# Google Ads Transparency Center Scraper (`pushbuild/google-ads-transparency`) Actor

Get every Google ad (search, display, YouTube) an advertiser or domain is running, with first/last shown dates, format, preview images and the regions it ran in. Filter by country, format and date. Fast and reliable, no browser needed.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pushbuild/google-ads-transparency.md
- **Developed by:** [Pushbuild Data](https://apify.com/pushbuild) (community)
- **Categories:** Marketing, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 92.9% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.50 / 1,000 ad scrapeds

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

See **every Google ad a competitor is running**: Search, Display and YouTube. The data comes straight from Google's public Ads Transparency Center.

### What you get, per ad

- Advertiser name, advertiser ID and verified domain
- Ad format: text (Search), image (Display) or video (YouTube)
- **First shown and last shown** dates, and the number of days shown
- Preview image URL, preview/render URL, and a direct link to the ad in the Transparency Center
- Optional details: **every variation** of the ad and **the countries it ran in**, with the last date shown in each

### Ways to search

- **Advertiser names**: "Nike" is matched to Google's verified advertiser account.
- **Domains**: every ad pointing to `shopify.com`.
- **Advertiser IDs**: `AR…` IDs from Transparency Center URLs.

Filter by **country** (30+), **format** and **date range**.

### Why this one

- **Fast and cheap.** It talks to the Transparency Center's own data endpoints, with no headless browser, so thousands of ads take seconds.
- **Reliable.** It handles pagination and retries automatically.
- **Clean, flat output** that's ready for Sheets, a BI tool or your CRM.

### Example output

```json
{
  "advertiserId": "AR01625195283841286145",
  "advertiserName": "Shopify Inc.",
  "creativeId": "CR12728636623990816769",
  "format": "image",
  "domain": "shopify.com",
  "firstShown": "2026-06-01T19:49:37+00:00",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-11T19:30:23+00:00",
  "daysShown": 133,
  "previewImageUrl": "https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/14607706624676243160",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR01625195283841286145/creative/CR12728636623990816769"
}
```

### Use cases

Competitor ad research, creative inspiration and swipe files, agency pitches, brand-safety and trademark monitoring, and tracking when competitors launch or pause campaigns.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Brand or company names, e.g. 'Nike'. Each is matched to its verified Google advertiser account.

## `domains` (type: `array`):

Get all ads pointing to these website domains, e.g. 'shopify.com'.

## `advertiserIds` (type: `array`):

Google advertiser IDs (start with AR…), taken from an adstransparency.google.com URL.

## `advertisersPerSearchTerm` (type: `integer`):

How many matching advertiser accounts to include for each name (brands often have several).

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

Only ads shown in this country.

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

Only ads of this format.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

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

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

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

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

Stop after this many ads for each advertiser or domain.

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

Also fetch every variation of each ad and the list of countries it ran in (one extra request per ad).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "Shopify"
  ],
  "advertisersPerSearchTerm": 1,
  "region": "",
  "format": "",
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 100,
  "includeDetails": 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "Shopify"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pushbuild/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 = { "searchTerms": ["Shopify"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("pushbuild/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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "Shopify"
  ]
}' |
apify call pushbuild/google-ads-transparency --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,pushbuild/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/laXknG5TEX94VL1m2/builds/CIDtBPgJnX2vkWNh3/openapi.json