Google Ads Transparency Scraper: competitor ads by brand name

Get the ads a company runs on Google (Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps and Play) straight from the Google Ads Transparency Center, the public Google Ads Library. Type a brand name like Nike or El Corte Inglés, a domain like nike.com, an advertiser ID or a Transparency Center URL, and get a clean dataset with ad text, images, YouTube videos, landing pages, dates and, in the EU, impressions per country and platform.

No login, no Google account, no coding. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel or Google Sheets, or connect it to Make, Zapier, n8n or your own code through the Apify API, as a simple Google Ads Transparency Center API.

Why this scraper

• Search by brand name. Many scrapers need an advertiser URL. Here you type Nike and it finds the real Nike, Inc. account, not a look-alike.
• The full ad in one run: headline, description, YouTube link, call to action and landing page, plus images and dates.
• EU impressions by country and platform, as Google publishes them.
• Alerts for competitors' new ads: turn on Only new ads and schedule it to get just what changed since the last run.
• Pay only for what you get. No start fee, no monthly fee. If Google refuses an ad's details, you pay the basic price.

What you can use it for

• Competitor research: see which messages, offers and creatives your competitors are running right now, and for how long. A Google ad spy tool built on Google's own public data.
• Agency pitches and audits: pull a brand's Google ad library in minutes before a meeting.
• Creative inspiration: collect headlines, descriptions and YouTube ads that have been running for months (a strong hint that they work). It also works as a YouTube ads scraper for any advertiser.
• Market and media research: compare impressions by country and by Google platform (EU data).
• Compliance and brand protection: check what is being advertised under a brand or a domain.

What data you get

Field	What it is
advertiserName, advertiserId	The verified advertiser behind the ad
creativeId, adUrl	The ad's ID and its page in the Transparency Center
format	TEXT, IMAGE or VIDEO
headline, description, displayDomain	The ad text (search ads and many video/Shopping ads)
imageUrl, previewUrl	Ad image or screenshot
videoUrl	Direct YouTube link for video ads
callToAction, landingUrl	Button (e.g. VISIT_SITE) and destination page, when Google provides them (mostly video ads)
firstShown, lastShown, daysActive	When the ad ran
platforms	Where it was shown: SEARCH, YOUTUBE, SHOPPING, MAPS, PLAY
regionsShown[]	Every country where it ran, with first/last date and, in the EU, impressions range per country and per platform
detailsIncluded	true when the full ad details were fetched
source, regionFilter, scrapedAt	What you searched for and when

Google only publishes impressions and platform breakdowns for countries with transparency obligations (the European Union). For other countries you get the dates. Fields Google does not provide are returned as null, never as placeholders.

Example output (real ad, shortened)

{
  "advertiserName": "El Corte Ingles S.A.",
  "creativeId": "CR12812890421910831105",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR05601758993283284993/creative/CR12812890421910831105?region=es",
  "format": "VIDEO",
  "firstShown": "2024-06-12",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-24",
  "daysActive": 836,
  "imageUrl": "https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/cCcNW4decls/hqdefault.jpg",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCcNW4decls",
  "headline": "Productos de paseo",
  "callToAction": "VISIT_SITE",
  "landingUrl": "https://www.elcorteingles.es/mundo-paseo/bebes/Bebés/Paseo",
  "platforms": ["YOUTUBE"],
  "regionsShown": [
    {
      "region": "ES",
      "firstShown": "2024-06-11",
      "lastShown": "2026-10-23",
      "impressions": { "min": 1000000, "max": 1250000 },
      "platforms": [{ "platform": "YOUTUBE", "impressions": { "min": 1000000, "max": 1250000 } }]
    }
  ],
  "detailsIncluded": true
}

A search ad from the same run:

{
  "format": "TEXT",
  "headline": "El Corte Inglés",
  "description": "Haz que aprendan jugando con nuestra variedad de juguetes educativos de ciencia. Entra ya.",
  "displayDomain": "elcorteingles.es",
  "platforms": ["MAPS", "SEARCH", "SHOPPING", "YOUTUBE"]
}

How to use it

1. Click Try for free.
2. Enter one or more brand names (for example Nike), domains, advertiser IDs or Transparency Center URLs.
3. Optionally choose a country (US, ES, MX…), an ad format and a date range.
4. Set Max ads per advertiser and click Start.
5. Download the results or send them to Google Sheets, Make, Zapier or n8n.

Searching by brand name

Google often lists small look-alike accounts first (searching "Nike" returns a one-ad account before Nike, Inc.). This scraper picks the matching advertiser with the most ads, and when you choose a country it prefers advertisers registered there. Use Advertisers per name search to include several (e.g. a brand and its travel or retail subsidiaries).

Some big brands are not among Google's name suggestions at all (Zara is registered as Industria de Diseño Textil). When only small accounts match, the scraper searches the brand's own domain instead (zara.com, or liverpool.com.mx when the country is Mexico), and the log tells you which advertiser or domain it used. If you still get the wrong company, enter its domain directly.

Input example

{
  "searchTerms": ["Nike"],
  "region": "US",
  "adFormat": "ALL",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 200,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includeAdContent": true
}

Recipe: weekly competitor ad report in Google Sheets

1. Enter your competitors' brand names and turn on Only new ads (monitoring).
2. Create an Apify Schedule for this Actor, for example every Monday at 8:00.
3. Add the Google Sheets integration to the Actor so each run appends its results to your sheet.

The first run saves the competitors' current ads as a starting point. From then on, each run returns only the ads that are new since the previous one, so your sheet becomes a running log of every new campaign. Runs with no new ads return nothing and you pay nothing for results.

Use it from code

Call the Actor from Python with the Apify client (pip install apify-client):

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("lazybloomworld/google-ads-transparency-scraper").call(run_input={"searchTerms": ["Nike"], "region": "US", "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 50})
for ad in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(ad["format"], ad["headline"], ad["adUrl"])

Pricing

You pay per ad, with no monthly fee:

• Full ad (text, media, regions, impressions, platforms): $1.00 per 1,000 ads.
• Basic ad (list only, with includeDetails off): $0.40 per 1,000 ads.

Examples: 200 ads from one brand cost about $0.20. Ten competitors with 500 ads each cost about $5. No start fee and no monthly fee.

If Google refuses the details of an ad, that ad is charged at the basic price, so you never pay full price for partial data. Apify's free plan includes monthly credit, enough to try it on a few thousand ads.

Reliability and speed

Google limits how fast its Transparency Center can be read. The scraper fetches ads in parallel, slows down automatically when Google pushes back, retries, and switches connection if the proxy is blocked, so a run finishes with your data instead of failing halfway. A typical run returns around 100 complete ads per one to two minutes. Turn off Include ad details for a much faster list.

What Google does not publish

The Transparency Center does not show ad spend, clicks, CTR, keywords or detailed audience targeting, so no scraper can return them. Impressions and platform breakdowns exist only for EU countries. Some ads only have a screenshot (no text), and Google only exposes a YouTube link for part of video ads. Missing fields come back as null.

FAQ

Do I need a Google account or API key? No.

Why are some headlines empty? For some ads Google only stores a screenshot, which you get in previewUrl/imageUrl. Text that Google fills in at serving time (ad customizers) is returned as null rather than as a template.

Why are impressions missing for my country? Google only publishes impression ranges for EU countries.

Is this legal? The scraper reads only public information that Google publishes for transparency. It does not log in. Advertisers are businesses or individuals verified by Google; when an advertiser is a person, their name may be personal data under GDPR, so use it accordingly. You are responsible for how you use the data. This tool is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.

Something broke or a field is missing? Open an issue in the Issues tab. We usually reply within 24 hours.