# YouTube Ads Scraper (`icoe-man/youtube-ads-scraper`) Actor

A youtube ads scraper for sponsored videos: give a YouTube video link and get the likely sponsors detected from its description and paid-promotion disclosure. Export JSON, CSV or Excel.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/icoe-man/youtube-ads-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Icoe Man](https://apify.com/icoe-man) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Marketing, Videos
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $22.97 / 1,000 video sponsors

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

## YouTube Ads Scraper

Give this Actor one or more YouTube video links. For each video it returns the likely sponsors detected from the video's description and disclosure, with the quotes that point to each one. Sponsors are inferred from the video's description, links and paid-promotion disclosure; they are likely sponsors, not a complete sponsor list. Results arrive as a clean table you can download or pass on to other tools.

### What it does

Enter up to 100 urls in **Video links**. For each url, the Actor collects public ads, up to **Max results per url** (10 by default, at most 50). Each ad becomes one item in the dataset. Pick **Live** under **Freshness** to always collect fresh data.

### Use cases

- Sponsorship research: see which brands appear in the sponsor mentions of a channel.
- Brand research: check which videos mention your brand as a sponsor.
- Partnership research: learn which creators work with brands in a niche.
- Reporting: keep a record of the sponsor mentions of a set of videos.

### Input

| Field | Title | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `videoUrls` | Video links | Full YouTube video links, like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM. Shorts and youtu.be links also work. |
| `maxItems` | Max results per url | The most results to collect for each url. |
| `freshness` | Freshness | Standard may return recently collected data, which is faster. Live always collects fresh data. |

Example:

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10,
  "freshness": "standard"
}
```

### Output

Each ad looks like this:

```json
{
  "status": "ok",
  "type": "ad",
  "platform": "youtube",
  "id": "5_Fayfx2NUM:examplebrand",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM",
  "advertiser": {
    "name": "Example Brand"
  },
  "text": "Sponsored by Example Brand.",
  "landingUrl": null,
  "details": {
    "youtube": {
      "videoId": "5_Fayfx2NUM",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "evidence": [
        {
          "source": "description",
          "text": "This video is sponsored by Example Brand, shown for illustration."
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "collectedAt": "2026-11-11T12:00:00Z",
  "input": {
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM",
    "maxItems": 10
  }
}
```

Every item carries a `status` field. A target that fails gives one item with `status: "error"` and an `error` object with a `code` and a `message`.

### Pricing

You pay per result. Prices are in USD per 1,000 results and depend on your Apify plan.

| Event | Free | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Video sponsors | $42.300 | $35.250 | $29.737 | $22.973 | $22.973 | $22.973 |

Errors and empty results are never charged, and the run stops when it reaches your spending limit.

Free plan: up to 100 results per run and 20 runs per day.

### FAQ

#### How are sponsors found?

The Actor reads the video's description, its links and its paid-promotion disclosure. A sponsor it detects this way is a likely sponsor, shown with a confidence level and the quotes it was based on.

#### Is this the full list of a video sponsors?

No. Sponsors are inferred from the video's description, links and paid-promotion disclosure; they are likely sponsors, not a complete sponsor list. A sponsor that is not named in those places is not found.

#### What if a video has no sponsor?

Then the run returns no item for that video and it is not charged. Most videos return at most one result.

#### Do I need to log in or share a YouTube account?

No. The Actor collects only public information and needs no login or cookies.

#### How many results can I collect, and what do I pay?

Set the maximum number of results per video in the input. You pay only for the results delivered, and a run stops when it reaches your spending limit. Errors and empty results are not charged.

#### Is this Actor affiliated with YouTube?

No. It is an independent tool, not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by YouTube. It collects only information that is shown publicly on YouTube.

### Disclaimer

This Actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

Full YouTube video links, like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM. Shorts and youtu.be links also work.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

The most results to collect for each url.

## `freshness` (type: `string`):

Standard may return recently collected data, which is faster. Live always collects fresh data.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10,
  "freshness": "standard"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All collected items in the default dataset.

# 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 = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM"
    ],
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("icoe-man/youtube-ads-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 = {
    "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM"],
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("icoe-man/youtube-ads-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 '{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Fayfx2NUM"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call icoe-man/youtube-ads-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,icoe-man/youtube-ads-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/gePjE5u6tVjkAb0xs/builds/oObJ2PA4S2z8bSlLd/openapi.json