# Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Competitor Ads & Ad Copy (`leathered_latch/google-ads-transparency-scraper`) Actor

See every ad a competitor runs on Google. Search by brand, website or advertiser ID; get format, first and last shown dates, ad links, and optional headlines, descriptions and images. Pay per ad.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/leathered_latch/google-ads-transparency-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Noor Holdings](https://apify.com/leathered_latch) (community)
- **Categories:** Marketing, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 ads

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 every ad a competitor runs

Type a brand name or a website and get back the ads Google has run for it: format, the date each ad was first and last shown, and a link to the ad in Google's own Ads Transparency Center. Turn on ad text and you also get headlines, descriptions, image links and the countries each ad ran in.

Our test pulled 100 of Nike's US ads in 11 seconds. Some ran from November 2022 right up to the day we checked.

An advertiser with no ads in your region costs nothing.

### What you get

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `advertiserName` | Nike, Inc. |
| `advertiserId` | AR16735076323512287233 |
| `creativeId` | CR04096374948900110337 |
| `format` | text, image or video |
| `firstShown` / `lastShown` | 2022-11-30 / 2026-10-14 |
| `adUrl` | the ad's page in Google's Transparency Center |
| `headline` | Shop Jordan 5 (ad text on) |
| `description` | Keep the legacy alive with a pair of Jordan 5's. Shop now. (ad text on) |
| `displayDomain` | nike.com (ad text on) |
| `imageUrls` | image links for image ads (ad text on) |
| `advertiserLegalName` | the name Google verified (ad text on) |
| `regionsShown` | US, CA (ad text on) |

#### Sample output

```json
{
  "input": "Nike, Inc.",
  "advertiserId": "AR16735076323512287233",
  "advertiserName": "Nike, Inc.",
  "advertiserLegalName": "Nike, Inc.",
  "creativeId": "CR16495981249400143873",
  "format": "text",
  "headline": "Shop Jordan 5",
  "description": "Keep the legacy alive with a pair of Jordan 5's. Shop now.",
  "displayDomain": "nike.com",
  "firstShown": "2023-11-16T00:00:00.000Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z",
  "region": "US",
  "regionsShown": "US",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233/creative/CR16495981249400143873?region=US"
}
```

### Quick start

1. Put advertisers in **Advertisers**, one per line.
2. Pick a **Region** (US by default).
3. Click **Start**.

You can mix three kinds of entry:

- **A name**, like `Nike, Inc.` or `HubSpot`. We pick the closest match, preferring advertisers based in your region, and `RUN_SUMMARY` lists the other matches with their IDs.
- **A website**, like `hubspot.com`. This returns every ad that points to that site, including ads from resellers and partners. That's often the most useful view of a market.
- **An advertiser ID or Transparency Center link**, like `AR16735076323512287233`. Use this when a name matches more than one company.

### Ad text: off by default, and why

The basic run asks Google for 40 ads at a time, so 100 ads takes a few seconds. Ad text needs three more page loads for every ad. Google limits how fast anyone can read its Transparency Center, and **when Google says slow down, this scraper waits and then stops. It never switches to a different connection to keep going.** So:

- Ad text works well for focused runs of up to about 50 ads.
- Big runs with text on may stop early. You get, and pay for, only the ads delivered.
- Some text ads show no headline. Dynamic Search Ads have no fixed text (Google writes it per search), and some ads only exist as an image of the text. For those, `imageUrls` holds the picture.

### Use cases

- See which products and offers a competitor is pushing right now, and how long they've kept an ad running. An ad that has run for two years is probably working.
- Collect headlines across a category before writing your own.
- Agencies: put a client's competitors on a weekly schedule and compare `creativeId` lists to spot new ads.
- Track who advertises against a domain by searching the domain instead of the brand.

### Pricing

You pay per ad delivered, plus Apify's small start fee per run. Ad text costs the same as no ad text. Set a maximum cost per run and the scraper stops at your limit.

### FAQ

**Why didn't my name find the right company?**
Lots of companies share names across countries. Check `RUN_SUMMARY` for the other matches, then paste the advertiser ID you want.

**Does it include spend or impressions?**
No. Google doesn't publish spend for regular ads in the Transparency Center, so neither can we.

**Which regions work?**
US, GB, CA, AU, NZ, IE, most of Europe, IN, JP, KR, SG and other Asian markets, the Gulf, ZA and Latin America: about 40 in total. Google searches one region at a time, so run it once per country.

**Something broke?**
Open an issue with what you typed and the region. I answer within a day.

### Limitations

- One region per run.
- With ad text on, large runs may stop early when Google asks us to slow down.
- No spend, impressions or targeting data. Google doesn't show those for regular ads.

### Export or use as an API

Download any run's results from the **Storage** tab as CSV, Excel, JSON or XML.

To call it from your own code, send your input to Apify's API and get the rows back in one request:

```
POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/leathered_latch~google-ads-transparency-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN
```

It also plugs into Make, Zapier and n8n through Apify's integrations, and AI agents can find and run it through Apify's MCP server.

### Your responsibility

How you use the output is your call, and so is the legal side of it. Ad copy and images belong to the advertisers, and copyright still applies if you republish them. Google's terms apply too. If you're unsure about a use, check with a lawyer first.

If you own content that shows up in these results and want it handled differently, open an issue on the Issues tab. We answer within 14 days.

### Data source and credit

Every row comes from Google's public Ads Transparency Center (adstransparency.google.com), which Google publishes so anyone can see who is advertising and what they show. We don't own this data, and we don't take credit for it. The ads belong to the advertisers.

The scraper reads only what a logged-out visitor sees, at a slow pace, and stops when Google asks. Each row links back to the ad's page (`adUrl`), so you can check any result and credit the source.

Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Google or any advertiser. All names and trademarks belong to their owners.

### Changelog

- **0.1** First release.

# Actor input Schema

## `advertisers` (type: `array`):

One per line: an advertiser name (Nike), a website domain (hubspot.com: every ad pointing to that site) or an advertiser ID / Ads Transparency link (AR16735076323512287233).

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

Country where the ads were shown, as a two-letter code: US, GB, CA, AU, DE, FR, IN, BR, MX, JP and 30 more. Google's Transparency Center always searches one region at a time.

## `maxAdsPerAdvertiser` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many ads for each line. You pay per ad returned.

## `includeAdText` (type: `boolean`):

Adds headline, description, display domain, image links, legal name and the regions each ad ran in. Same price, but three page loads per ad instead of one per 40 ads, so Google is much more likely to stop a big run early. Best for up to about 50 ads.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "advertisers": [
    "Nike, Inc."
  ],
  "region": "US",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100,
  "includeAdText": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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 = {
    "advertisers": [
        "Nike, Inc."
    ],
    "region": "US",
    "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("leathered_latch/google-ads-transparency-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 = {
    "advertisers": ["Nike, Inc."],
    "region": "US",
    "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("leathered_latch/google-ads-transparency-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 '{
  "advertisers": [
    "Nike, Inc."
  ],
  "region": "US",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100
}' |
apify call leathered_latch/google-ads-transparency-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,leathered_latch/google-ads-transparency-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/CgnwI4jYY8ML3CG8b/builds/iiSTEW8JJptLtZK7T/openapi.json