# Google Ads Monitor (`outstanding_vegetable/google-ads-monitor`) Actor

Google Ads Monitor — new competitor ads since last run, no login: extract isNew, advertiserName. For lead generation, data enrichment, and research.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/outstanding\_vegetable/google-ads-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Peter Skotte](https://apify.com/outstanding_vegetable) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Google Ads Monitor

Watch any advertiser or domain in the **Google Ads Transparency Center** and get only the ads that are **new since your last run**. Schedule it daily, pipe the dataset to Slack, email or a sheet, and you have a competitor ad alert. No login, no API key.

### How it works

1. Each entry in `advertisers` is resolved to a Transparency Center advertiser (IDs, brand names and domains all work).
2. Ads already seen are remembered in a named key-value store (`stateKey`).
3. On the first run for an advertiser the current ads are returned as a baseline (turn off with `firstRunReturnsExisting`). Every later run returns only new creatives, flagged `isNew: true`.

### Input

| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `advertisers` | `["nike.com"]` | `AR…` IDs, brand names or domains |
| `region` | `anywhere` | Two-letter country code |
| `format` | all | `TEXT`, `IMAGE` or `VIDEO` |
| `firstRunReturnsExisting` | `true` | Baseline on first run |
| `maxNewAds` | `10` | Cap per run |
| `stateKey` | `google-ads-monitor-state` | Separate watchlists by name |

### Output

```json
{
  "isNew": true,
  "watch": "nike.com",
  "advertiserId": "AR06641858037806006273",
  "advertiserName": "Nike",
  "creativeId": "CR01337117954554200065",
  "adFormat": "Video",
  "adTitle": null,
  "videoUrl": "https://...",
  "firstShownDate": "2026-08-11T17:14:23.000Z",
  "lastShownDate": "2026-08-11T17:27:24.000Z",
  "transparencyUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR06641858037806006273/creative/CR01337117954554200065"
}
```

### Use cases

Competitor ad launch alerts, creative trend tracking, agency reporting, brand-safety and compliance monitoring.

### Rate limits

Google throttles bursts from shared IPs with HTTP 429. The actor backs off automatically; if it persists, set `proxyConfiguration` to Apify residential proxies.

### Pricing

Pay per event: a start fee per run plus a fee per new ad returned. Quiet runs cost half a cent.

# Actor input Schema

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

Advertiser IDs (AR…), brand names or domains. Each is resolved to an advertiser and watched.

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

Two-letter country code (e.g. US, GB, DE) or 'anywhere'.

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

Optional format filter.

## `firstRunReturnsExisting` (type: `boolean`):

On the first run for an advertiser, return its current ads (up to Max new ads) instead of an empty result. Later runs return only ads that are new since the previous run.

## `maxNewAds` (type: `integer`):

Maximum ads to return per run across all advertisers.

## `stateKey` (type: `string`):

Name of the key-value store that remembers seen ads. Use different names to track different watchlists.

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

Leave empty normally. If runs report HTTP 429 from Google, enable Apify residential proxies here.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "advertisers": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "format": "",
  "firstRunReturnsExisting": true,
  "maxNewAds": 10,
  "stateKey": "google-ads-monitor-state"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `records` (type: `string`):

Dataset of records (JSON).

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("outstanding_vegetable/google-ads-monitor").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("outstanding_vegetable/google-ads-monitor").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 '{}' |
apify call outstanding_vegetable/google-ads-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,outstanding_vegetable/google-ads-monitor"
        }
    }
}

```

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/0toWsCTxynPUwHtlc/builds/mRzdBmuYiehDQUSX3/openapi.json