# Google Ads Transparency Scraper (`getdataforu/google-ads-transparency`) Actor

Every Google Search, YouTube and Display ad a competitor runs, from the Google Ads Transparency Center. Search by domain, advertiser name or ID; get format, first and last shown, days running, ad images and YouTube video links, plus an advertiser report.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/getdataforu/google-ads-transparency.md
- **Developed by:** [EMT Crawler](https://apify.com/getdataforu) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

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

See **every ad a competitor runs on Google Search, YouTube and the Display network**. Enter a website domain, an advertiser name or an advertiser ID; get back each ad's format, when it was first and last shown, how many days it has been running, the ad image or YouTube video, and a link to the ad — plus a report on each competitor's advertising.

Data comes from Google's own public [Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com). No Google account, no API key.

### What it's for

- **Competitor research** — see every ad a rival is running right now, and which ones they have kept running for months. An ad that runs for a year is an ad that works.
- **Creative inspiration** — collect the longest-running ads in your niche as a swipe file.
- **YouTube ad intelligence** — find the actual YouTube videos competitors pay to promote.
- **Market sizing** — how many ads does each player run, in which formats and countries?
- **Agency pitches** — show a prospect exactly what their competitors are doing on Google.

### What you get for each ad

| | |
|---|---|
| **Advertiser** | Name, advertiser ID, the domain the ad points to |
| **Ad** | Format (text, image, video), ad image, YouTube video link for video ads, link to the ad's page |
| **Timing** | First shown, last shown, number of days shown, still running or not |
| **Variations** | Optional: every version of the ad (different images, sizes, headlines) |

Real rows from a test run:

| Advertiser | Format | First shown | Days shown | Running |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NIKE GLOBAL TRADING B.V. | video → youtube.com/watch?v=VA61AgGqI3I | 2022-08-13 | 1,281 | yes |
| Shopify Inc. | video | 2026-05-26 | 141 | yes |
| Booking.com | text | — | 1,815 | yes |

### The advertiser report

Every run writes an **`ADVERTISER_REPORT`** to the key-value store, one entry per competitor: Google's estimate of their total ads, ads collected, the format mix, how many are still running, the median days an ad runs, the 5 longest-running ads, the 5 newest ads, and — for a domain — every advertiser account that promotes it. From the test run:

| Query | Google's estimate | Format mix (of 100) | Median days running |
|---|---|---|---|
| booking.com | 15.5–15.6 million ads | 100 text | 1,422 |
| temu.com | 2.9–3.0 million ads | 55 text, 23 video, 22 image | 52 |
| nike.com | 90,000–100,000 ads (6 accounts) | 85 text, 12 image, 3 video | 764 |
| Shopify | 70,000–80,000 ads | 60 text, 38 video, 2 image | 471 |

### Input

```json
{
  "queries": ["nike.com", "Shopify", "AR16735076323512287233"],
  "region": "US",
  "adFormat": "video",
  "activeWithinDays": 7,
  "maxAdsPerQuery": 200
}
```

| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `queries` | — | **Required.** Website domains, advertiser names, advertiser IDs (AR...) or Transparency Center links. A name is matched to the advertiser with the most ads ("Nike" → "Nike, Inc."). |
| `region` | anywhere | Only ads shown in this country (60+ countries). |
| `adFormat` | all | `text` (Search), `image` (Display), `video` (YouTube). |
| `activeWithinDays` | — | Only ads shown in the last N days. `1` = running right now. |
| `maxAdsPerQuery` | `100` | Most recently shown first. |
| `includeVideoIds` | `true` | Find the YouTube video behind each video ad. |
| `includeVariations` | `false` | List every version of each ad (one extra request per ad). |

### Speed and cost

Measured: **500 ads for 5 competitors, with every variation, in 3 minutes.** The actor talks to the Transparency Center directly and only uses a proxy if Google rate-limits a request, which keeps runs fast and cheap.

### You only pay for ads you get

Queries with no ads, unknown names and mistyped domains are never written to the dataset, so they are never charged. They are listed with the reason in `ADVERTISER_REPORT.failed`.

### Limitations

- **Ad text is shown as an image.** Google archives text ads as screenshots; the actor returns the screenshot, not the words.
- **Responsive image ads have no single image** (Google draws them from several assets), so `imageUrl` is empty for many image ads — open `adUrl` to see them.
- Impressions and spend are not published by Google for commercial ads (only for political ads in some countries).
- Google's total ad count is an estimate it shows as a range.

### Legal

Reads only what Google publishes in its public Ads Transparency Center. You are responsible for how you use the data.

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

One per line: a website domain (nike.com), an advertiser name (Shopify), an advertiser ID (AR...), or a Transparency Center link. Names are matched to the advertiser with the most ads.

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

Only ads shown in this country. Anywhere returns ads from every country.

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

Only ads of this format.

## `activeWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Only ads Google showed recently - 1 means running right now. Leave empty for the full history.

## `maxAdsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Large brands run tens of thousands of ads; the most recently shown come first.

## `includeVideoIds` (type: `boolean`):

For video ads, find the YouTube video they play - watch the actual ad, check its views.

## `includeVariations` (type: `boolean`):

List every version of each ad (different images, sizes, headlines). One extra request per ad.

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

How many ads are enriched at the same time.

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

Requests go out directly. This proxy is only used when Google rate-limits one, so most runs use no proxy traffic.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "nike.com",
    "Shopify",
    "AR16735076323512287233",
    "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233"
  ],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "adFormat": "all",
  "maxAdsPerQuery": 100,
  "includeVideoIds": true,
  "includeVariations": false,
  "maxConcurrency": 10,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Every ad found: advertiser, format, first and last shown, days running, whether it is still running, image, YouTube video and a link to the ad.

## `advertiserReport` (type: `string`):

Per competitor: estimated total ads, format mix, ads still running, the longest-running and newest ads, and queries that failed.

# 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 = {
    "queries": [
        "nike.com",
        "Shopify"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("getdataforu/google-ads-transparency").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 = { "queries": [
        "nike.com",
        "Shopify",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("getdataforu/google-ads-transparency").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 '{
  "queries": [
    "nike.com",
    "Shopify"
  ]
}' |
apify call getdataforu/google-ads-transparency --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/qzlMq6dYm6MiitISs/builds/bdlzJJbG9qDKxbk27/openapi.json