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

See any competitor's Google ads: search, display, YouTube and shopping ads by domain or advertiser, with ad text, landing URL, video, regions, dates and EU impressions. Pay only for ads delivered.

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

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 ad with details

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: see any competitor's Google ads

Get every ad a company runs on Google Search, YouTube, Display, Shopping and Maps, straight from
Google's [Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com/). Search by website domain,
advertiser name, advertiser ID or a pasted Transparency Center link. **You only pay for ads delivered.**

### What you get

For each ad:

- **Advertiser** name and ID, ad **format** (text, image, video), **first and last shown** dates
- A **preview image** and a direct link to the ad in the Transparency Center
- With details on (default):
  - **Headline, description and display URL** of search, local and shopping ads
  - **Landing URL** where Google exposes it, **YouTube video ID and link** for video ads
  - All **image versions** of the ad
  - **Regions** where it ran, with first and last shown date per country
  - For ads shown in the EU: **impression ranges** per country and in total, and the ad's **topic**

Filters: region (country), format, date range, and a **new ads only** mode that keeps ads Google
first showed in the last N days. Run it on a schedule to see what competitors launch each week.

### Why this scraper

- **Fast and reliable.** It reads the same data the Transparency Center website uses, without a
  browser. In our tests it fetched 56,000 ads from 102 brands with 99.4% of requests succeeding on
  the first try; the rest succeeded on retry. If Google starts blocking, it switches to residential
  proxies by itself, at no extra cost to you.
- **Real ad text, not just screenshots.** Many tools give you only the preview image. This one
  reads headline, description and URLs out of Google's ad preview.
- **Never silently empty.** Every record has a `status`. A domain with no ads gives you one free
  `noAds` record, an unknown name a free `notFound` record, and blocked requests a free `error`
  record with the reason.

### Pricing

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| Ad with details (text, landing URL, video, regions, impressions) | **$3.00 per 1,000** ($0.003 each) |
| Ad without details (`includeDetails: false`) | **$1.50 per 1,000** ($0.0015 each) |

Records with `status` `noAds`, `notFound` or `error` are never charged. Platform usage is included.

### Input example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": ["nike.com", "Revolut", "AR16735076323512287233"],
  "region": "US",
  "maxAdsPerSearch": 100,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "adFormat": "all",
  "newAdsInLastDays": 0
}
```

- `searchTerms`: one per line. A domain (`nike.com`) finds ads from every advertiser that sends
  people to that site, including resellers and agencies. An advertiser name picks the best-matching
  advertiser with the most ads. An ID (`AR...`) or a link copied from the Transparency Center is exact.
- `region`: a 2-letter country code (`US`, `DE`, `HR`). Empty means all regions.
- `newAdsInLastDays`: keep only ads first shown in the last N days.
- `shownFrom` / `shownTo`: only ads that ran in this date range.

### Output example

```json
{
  "searchTerm": "nike.com",
  "status": "ok",
  "advertiserId": "AR18378488041124659201",
  "advertiserName": "Nike Retail BV",
  "creativeId": "CR11240195478266052609",
  "format": "text",
  "firstShown": "2025-10-22T15:14:55Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-25T18:11:34Z",
  "headline": "Sitio web Nike oficial",
  "description": "Frescura y comodidad en cada movimiento. Encuentra tu look en Nike.",
  "displayUrl": "nike.com",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR18378488041124659201/creative/CR11240195478266052609",
  "impressions": {"min": 70000, "max": 80000},
  "regions": [
    {"regionCode": "ES", "regionName": "Spain", "firstShown": "2025-10-22", "lastShown": "2026-10-25",
     "impressions": {"min": 70000, "max": 80000}},
    {"regionCode": "DE", "regionName": "Germany", "firstShown": "2025-11-03", "lastShown": "2026-10-25",
     "impressions": {"min": 0, "max": 1000}}
  ],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-25T18:43:52Z"
}
```

Video ads add `videoId` and `videoUrl` (YouTube), image and shopping ads add `imageUrls`, and
`landingUrl` is filled when Google's preview contains the click-through link.

### Good to know

- **Some text ads exist only as a screenshot.** Google stores part of its archive as images. For
  those you get `imageUrl` / `imageUrls` but no `headline`. About 3 in 4 text ads in our tests had
  readable text.
- **Some video ads have no YouTube link** in the Transparency Center, only a thumbnail.
- **Dynamic search ads** show Google's placeholder text, such as
  `<dynamically generated based on landing page content>`, because the real headline is written
  by Google at search time.
- **Impressions and topics are only published for ads shown in the EU** (Digital Services Act).
  Elsewhere Google shows only where and when an ad ran.
- **Domain searches include other advertisers** whose ads lead to that domain, for example
  agencies and resellers. Use the advertiser name or ID to get only one company.

### Related tool

Want to know what people search for before you look at the ads?
Try [Google Trends Scraper](https://apify.com/leanpilar/google-trends).

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

One per line: a website domain (nike.com), an advertiser name (Nike, Inc.), an advertiser ID (AR16735076323512287233), or a link copied from adstransparency.google.com.

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

2-letter country code where the ads were shown, e.g. US, DE, HR. Leave empty for all regions.

## `maxAdsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many ads for each line. Big brands have thousands of ads.

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

Also get headline, description, landing URL, YouTube video, all image versions, regions with dates and (for EU) impression ranges. Charged as a detailed ad. Turn off for a cheaper list of ads with preview images only.

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

Only ads of this format.

## `newAdsInLastDays` (type: `integer`):

Keep only ads Google first showed within this many days. Good for monitoring what competitors launch. 0 = off.

## `shownFrom` (type: `string`):

Only ads that ran on or after this date.

## `shownTo` (type: `string`):

Only ads that ran on or before this date.

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

How many requests run at the same time. The default is safe.

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

No proxy works best for this site. Change only if you see many blocked requests.

## `residentialFallback` (type: `boolean`):

After repeated blocks, finish the run through Apify residential proxy (proxy cost is on us).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "region": "",
  "maxAdsPerSearch": 20,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "adFormat": "all",
  "newAdsInLastDays": 0,
  "maxConcurrency": 10,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  },
  "residentialFallback": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One record per ad (status ok, charged) plus free noAds / notFound / error records.

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

Counts by status and request statistics.

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "nike.com"
    ],
    "maxAdsPerSearch": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("leanpilar/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 = {
    "searchTerms": ["nike.com"],
    "maxAdsPerSearch": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("leanpilar/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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "maxAdsPerSearch": 20
}' |
apify call leanpilar/google-ads-transparency --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,leanpilar/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/0IcvleFBeh0GKmaAo/builds/xOSKeBOjGx80zMuCv/openapi.json