# Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Search, YouTube & Display ads (`pikoulas/google-ads-transparency`) Actor

Get every ad an advertiser runs on Google Search, YouTube and Display from the Google Ads Transparency Center (the Google ads library): by advertiser name, ID or website. Format, first and last shown dates, ad image, YouTube video URL. Filter by country, format, date. $1 per 1,000 ads.

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

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 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 on Google Search, YouTube, Display and more. The data comes
from Google's own Ads Transparency Center, Google's ads library.
Give advertisers any of these ways:

- **Name**, for example `Nike, Inc.`. The actor picks the matching advertiser.
- **Advertiser ID** (`AR…`) or a Transparency Center URL.
- **Website**, for example `hubspot.com`, for every ad that links to it, from all advertisers.

Every ad comes with its advertiser, its format (text, image or video), the first and last dates
it was shown, the ad's image, the **YouTube URL** for video ads, and a link to the ad on the
Transparency Center.

You can filter by country, by format, and by the dates an ad was shown. It needs no browser, and
it is fast: 300 ads from three advertisers, with the YouTube URLs of 44 video ads, took 15
seconds. It costs **$1 per 1,000 ads**.

### What people use it for

- **Competitor research:** what competitors advertise, in which formats, and since when.
- **Creative inspiration:** long-running ads are the ones that work.
- **Agencies and lead generation:** find businesses that spend on Google Ads, and see what they
  run.
- **Brand protection:** ads that link to your domain, from any advertiser.

### How to scrape the Google Ads Transparency Center

1. Click **Try for free**; Apify's free plan covers a first run.
2. Enter **Advertisers**, as a website (`hubspot.com`) or a name, and pick a country if you want.
3. Click **Start**, then download the results as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read them through
   the API.

An input with more options:

```json
{
  "advertisers": ["hubspot.com", "Nike, Inc.", "AR16735076323512287233"],
  "region": "US",
  "format": "video",
  "shownFrom": "2026-06-01",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 200
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "advertiserId": "AR10072600183532683265",
  "advertiserName": "Hubspot, Inc.",
  "adId": "CR15036202842803142657",
  "format": "video",
  "firstShown": "2026-06-29T21:05:22+00:00",
  "lastShown": "2026-09-26T09:13:50+00:00",
  "imageUrl": null,
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ26TwqroAk",
  "previewUrl": "https://displayads-formats.googleusercontent.com/ads/preview/content.js?…",
  "url": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR10072600183532683265/creative/CR15036202842803142657?region=US",
  "query": "hubspot.com"
}
```

Text ads come as `imageUrl`, a picture of the ad as Google shows it. Image ads have `imageUrl`,
or `previewUrl` when Google renders them with a script.

### Use it as an API

One call runs it and returns the results as JSON (for runs under 5 minutes; longer ones start a
run and read its dataset). Apify's Python and JavaScript clients, and its Make, Zapier and n8n
integrations, work the same way.

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/pikoulas~google-ads-transparency/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"advertisers": ["hubspot.com", "Nike, Inc."], "region": "US", "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 20}'
```

AI agents can call it as a tool through Apify's MCP server: `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=pikoulas/google-ads-transparency`.

### How much does it cost to scrape the Google Ads Transparency Center?

You pay **$0.001 per ad**, which is $1 per 1,000. Runs that go through Apify's residential proxy
also pay its traffic, $0.0012 per 100 KB. There are no monthly fees.

### Good to know

- Ads come most recently shown first.
- Google keeps about a year of dates for the date filter. Older ads still appear without it.
- The Transparency Center does not give ad spend or impressions for commercial ads.
- When Google rate-limits the run's IP, the actor switches to Apify residential proxy by itself
  and retries, with its traffic charged as above. An advertiser it still can't get comes back
  as an `error` item, not charged. After two in a row, the run skips the rest.

### FAQ

#### Is it legal to scrape Google's Ads Transparency Center?

It collects only what Google's Ads Transparency Center shows publicly, without logging in. Scraping public data is
generally legal, but personal data is protected by laws such as the GDPR and the CCPA, and
Google's terms may limit how you use what you collect. If you're unsure, ask a lawyer;
Apify's [Is web scraping legal?](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/) is a good start.

#### Something missing or not working?

Open an issue on the **Issues** tab with the input you used, or ask there for a field you need.

# Actor input Schema

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

Advertiser names (Nike, Inc.), advertiser IDs (AR…), Transparency Center URLs, or websites (hubspot.com) for the ads that link to them.

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

Two-letter country code: only ads shown there. Empty for anywhere.

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

Only text, image or video ads.

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

Only ads shown on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Google keeps about a year of dates.

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

Only ads shown on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

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

Most recently shown first.

## `resolveVideos` (type: `boolean`):

Finds the YouTube video behind each video ad.

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

Not needed for most runs. Turn it on if Google starts refusing requests.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "advertisers": [
    "hubspot.com"
  ],
  "region": "",
  "format": "",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 20,
  "resolveVideos": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (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": [
        "hubspot.com"
    ],
    "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pikoulas/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": ["hubspot.com"],
    "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 20,
}

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

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,pikoulas/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/5Bn7TTB8cJKyTEeEW/builds/hZTbKIOgUS5GcT83b/openapi.json