# Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Competitor Ads, Ad Creatives (`data-done-right/google-ads-transparency-scraper`) Actor

See the Google ads a competitor runs (search, display and YouTube) from Google's Ads Transparency Center: ad image, first and last shown dates, days shown, format and link. Search by brand name, website domain or advertiser ID, for any country. Works as a Google Ads Transparency Center API.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/data-done-right/google-ads-transparency-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Data Done Right](https://apify.com/data-done-right) (community)
- **Categories:** Marketing, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.36 / 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: Competitor Ads, Ad Creatives

This Google Ads Transparency scraper shows **the Google ads your competitors run**, as listed in Google's Ads Transparency Center: Search (text), Display (image) and YouTube (video). The data comes from Google's public Ads Transparency Center. Enter a brand name, a website domain or an advertiser ID, choose a country, and get a clean table of their ads. It is made for marketers, agencies and competitor researchers.

### What data can you extract from the Google Ads Transparency Center

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `advertiserName`, `advertiserId` | Nike, Inc. · AR16735076323512287233 |
| `format` | text / image / video |
| `firstShown`, `lastShown` | 2026-09-11T…Z · 2026-10-18T…Z |
| `daysShown` | 38 |
| `imageUrl`, `width`, `height` | the rendered ad image (text and display ads) |
| `previewUrl` | Google's preview for video ads |
| `adUrl` | link to the ad on the Transparency Center |
| `advertiserTotalAdsRange` | 7000-8000 ads in total for this advertiser |

### How to see a competitor's Google ads

Enter the competitor's brand name, domain or advertiser ID, pick a region, and run. Example input:

```json
{
  "advertisers": ["nike.com", "adidas", "AR16735076323512287233"],
  "region": "US",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 200,
  "formats": ["text", "image", "video"],
  "lastShownAfter": "2026-09-01"
}
```

- **Names** are matched to the advertiser account in your region with the most ads. Choose *All matching advertiser accounts* to get every Nike/Adidas entity.
- **Domains** return ads from every advertiser that promotes that site.
- **Region** is any 2-letter country code, or `anywhere`.

### Use cases

- **Competitor research:** what creatives, offers and formats rivals run, and for how long. Long-running ads usually perform.
- **Agency pitches:** show a prospect their competitors' ad activity in minutes.
- **Monitoring:** schedule it weekly with `lastShownAfter` to catch new campaigns, and send the results to Google Sheets with our *Google Sheets Import & Export* Actor.

### Google Ads Transparency Center API and data exporter

Call this Actor from the Apify API, Python, JavaScript, Make, Zapier or n8n and get a competitor's ads back as JSON, or export them to CSV, Excel or Google Sheets. There's no Google Ads account and no API key.

### Use it in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor

Connect Apify's MCP server (mcp.apify.com) and your AI assistant can pull a competitor's ads itself. For example: "which Google ads has nike.com run in the US since September?" The only required input is `advertisers`.

### How much does it cost

Pay per event: **$0.0017 per ad** delivered (1,000 ads ≈ $1.70), plus the standard start fee. Apify Silver plans get 10% off, Gold and higher 20%. **Max ads per advertiser** caps the cost.

### Notes

- Google renders text (search) ads as images in the Transparency Center, so ad copy arrives as an image URL.
- The data is public and comes straight from Google's Transparency Center. No login is needed.

### FAQ

#### What is the Google Ads Transparency Center?

It is Google's public library of ads shown by verified advertisers. This Actor turns it into a table you can filter, export and schedule.

#### How do I use the Google Ads Transparency Center?

On the website, you search one advertiser at a time and scroll. With this Actor, you list many advertisers or domains at once and get each listed ad as a row, with dates and formats, ready to filter and export.

#### How do I see all the ads a competitor runs on Google?

Enter their brand name, website domain or advertiser ID and a country. You get their Search, Display and YouTube ads with first and last shown dates.

#### Can I find out how long an ad has been running?

Yes. Each ad has `firstShown`, `lastShown` and `daysShown`. Ads that run for a long time are usually working for the advertiser.

#### Does it work for any country?

Use a 2-letter country code, or `anywhere`. The Transparency Center lists ads by the region where they were shown.

#### Do I get the ad text?

Google shows text ads as images in the Transparency Center, so you get the ad image URL rather than the copy as text.

#### Is it legal to scrape the Google Ads Transparency Center?

The data is public and needs no login. Follow Google's terms and the laws that apply to you when you use it.

### Related tools

- **[Google Trends Scraper](https://apify.com/data-done-right/google-trends-scraper)** shows how interest in a brand or keyword changes over time.
- **Keyword Suggestions Tool** finds the search terms people type around a topic.

# Actor input Schema

## `advertisers` (type: `array`):

Any mix of: advertiser names ("adidas"), website domains ("nike.com"), advertiser IDs (AR...), or Ads Transparency Center URLs.

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

2-letter country code where the ads were shown (US, GB, DE, CA, AU, IN...), or 'anywhere'.

## `maxAdsPerAdvertiser` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many ads per advertiser (also caps cost).

## `formats` (type: `array`):

Which ad formats to include.

## `lastShownAfter` (type: `string`):

Keep only ads that were still running after this date.

## `nameMatching` (type: `string`):

When searching by name.

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

Proxy settings. The default works for most runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "advertisers": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "region": "US",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 20,
  "formats": [
    "text",
    "image",
    "video"
  ],
  "nameMatching": "best",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All result items of this run (the default dataset), as JSON, CSV, Excel and more.

## `records` (type: `string`):

Key-value store records: the run summary, notes on any problems, and any files.

# 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 = {
    "advertisers": [
        "nike.com"
    ],
    "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 20,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("data-done-right/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 = {
    "advertisers": ["nike.com"],
    "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 20,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("data-done-right/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 '{
  "advertisers": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call data-done-right/google-ads-transparency-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,data-done-right/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/B2qtQgSdFbQVeQ5dE/builds/tfhMeAMHY5apgkBlB/openapi.json