "name": "Israel", "criteriaId": 2376, "firstShown": null, "lastShown": "2026-10-14", "impressionsMin": null, "impressionsMax": null }
  ],
  "impressionsMin": 1000,
  "impressionsMax": 2000,
  "variations": 1,
  "headline": "Apify for your AI - Largest marketplace for AI",
  "description": "Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor to Apify Store via MCP and put tools to work today.",
  "displayUrl": "www.apify.com/",
  "callToAction": null,
  "text": "Apify for your AI - Largest marketplace for AI — Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor to Apify Store via MCP and put tools to work today.",
  "imageUrl": null,
  "videoUrl": null,
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR04545223091738902529/creative/CR12249652250414153729?region=anywhere",
  "regionFilter": "anywhere",
  "sourceUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/?region=anywhere&domain=apify.com",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-10-14T11:15:51.596Z"
}

creativeUrl is left out here because it is long. In this row Google shows no dates or impressions for Israel, so those values are null.

How much you get depends on the ad. In our test runs, 9 of 20 apify.com ads had a headline (the rest were text ads shown only as a picture), and 18 of 20 shopify.com image ads had an imageUrl.

Output fields

Field	Meaning	Type	Can be empty?	Example / enum	Source / notes
status	row result	string	no	complete, partial, not_found, error	only complete and partial are charged
statusReason	why a row is partial, not_found or error	string	yes, null when complete	The Transparency Center shows no ads for ...	plain English
errorCode	machine code of an error row	string	yes	SOURCE_BLOCKED, DEADLINE_REACHED	null if no error
input	your input as given	string	no	apify.com
inputType	how the input was read	string	no	domain, advertiserId, advertiserName
advertiserId	Google advertiser ID	string	yes	AR04545223091738902529
advertiserName	advertiser name in the Transparency Center	string	yes	Apify Technologies s.r.o.
advertiserCountry	advertiser country, 2-letter code	string	yes	null	often null: Google shows it only for some advertisers
domain	domain the ad links to	string	yes	apify.com	when Google shows it
creativeId	Google ad ID	string	yes	CR12249652250414153729
format	ad format	string	yes	text, image, video
firstShown	first time the ad was shown	string (ISO time)	yes	2026-07-02T13:54:49.000Z
lastShown	last time the ad was shown	string (ISO time)	yes	2026-10-14T10:26:38.000Z
daysShown	days shown, as reported by Google	integer	yes	105
regions	countries where the ad ran	array	yes	[{"code": "IE", ...}]	code, name, criteriaId, firstShown, lastShown, impressionsMin, impressionsMax
impressionsMin	lower end of the total impression range	integer	yes	1000	Google range, not exact
impressionsMax	upper end of the total impression range	integer	yes	2000
variations	number of ad variations	integer	yes	1
headline	text ad headline	string	yes	Apify for your AI - Largest marketplace for AI	from the ad preview
description	text ad description	string	yes	Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor ...	from the ad preview
displayUrl	display URL of a text ad	string	yes	www.apify.com/
callToAction	button text of a display ad	string	yes	Sign Up	when Google shows it
text	headline and description in one string	string	yes		null when the ad has no text
imageUrl	image of the ad	string	yes	https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/...	image, display and image-only text ads
videoUrl	YouTube link of a video ad	string	yes	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
creativeUrl	Google preview URL of the ad	string	yes
adUrl	public Transparency Center page of the ad	string	yes	https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR.../creative/CR...
regionFilter	region filter of this run	string	no	anywhere
sourceUrl	Transparency Center page for your input	string	yes
fetchedAt	when the Actor read the row	string (ISO time)	no	2026-10-14T11:15:51.596Z

null means Google does not show this value for the ad. The Actor never writes 0 or an empty string instead of a missing value. Impression ranges can start at 0 because Google shows "less than 1,000" as 0–1,000.

Output entities and surfaces

Situation	Dataset/API/KVS/live view	Result shape	User action
Normal ad	Dataset, Ads view	one row, status = complete	open, export or use the fields
Some details missing	Dataset	row with status = partial and statusReason	data is still useful; missing fields are null
No ads for an input	Dataset	one free row, status = not_found	check the domain, name, region or dates
Google blocked the run or time ran out	Dataset + key-value store RUN_SUMMARY	free error rows for inputs not done, summary with status and stopReason	run again later, or split the inputs

The key-value store record RUN_SUMMARY has the run status (COMPLETE, PARTIAL, NO_RESULTS, CAPPED, ERROR, INVALID_INPUT, CANCELLED), counts for each input, and warnings.

Pricing

Pricing unit

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

Event	When	FREE	BRONZE	SILVER	GOLD and higher
Actor start	once per run (per GB of memory; default 256 MB = 1 event)	$0.004	$0.004	$0.004	$0.004
Ad	each complete or partial ad row	$0.0012	$0.0011	$0.00105	$0.001

Ad text, images, YouTube links, countries and impressions are all included in the ad price. not_found and error rows are free. A run with no ads costs only the start event ($0.004). You pay no separate platform usage.

You can set a maximum cost for a run in Apify. When the Actor reaches it, it stops cleanly, keeps the rows it already saved, and the run summary shows CAPPED with CHARGE_LIMIT.

Cost examples

Scenario	Input scope	Ad rows	Start	Ads (FREE plan)	Stop/cap behavior
Small	1 domain, maxAds 10	10	$0.004	$0.012	about 30–70 seconds
Prefill	1 domain, maxAds 20	20	$0.004	$0.024	about 30–70 seconds
Medium	3 domains, maxAds 100	300	$0.004	$0.36	about 1–2 minutes
Large	5 domains, maxAds 200	up to ~800	$0.004	up to ~$0.96	stops after about 4.5 minutes of work with the rows it has
1,000 ads	2 runs, 500 ads each	1,000	$0.008	$1.20 (GOLD: $1.00)	split into 2 runs
Nothing found	20 domains with no ads, or a filter with no match	0	$0.004	$0	20 free not_found rows

Use cases

Buyer job	Input path	Output entity	Key fields	Next integration
Competitor ad monitoring	domains	one row per ad	headline, firstShown, lastShown, daysShown	schedule + Google Sheets
PPC copy research	domains or advertisers, format = text	text ad	headline, description, displayUrl	export CSV
Market and country check	advertisers + region	ad with regions	regions, impressionsMin, impressionsMax	BI tool via API
Creative library	format = image or video	image or video ad	imageUrl, videoUrl, callToAction	download images

Scheduling and monitoring

• Create an Apify schedule that runs the same input every day or week.
• Each run returns the ads Google shows at that time. Compare runs by creativeId to find new ads, or sort by firstShown.
• lastShown tells you if an ad is still running.
• The Actor does not keep state between runs; each run is a full snapshot and each ad row is charged again.

API, export and integrations

• API: start the Actor with the Apify API and read the dataset items as JSON.
• Export: download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel or XML from the Output tab.
• Webhooks / no-code: use Apify integrations (Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, webhooks) to send new rows to your tools.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

• MCP server URL with only this Actor: https://mcp.apify.com?tools=cliqtomedia/google-ads-transparency-scraper
• Smallest useful input:

{ "domains": ["apify.com"], "maxAds": 20 }

• Key output fields: advertiserName (who runs the ad), format (text, image or video), headline and description (ad copy), firstShown / lastShown (when it ran), regions (countries with impression ranges).
• Typical run: 20 ads in about 30–70 seconds for about $0.028. Limits: up to 20 inputs and 500 ads per input; about 600–800 ads per run.

Limits and partial results

• Up to 20 domains and advertisers per run, up to 500 ads for each.
• One run works for about 4.5 minutes and collects about 600–800 ads in total in our tests. If it has more to do, it stops with the ads it has and the summary shows CAPPED with DEADLINE. Split big jobs into several runs.
• A larger run timeout does not make one run collect more.
• A row with status partial is still charged: the ad is there, but some details (for example text or countries) could not be read. statusReason says what is missing.
• Inputs that were not done when the run stopped get free error rows.

Troubleshooting

I get a not_found row for my advertiser name

Symptom: status is not_found and statusReason lists "Closest" names. Likely reason: the name does not match whole words of an advertiser in the Transparency Center. Check: look at the closest names and their AR… IDs in statusReason. Action: put the right AR… ID in Advertisers, or use the website domain in Domains.

I get not_found for a domain that runs ads

Symptom: status is not_found with "The Transparency Center shows no ads for ...". Likely reason: there are no ads for this region, format or date range. For example, a brand may show no text ads in one country. Check: open the sourceUrl link in your browser. Action: set Region to anywhere, Ad format to all, or remove the dates.

The run stopped with SOURCE_BLOCKED

Symptom: the run summary shows ERROR or PARTIAL with SOURCE_BLOCKED, and inputs that were not done have free error rows. Likely reason: Google showed a CAPTCHA to all proxy IPs. The Actor does not solve CAPTCHAs. Check: did you set your own proxy? Then the automatic switch to residential proxy is off. Action: keep the default proxy and run again later.

I asked for 500 ads but got fewer

Symptom: the summary shows CAPPED with DEADLINE, or the advertiser simply has fewer ads. Likely reason: one run works for about 4.5 minutes; many inputs with large maxAds do not fit. Action: run fewer inputs per run.

FAQ

Do I need a Google account or an API key?

No. The Actor reads the public Ads Transparency Center pages. No login, cookies or API key.

Why are headline and description empty for some text ads?

Google stores some text ads only as a picture. Then the text is only in the image, headline and description are null, and imageUrl has the picture.

Are impressions exact?

No. Google shows ranges, for example 1,000–2,000. The Actor returns the lower and upper end. Google does not show impressions for every ad or country; then the values are null.

How fresh is the data?

Every run reads the Transparency Center live. lastShown tells you when Google last showed the ad.

Which name match does the Actor use?

For a name, it looks for an advertiser whose name has the same whole words (exact name first). It never guesses a different company. For an exact account, use the AR… ID from the advertiser page URL.

Related Actors

• Google Autocomplete Scraper — find the search phrases around a brand before you check its ads.
• Website Metadata & Open Graph Scraper — check titles and descriptions of the landing pages from the ads.

Support

For a bug, a question or a feature request, open an issue in the Issues tab of this Actor. Include the run ID, your input (domains or advertisers) and the statusReason or error text. Never send tokens, cookies or billing data.