Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Competitor Ads & Ad Copy

What does Google Ads Transparency Scraper do?

Google Ads Transparency Scraper extracts ads from the Google Ads Transparency Center for any brand, website or advertiser: every ad's format, first and last shown dates, how many days it has been running, the countries it ran in, reach (impressions) by country and platform where Google publishes it, and the ad copy Google exposes: search ad headlines and descriptions, Shopping product titles and images, and YouTube video links.

It works as a Google Ads Transparency Center API: run it from Apify Console, schedule it, or call it through the Apify API. No Google account, login or API key needed.

Why use this Google Ads scraper?

• 🔍 Spy on competitor ads. See every ad a competitor runs on Google Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps and Play, and how long each one has been live. Ads running for hundreds of days are the ones that work.
• ✍️ Get the ad copy, not just screenshots. Where Google exposes it, you get the headline, description and display URL as text, Shopping product titles with images, and YouTube video links, ready for spreadsheets, swipe files or AI analysis.
• 📈 Reach data. For ads shown in the EU, Google publishes impression ranges per country and platform. They are included.
• 🔔 Monitor new ads. Switch on Only new ads and schedule the Actor: each run returns just the ads launched since the last run.
• ⚡ Fast and cheap. Direct calls to the Transparency Center's own data API, no browser: 40 ads with full details in about 20 seconds.
• 🧾 Bulk. Mix brand names, websites, advertiser IDs and pasted Transparency Center URLs in one run.

Typical uses: competitive intelligence, ad creative research and swipe files, agency pitches and audits, brand-safety and compliance checks (who runs ads pointing to your domain?), and lead generation (which companies advertise on Google, and how much?).

What data can I extract from the Google Ads Transparency Center?

Field	Description
advertiserName, advertiserId	The verified advertiser behind the ad
format	text, image or video
firstShown, lastShown, daysShown	When the ad started, when it was last seen, and for how many days it has run
domain	The website the ad points to
headline, description, displayUrl	Search ad copy, when Google exposes it
productTitle, productImageUrl, merchant	Shopping ad product, when exposed
videoId, videoUrl	YouTube video of a video ad, when exposed
previewImageUrl, variations	Images of the ad and all of its versions (A/B variants, sizes)
regionsShown	Every country the ad ran in, with first and last shown dates
impressionsMin, impressionsMax, platformImpressions	Reach ranges, published by Google for ads shown in the EU
adUrl	Link to the ad in the Transparency Center

Which ads come with text?

Google stores many plain text search ads only as an image of the ad, so for those you get previewImageUrl instead of a headline. Ads with sitelinks or location extensions, Shopping ads and many video ads expose their content as data, and this Actor extracts it. The hasAdContent field tells you which is which. Dynamic Search Ads have no fixed headline (Google writes it from the landing page when serving the ad), so they come with isDynamicAd: true and just the description.

How to scrape Google Ads Transparency Center

1. Click Try for free to open the Actor in Apify Console.
2. Add brand names or websites, for example nike.com or HelloFresh. You can also paste advertiser IDs or Transparency Center URLs.
3. Pick a country (or anywhere) and, optionally, platforms, an ad format and a date range.
4. Set how many ads you want per brand, website or advertiser.
5. Click Start. Results appear in the Output tab within seconds.
6. Download them as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or fetch them through the API.

How much does it cost to scrape Google ads?

The Actor uses pay-per-event pricing, with platform usage and proxies included:

• $1.00 per 1,000 ads
• + $0.50 per 1,000 ads with details (variations, countries, reach and ad copy), only when Include ad details is on

So 1,000 fully detailed ads cost $1.50. Apify's free plan includes monthly credits, enough for a few thousand ads, and higher subscription tiers get lower prices.

Input

See the Input tab for every option. The main ones:

• Brands or websites: nike.com returns every ad pointing to nike.com from any advertiser; Nike is matched to advertiser accounts, like the Transparency Center's search box. Advertisers per brand name controls how many accounts to include.
• Advertiser IDs and Ads Transparency Center URLs: for exact targeting. Pasted URLs keep their region, platform and format filters, and creative URLs return that single ad.
• Country, Platforms, Ad format, Shown since / until: the same filters as on the website. Google's date filter covers about the last 12 months.
• Max ads per brand, domain or advertiser: big brands run thousands of ads; 0 means all of them.
• Include ad details and ad copy and Only new ads (monitoring).

Example input:

{
    "searchQueries": ["nike.com", "HelloFresh"],
    "region": "US",
    "platforms": ["SEARCH", "YOUTUBE"],
    "maxAdsPerTarget": 200,
    "includeDetails": true
}

Output

You can download the dataset in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel. The Output tab has an Ads view (one row per ad with its copy and preview) and a Reach by country view.

Example ad (arrays shortened):

{
    "advertiserName": "Example Brand, Inc.",
    "advertiserId": "AR01234567890123456789",
    "creativeId": "CR01234567890123456789",
    "format": "text",
    "domain": "example.com",
    "firstShown": "2024-04-24T15:02:11.000Z",
    "lastShown": "2026-10-19T22:23:05.000Z",
    "daysShown": 899,
    "headline": "Browse Golf Shirts",
    "description": "Hit the links with the latest golf gear to chase your best this season. Shop now.",
    "displayUrl": "example.com",
    "isDynamicAd": false,
    "hasAdContent": true,
    "previewImageUrl": "https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/archive/simgad/1234567890123456789",
    "variationCount": 4,
    "regionsShown": [
        { "region": "DE", "firstShown": "2025-11-26", "lastShown": "2026-09-29", "impressionsMin": null, "impressionsMax": 1000, "platformImpressions": [{ "platform": "SEARCH", "impressionsMin": null, "impressionsMax": 1000 }] },
        { "region": "US", "firstShown": null, "lastShown": "2026-10-19", "impressionsMin": null, "impressionsMax": null, "platformImpressions": [] }
    ],
    "impressionsMin": 2000,
    "impressionsMax": 3000,
    "region": "US",
    "target": "example.com",
    "targetType": "domain",
    "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR01234567890123456789/creative/CR01234567890123456789?region=US",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-19T23:07:40.000Z"
}

Tips for scraping the Google Ads Transparency Center

Website or brand name: which should I use?

A website (nike.com) finds every ad that points to it, even from resellers and agencies running ads for the brand. A brand name (Nike) finds the advertiser accounts with that name and returns all their ads, including ads pointing to other websites. Use advertiser IDs when you know exactly which account you want.

How do I monitor competitors for new ads?

Turn on Only new ads (monitoring) and create a schedule in Apify Console, for example every morning. The first run returns everything and remembers it; later runs return only newly launched ads. Connect the dataset to Slack, Google Sheets, Make, Zapier or n8n through Apify integrations to get alerts. Use a different Monitoring store name for each separate monitor.

How do I make runs cheaper or faster?

Switch off Include ad details if you only need the list of ads with dates and preview images: it skips two to three extra requests per ad. Lower Max ads per brand to stop early on big advertisers.

Why are impressions empty for most ads?

Google publishes reach (impression ranges) only for ads shown in the European Union, under the Digital Services Act. For other countries the Transparency Center lists only the dates.

FAQ, disclaimers and support

Is it legal to scrape the Google Ads Transparency Center?

The Transparency Center is a public library that Google publishes so anyone can see who advertises and what they show. This Actor collects that public ad and advertiser information and does not log in or collect personal data. Our Actors are ethical and do not extract any private user data, such as email addresses, gender, or location. They only extract what the user has chosen to share publicly. We therefore believe that our Actors, when used for ethical purposes by Apify users, are safe. However, you should be aware that your results could contain personal data. Personal data is protected by the GDPR in the European Union and by other regulations around the world. You should not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason to do so. If you're unsure whether your reason is legitimate, consult your lawyers.

This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.

A brand name returns the wrong advertiser. What can I do?

Brand names are matched the same way as in the Transparency Center's search box, so common words can match several companies. Use the brand's website instead, or copy the advertiser's page URL from the Transparency Center into Ads Transparency Center URLs.

How do I use it through the API?

Open the API tab for ready-to-use code in Python, JavaScript and cURL, or call it through the Apify API with your token. It also works as a tool for AI agents through the Apify MCP server.

Something does not work. Where can I get help?

Open an issue in the Issues tab with a link to your run. Issues are usually answered within a day, and feature requests are welcome.