# Google Ads Transparency Scraper & Monitor (`datatidy/google-ads-transparency-monitor`) Actor

Get every ad of any advertiser or domain from the Google Ads Transparency Center: text, image and video ads, first/last shown, impressions by country. Built-in monitoring: schedule it and get only new and stopped competitor ads.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/datatidy/google-ads-transparency-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Onkel RoGi](https://apify.com/datatidy) (community)
- **Categories:** Marketing, SEO tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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 & Monitor

Get **every Google ad of any advertiser or domain** from the [Google Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com): text, image and video ads, when each ad was first and last shown, and (optionally) impressions by country. Then **schedule it** and get only what changed: **new ads your competitors launched** and **ads they stopped**.

No login, no browser: the Actor talks to the Transparency Center's own data endpoints, so it is fast and cheap — up to 100 ads per request instead of one page load per ad.

### What you can do with it

- **Competitor ad monitoring** — run it daily on your competitors' domains and get a list of new and stopped ads (pairs well with an email/Slack integration).
- **Ad creative research** — download all image/text ad renders and YouTube video ads of a brand.
- **Agency reporting** — see how many ads a brand runs, in which countries, since when.
- **Lead generation for ad agencies** — find out which companies advertise in a country and how actively.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Advertisers or domains** | One per line. A domain (`nike.com`), an advertiser ID (`AR16735076323512287233`), an Ads Transparency URL (`https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR…` or `…/?domain=otto.de`), or an advertiser **name** (`Nike` → the matching advertiser with the most ads). |
| **Region** | `anywhere`, or a two-letter country code (`US`, `DE`, `GB` …) to get only ads shown there. |
| **Ad format** | All, text, image or video. |
| **Shown within the last N days** | Skip ads that stopped running long ago. Ads come newest first, so this also makes runs faster. |
| **Max ads per advertiser/domain** | Default 200. Big brands have tens of thousands of ads; `0` = no limit. |
| **Include impressions by country** | Adds impression ranges and first/last shown date per country, all image variations, and the **YouTube video ID** of video ads. |
| **Track changes between runs** | Monitoring, see below. |

Example:

```json
{
  "targets": ["zalando.de", "Nike", "AR17568630107302526977"],
  "region": "DE",
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 200,
  "includeDetails": true
}
```

### Output

One row per ad. Real example (`zalando.de`, region DE, details on):

```json
{
  "target": "zalando.de",
  "advertiserId": "AR15589870916631265281",
  "advertiserName": "Zalando SE",
  "creativeId": "CR00057409882952826881",
  "format": "text",
  "domain": "zalando.de",
  "firstShown": "2025-11-08T07:22:53.000Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-31T20:54:02.000Z",
  "daysShown": 199,
  "imageUrl": "https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/6499575823368687217",
  "imageWidth": 348,
  "imageHeight": 156,
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR15589870916631265281/creative/CR00057409882952826881?region=DE",
  "isActive": true,
  "variations": ["https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/6499575823368687217"],
  "impressionsByRegion": [
    { "region": "DE", "impressionsMin": 1000, "impressionsMax": 2000, "firstShownDate": "2025-11-07", "lastShownDate": "2026-10-31" }
  ],
  "regionsShown": 1,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-31T21:19:39.828Z"
}
```

- `imageUrl` — Google's own render of the ad (text ads are rendered as an image, exactly as shown on Google).
- `isActive` — shown within the last 3 days.
- `daysShown` — number of days Google reports the ad as served.
- Video ads (details on) get `youtubeVideoId`, `youtubeUrl` and a thumbnail as `imageUrl`.
- The key-value store record `SUMMARY` lists, per target, the resolved advertiser, the size of its ad library and the counts per change type.

### Monitoring: only new and stopped ads

Turn on **Track changes between runs** and schedule the Actor (Apify Console → Schedules, e.g. daily). Every ad gets a `change`:

| `change` | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `first_run` | First run of this monitor — the baseline. |
| `new` | Ad first shown since the previous run. |
| `running` | Ad that was already known and is still shown. |
| `stopped` | Ad that was running at the previous run and is no longer shown (reported once). |

With **Output only changes** the `running` ads are skipped and billed at a much cheaper "checked" rate — your dataset contains only the news. Monitoring runs are fast: Google sorts ads by "last shown", so the Actor stops reading as soon as it reaches ads older than the previous run.

Use **Monitor name** to keep separate histories (e.g. one per client). Note: `stopped` needs a complete view of the running ads — set *Max ads* high enough (or `0`) for big advertisers.

### Pricing

Pay per result, no subscription:

- **Ad** — one delivered ad row.
- **Ad details** — extra per ad when *Include impressions by country* is on.
- **Checked ad** — monitoring with *Output only changes*: an already-known ad that was checked but not output.

Failed targets are free. See the Pricing tab for current prices.

### Tips

- Don't know the domain? Enter the brand name — the log shows which advertiser was picked; copy its `AR…` ID for exact results.
- One brand often has several advertiser accounts (e.g. per country). Searching by **domain** covers all of them.
- The Actor uses Apify Proxy and switches to residential IPs on its own if Google throttles.

### Is it legal?

The Ads Transparency Center is a public library Google publishes so that anyone can see who advertises what. The Actor collects only advertiser-level, business data about ads — no personal data. Check your local rules for how you use the data.

# Actor input Schema

## `targets` (type: `array`):

One per line: a domain (nike.com), an advertiser ID (AR…), an Ads Transparency URL, or an advertiser name (the advertiser with the most ads matching the name is used).

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

Two-letter country code (US, DE, GB, FR …) to get only ads shown in that country, or 'anywhere'.

## `format` (type: `string`):

Only ads of one format.

## `lastShownWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

0 = all ads, including ads that stopped running long ago. Ads come newest-shown first, so this also makes runs faster.

## `maxAdsPerTarget` (type: `integer`):

0 = no limit. Large brands have tens of thousands of ads.

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetches each ad's detail page: impression ranges and first/last shown date per country, plus all image variations. One extra request (and the 'ad-details' event) per ad.

## `monitorChanges` (type: `boolean`):

Remembers the last run and marks each ad as new, running or stopped. Schedule the Actor (e.g. daily) to get alerted when a competitor launches or pauses ads.

## `changesOnly` (type: `boolean`):

With tracking on: skip ads that were already running (billed at the much cheaper 'checked' rate). The first run always outputs everything as the baseline.

## `monitorName` (type: `string`):

Keeps separate histories for different monitors. By default the history is tied to the targets, region and format.

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

How many advertisers/domains are processed at the same time.

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

Default Apify Proxy works; the Actor switches to residential IPs automatically if Google throttles.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "targets": [
    "zalando.de"
  ],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "format": "all",
  "lastShownWithinDays": 0,
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 200,
  "includeDetails": false,
  "monitorChanges": false,
  "changesOnly": false,
  "maxConcurrency": 2,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Ads with format, dates, image and change status.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Ads per advertiser/domain and counts per change type.

# 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 = {
    "targets": [
        "zalando.de"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("datatidy/google-ads-transparency-monitor").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 = { "targets": ["zalando.de"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("datatidy/google-ads-transparency-monitor").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 '{
  "targets": [
    "zalando.de"
  ]
}' |
apify call datatidy/google-ads-transparency-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/m9I3HeHTyeKAwhUt3/builds/2hSKkBNiCLhYSQ37t/openapi.json