# Google Ads Transparency Center Scraper: Competitor Ads (`onibaku/google-ads-transparency`) Actor

Get every Google ad an advertiser runs, from Google's Ads Transparency Center: search, YouTube, display and Shopping ads. Search by advertiser name, domain or ID; filter by country, date and format. First and last shown, regions, images, previews, video and landing page. Flat output, no login.

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

## Pricing

from $1.20 / 1,000 ad returneds

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 Center Scraper (Competitor Ads)

See **every ad a competitor runs on Google**: search, display, Shopping and YouTube. Type an advertiser name, a domain
or an advertiser ID and get one clean, flat dataset from **Google's Ads Transparency Center**: format, first and last
shown, how many days it ran, the countries it ran in, every image and preview variant, and (optionally) the YouTube
video and landing page.

It reads the same data the Transparency Center website shows anyone, with no login, so you get exactly what Google
publishes about each ad, as rows you can filter, sort and feed into a spreadsheet or a dashboard.

### What it's for

- **Competitor ad research:** what is a rival running right now, in which countries, and since when? Long-running ads
  are usually the ones that work.
- **Agencies and pitches:** pull a prospect's whole Google ad history before the first call.
- **Creative inspiration:** collect a category's image and video ads in one place.
- **Monitoring:** run it weekly on a list of competitors and see what's new (sort by `firstShown`).
- **AI agents:** one call answers "what Google ads is Nike running in the UK?" (see MCP below).

### Input

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `advertisers` | Advertiser names, domains, advertiser IDs or Transparency Center URLs. See below. |
| `region` | Where the ads were shown: a two-letter country code (`GB`, `US`, `DE`...) or `anywhere`. |
| `startDate`, `endDate` | Only ads shown in this window (`YYYY-MM-DD`). |
| `format` | `all`, `text` (search), `image` (display and Shopping) or `video` (YouTube). |
| `includeDetails` | Countries each ad ran in and every variant (on by default). |
| `includePreviewData` | Also open each text and video ad's preview for its YouTube link and landing page (off by default, slower). |
| `maxResultsPerAdvertiser`, `maxResults` | Caps (defaults 500 and 1,000). |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Apify Proxy, on by default. Keep it on: Google rate-limits the Transparency Center. |

**What you can put in `advertisers`:**

- A domain: `nike.com`, or any URL on the site (`https://www.nike.com/gb/`). You get ads from every advertiser
  account running ads for that domain, which is usually what you want for a brand.
- An advertiser ID from the Transparency Center: `AR16735076323512287233`.
- A Transparency Center URL: an advertiser page, a single ad (creative) page, or a domain search.
- A name: `Nike`. The actor picks the matching advertiser with the most ads and logs the other matches with their IDs,
  so you can add them if you want them too.

**A brand's YouTube ads shown in the UK this year:**

```json
{
    "advertisers": ["nike.com"],
    "region": "GB",
    "format": "video",
    "startDate": "2026-01-01",
    "includePreviewData": true
}
```

**Three competitors, everything, weekly:**

```json
{
    "advertisers": ["gymshark.com", "AR16735076323512287233", "Lululemon"],
    "maxResultsPerAdvertiser": 300
}
```

### Output

One row per ad:

```json
{
    "platform": "google",
    "query": "nike.com",
    "advertiserName": "Nike, Inc.",
    "advertiserId": "AR16735076323512287233",
    "advertiserDomain": "nike.com",
    "adId": "CR05005926572675301377",
    "format": "text",
    "firstShown": "2026-07-27T15:55:15.000Z",
    "lastShown": "2026-10-25T22:54:48.000Z",
    "totalDaysShown": 27,
    "regions": ["US"],
    "variantCount": 5,
    "imageUrls": [
        "https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/4228890953941470644",
        "https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/15862119911379460549"
    ],
    "videoUrl": null,
    "landingUrl": null,
    "previewUrls": ["https://displayads-formats.googleusercontent.com/ads/preview/content.js?..."],
    "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233/creative/CR05005926572675301377?region=anywhere"
}
```

- `imageUrls` are the ad images, or for many search ads Google's own rendering of the text ad as an image.
- `previewUrls` are the scripts Google uses to draw the other ads. `adUrl` opens the ad in the Transparency Center.
- `totalDaysShown` is the number of days Google says the ad ran, which can be fewer than the days between first and
  last shown.
- `regions`, `variantCount` and the extra variants need `includeDetails`; `videoUrl` and `landingUrl` need
  `includePreviewData` and are only filled when the preview shows them.
- `advertiserDomain` is filled when you search by domain.

### Pricing

**$0.0012 per ad returned**, plus a token $0.00005 per run. 1,000 ads cost about $1.20, regions and variants
included. Advertisers that aren't found cost nothing.

### Good to know

- Google publishes the ad creative, dates and regions, but **not spend, impressions or targeting** (except for
  political ads in some countries), and not search ads' text as text. Nobody can give you those from the
  Transparency Center.
- Google's date filter reaches back roughly a year. Without dates you get the advertiser's whole history.
- Image links are Google's archive copies and keep working; preview script links can expire.
- If Google keeps asking for a CAPTCHA, the actor switches proxy session and retries a few times, then stops with a
  clear message rather than returning partial junk. It never tries to solve CAPTCHAs.

### Use it from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor (MCP)

AI assistants can call this actor as a tool through Apify's MCP server. Add this server URL to your MCP client and
sign in with your Apify account when prompted:

```
https://mcp.apify.com?tools=onibaku/google-ads-transparency
```

### More ad libraries

- [TikTok Ad Library Scraper](https://apify.com/onibaku/tiktok-ad-library): TikTok ads in Europe with reach per
  country and the age, gender and interest targeting TikTok publishes under the DSA.

### Data source

Google's [Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com), which Google publishes so anyone can see the
ads verified advertisers run. The actor reads the same public data the website loads, without logging in. Every row's
`adUrl` links to the ad there.

Questions or feature requests? Open an issue on the actor's Issues tab or email admin@onibaku.co.uk.

# Actor input Schema

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

Advertiser names (Nike), domains (nike.com), advertiser IDs (AR16735076323512287233) or Transparency Center URLs (advertiser, creative or domain pages). A name picks the matching advertiser with the most ads; a domain gets every advertiser running ads for it.

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

Two-letter country code (GB, US, DE...) or "anywhere".

## `startDate` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD. Leave empty for any time. Google's date filter covers roughly the last year.

## `endDate` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD. Leave empty for up to today.

## `format` (type: `string`):

Text covers search ads, image covers display and Shopping, video covers YouTube.

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

One extra lookup per ad for the countries it ran in and every image or preview variant. Turn off for faster, lighter runs.

## `includePreviewData` (type: `boolean`):

Opens each text and video ad's preview to find its YouTube link and the page it clicks through to, where the preview shows them. Slower: about 200 KB per ad.

## `maxResultsPerAdvertiser` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many ads from any one advertiser or domain.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many ads in total.

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

Google rate-limits the Transparency Center, so the actor spreads requests over Apify Proxy sessions. Keep this on.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "advertisers": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "format": "all",
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includePreviewData": false,
  "maxResultsPerAdvertiser": 500,
  "maxResults": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

## `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.com"
    ],
    "region": "anywhere",
    "maxResults": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("onibaku/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 = {
    "advertisers": ["nike.com"],
    "region": "anywhere",
    "maxResults": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("onibaku/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 '{
  "advertisers": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call onibaku/google-ads-transparency --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,onibaku/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/O60fVYqiamytFOAqZ/builds/uwreIt6OWqy5YEErN/openapi.json