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

Track competitors' Google ads by website or advertiser ID: new, running and stopped ads with first and last shown dates, days shown and ad links. No login, no proxy. Pay per ad.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/publicrecords/google-ads-transparency-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Public Records](https://apify.com/publicrecords) (community)
- **Categories:** 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: Competitor Ads

See every Google ad your competitors run — which ones are new this week, which are still running and which they stopped — from Google's own Ads Transparency Center. Pay per ad, no subscription, no login.

#### Try it now

Enter `nike.com` and run. The first 25 ads arrive in a few seconds and cost about 3 cents.

#### What you can do

- **Weekly competitor report.** Competitors: `brand-a.com`, `brand-b.com`. Look-back: `10` days (a week plus Google's 3-day listing delay, so nothing slips between reports). Which ads: New, Still running, Stopped. Schedule it every Monday.
- **Find a competitor's longest-running ads.** Competitor: `brand-a.com`, all ads. Sort by `daysShown`: ads a brand keeps paying for are usually the ones that work.
- **Audit one country.** Competitor: an advertiser ID such as `AR16735076323512287233`, Region: Germany, Add countries and EU impressions: on.

#### What you get

One row per ad. A real sample (November 2026):

| advertiserName | status | format | firstShown | lastShown | daysShown | targetDomain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adidas America, Inc | new | image | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-02 | 5 | adidas.com |
| PHD Media LLC | new | image | 2026-10-27 | 2026-11-02 | 7 | adidas.com |
| Nike, Inc. | stopped | text | 2022-11-30 | 2026-10-30 | 1129 | |

The fields that matter most:

- **status** — `new` (first shown in your look-back window), `running` (still showing), `stopped` (stopped inside the window) or `inactive` (stopped before it).
- **firstShown / lastShown** — the dates Google first and last showed the ad, in Pacific Time as Google reports them.
- **daysShown** — how many days the ad actually ran. Compare with `spanDays`: a lower number means it was paused at times.
- **advertiserName** — the verified account that paid for the ad. Agencies running ads for a brand show up too, which is often the most useful part.
- **adUrl** — the ad on Google's Ads Transparency Center, to see it exactly as shown.
- **previewImageUrl** — an image of the ad, for text ads.

With **Add countries and EU impressions** on, each row also gets `countriesShown` and, for EU countries, Google's impression range.

#### How much does it cost

Pay per event, prices as of November 2026:

- $0.002 per run start
- $1.00 per 1,000 ads

Example: a weekly report on five competitors with about 200 ads each costs about $1.00 a week. Set a spending limit on any run and the scraper stops there; you are never charged for ads you didn't get.

#### How to use it

1. Enter your competitors, one per line: a website (`nike.com`), a Google advertiser ID (`AR…`), an Ads Transparency Center link, or an exact advertiser name.
2. Set the look-back window. Use 7 for a weekly report.
3. Under Advanced, pick a region and which ads you want.
4. Run, then export as CSV, Excel or JSON, or read the results by API.
5. Save it as a task and add a schedule (for example every Monday at 08:00) with a look-back of your interval plus 3 days. An ad can then appear in two reports; match it by `adId`.

#### Use it with AI assistants

Connect the scraper through Apify's MCP server (`https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=publicrecords/google-ads-transparency-scraper`) and ask: "List the Google ads adidas.com started in the last 7 days in the US, with links." Assistants that support MCP can run it directly.

#### FAQ

**Is this legal?** It reads the public Ads Transparency Center, which Google publishes for anyone without a login. It does not bypass any login or access control. Data from Google's Ads Transparency Center. Not affiliated with Google.

**Why is a field empty?** `targetDomain` is filled only when you search by website. `previewImageUrl` is filled for text ads Google shows as an image; other ads have a preview link instead. Impression ranges exist only for EU countries, because Google publishes them only there.

**How fresh is it?** Google adds an ad 2–3 days after it first runs, so `running` allows 3 days of delay. Google keeps ads listed for about a year after they stop.

**Why is a competitor missing from the results?** Advertisers that haven't completed Google's verification aren't shown outside Europe. Try the brand's website instead of its name; ads often run under an agency's account.

**Why do I see other companies' ads for a website?** A website search returns every ad that links to it: the brand, its agencies, and for big marketplaces also sellers and affiliates (booking.com has over 15 million). For one company's own ads, enter its advertiser ID (`AR…`), which you'll find in `advertiserId` or on the Ads Transparency Center.

**Why did my run stop at 1,000 ads per competitor?** That is the default for "Max ads per competitor", so a first run on a huge website stays small. Set it to 0 for no limit.

**How is this different from subscription ad-spy tools?** You pay only for the ads you pull, with no monthly plan, and you get the data as a table or API you can schedule and feed into your own reports.

#### Related tools

- Etsy Scraper — Listings, Prices & Best Sellers
- Company Website to LinkedIn & Social Media Links

#### Support

Open an issue on the Issues tab with the competitor you entered and your run link.

# Actor input Schema

## `targets` (type: `array`):

One per line: a website domain (nike.com), a Google advertiser ID (AR…), an Ads Transparency Center link, or an exact advertiser name.

## `sinceDays` (type: `integer`):

Ads first shown in this window are "new"; ads that stopped inside it are "stopped". Google lists an ad 2–3 days after it runs, so on a schedule use your interval plus 3 days (10 for weekly) and match repeats by adId.

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

Only ads shown in this country. "Anywhere" returns ads from every country.

## `statuses` (type: `array`):

Leave all selected for every ad Google still lists (about one year back). Select only new, running and stopped for a faster weekly monitor.

## `maxAdsPerTarget` (type: `integer`):

0 means no limit. A website search returns every ad that links to it, which for big marketplaces is millions; use an advertiser ID for one company's own ads.

## `includeRegionStats` (type: `boolean`):

Adds the countries each ad ran in and, for EU countries, Google's impression ranges. Slower: one extra request per ad.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "targets": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "sinceDays": 7,
  "region": "US",
  "statuses": [
    "new",
    "running",
    "stopped",
    "inactive"
  ],
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 25,
  "includeRegionStats": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Default dataset with every ad found

# 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 = {
    "targets": [
        "nike.com"
    ],
    "sinceDays": 7,
    "region": "US",
    "maxAdsPerTarget": 25
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("publicrecords/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 = {
    "targets": ["nike.com"],
    "sinceDays": 7,
    "region": "US",
    "maxAdsPerTarget": 25,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("publicrecords/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 '{
  "targets": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "sinceDays": 7,
  "region": "US",
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 25
}' |
apify call publicrecords/google-ads-transparency-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,publicrecords/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/JoUZygMVSYyHdYUUt/builds/cO0CUdhMbeOvPaHY2/openapi.json