Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Extract Competitor Ads from the Google Ads Transparency Center

Google Ads Transparency Scraper collects the ads any advertiser runs on Google Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps, Play and the Display network, as published in the Google Ads Transparency Center. Search by advertiser domain (e.g. nike.com), advertiser ID or advertiser name. You get one clean record per ad: advertiser, format, first and last shown dates, regions, preview, ad copy and images where available, landing domain and a link to the ad.

It reads the same JSON data that the Transparency Center website loads, so there is no login and no browser. You only pay for the ads you get, and the optional details cost extra only when you turn them on.

Typical uses: competitor ad research, tracking when a brand launches new creatives, collecting ad copy and YouTube ads for a market, and monitoring political ad spend.

What can this Google Ads Transparency scraper do?

• Search three ways. By domain (every advertiser account whose ads point to nike.com), by advertiser ID (AR16735076323512287233) or by advertiser name (resolved to an ID through Google's own search suggestions).
• Filter on Google's side. Region (any of 244 countries and territories, or anywhere), date range, ad format (text, image, video) and platform (Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps, Play). You only pay for ads that match.
• Get the dates and a preview of every ad. First shown, last shown and number of days shown, plus Google's preview: an archived image or the preview script that renders the ad.
• Ad details (optional). All regions where the ad ran with per-region first and last shown dates, impression ranges for EU countries, who paid for the ad, which targeting types were used, ad headline and text, image URLs, YouTube link and the advertiser's country.
• Political ads. Search Google's political ads report for a region and get spend and impression ranges for every political ad, or list all political ads in a country.
• Incremental monitoring. Turn on Only new ads and schedule the Actor. Each run outputs, and charges for, only ads that weren't seen before.
• Built to be polite and to fail clearly. Requests are sent one at a time with a pause between them. If Google rate-limits or CAPTCHA-checks the IP, the run stops with a message that says so, instead of crashing or returning an empty dataset without explanation.
• Pay per ad. No subscription. Details are a separate, optional charge.

What you get per ad

	Without details	With details
Advertiser ID and name, creative ID	Yes	Yes
Format, first shown, last shown, days shown	Yes	Yes
Preview URL (archived image or preview script)	Yes	Yes
Link to the ad on adstransparency.google.com	Yes	Yes
Landing domain	For domain searches and some ads	More often (from the ad's display URL)
YouTube link	For some video ads	For most video ads
Headline and ad text	Rarely	For many text and Shopping ads
Image URLs	For archived image ads	Also Shopping and YouTube thumbnails
Regions where the ad ran	Only the region you searched	Full list, with first/last shown per region
Impressions per region	No	EU countries (Google publishes these under the DSA)
Paid by, targeting types, advertiser country	No	Yes
Spend and impressions	Political ads	Political ads

Google decides what it publishes for each ad, so some fields stay empty for some ads. Empty fields are null, never guessed.

How to find an advertiser's domain or ID

1. Open adstransparency.google.com and type the brand or website in the search box.
2. Pick the advertiser. The address bar then shows a URL like https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233?region=GB. The part starting with AR is the advertiser ID. You can paste the whole URL into Advertiser IDs.
3. Or just use the brand's website domain, such as nike.com. Domain search returns every advertiser account whose ads point to that domain, which for big brands means several accounts (one per country, plus agencies and resellers).

How to scrape the Google Ads Transparency Center

1. Click Try for free or Start.
2. Enter one or more advertiser domains, advertiser IDs or advertiser names.
3. Optionally choose a region, a date range, a format, a platform and a limit per advertiser. Turn on Fetch ad details if you need regions, ad copy and payer information.
4. Click Start. Then download the ads as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or get them through the API.

Input example

{
    "domains": ["nike.com"],
    "advertiserIds": ["AR16735076323512287233"],
    "advertiserNames": ["Nike, Inc."],
    "region": "GB",
    "dateFrom": "2026-10-01",
    "dateTo": "2026-11-02",
    "adFormat": "video",
    "platform": "youtube",
    "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100,
    "fetchDetails": false,
    "politicalAdsOnly": false,
    "onlyNewAds": false
}

Field	Description
domains	Advertiser websites, e.g. nike.com. URLs are reduced to the domain.
advertiserIds	Advertiser IDs (AR...) or advertiser page URLs.
advertiserNames	Advertiser names. Each is resolved to the exact-name match with the most ads, otherwise the closest match with the most ads. The log and RUN_SUMMARY list the other candidates with their IDs.
region	2-letter country code such as GB, US or DE, or anywhere (default).
dateFrom, dateTo	Only ads shown at some point in this range. YYYY-MM-DD or a relative value such as 30 days.
adFormat	all (default), text, image or video.
platform	all (default), search, youtube, shopping, maps or play.
maxAdsPerAdvertiser	Limit per domain, ID or name you entered, most recently shown ads first. 0 = no limit. Default 100.
fetchDetails	Fetch each ad's details and preview (default false). Charged per ad as a separate event.
politicalAdsOnly	Search the political ads report. Needs a region. With no domains, IDs or names, returns all political ads in the region.
onlyNewAds	Incremental mode: only output ads not seen in previous runs.
stateKey	Name of the monitor. Separate monitors keep separate memories.
proxyConfiguration	Apify datacenter proxy, on by default. Google blocks Apify's servers when they connect directly. See Troubleshooting.
requestDelayMs	Pause between requests to Google, default 1000 ms.

If the same ad is found by two of your searches (for example by domain and by advertiser ID), it is output and charged only once.

Output example

Every ad is one dataset item. This one was fetched with details on. It is shortened: the real item lists 33 regions, and regionStats has one entry per region.

{
    "advertiserId": "AR16735076323512287233",
    "advertiserName": "Nike, Inc.",
    "creativeId": "CR01003845904182018049",
    "format": "image",
    "firstShown": "2021-10-25T07:00:00.000Z",
    "lastShown": "2026-11-01T15:42:10.000Z",
    "daysShown": 1834,
    "regions": ["VN", "IN", "KR", "SE", "ES", "IE", "FR", "US", "DE", "GB", "JP"],
    "previewUrl": "https://displayads-formats.googleusercontent.com/ads/preview/content.js?client=ads-integrity-transparency&...",
    "imageUrls": ["https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcTloVQt6GPLNB8OEvQHHH8czmffelSozIop0ozpJv0GWQ4OWe-x"],
    "videoUrl": null,
    "headline": "FC Barcelona 2026/27 Stadium Home Nike Men's Dri-FIT Soccer Replica Jersey in Red, Size: Large | II1872-683",
    "adText": null,
    "landingDomain": null,
    "landingUrl": null,
    "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233/creative/CR01003845904182018049?region=GB",
    "advertiserUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233?region=GB",
    "isPolitical": false,
    "impressionsMin": null,
    "impressionsMax": null,
    "spendMin": null,
    "spendMax": null,
    "spendCurrency": null,
    "regionStats": [
        { "region": "SE", "regionName": "Sweden", "firstShown": "2023-04-26", "lastShown": "2024-08-22", "impressionsMin": 0, "impressionsMax": 1000, "platforms": [{ "platform": "shopping", "impressionsMin": 0, "impressionsMax": 1000 }] }
    ],
    "eeaImpressionsMin": 3000,
    "eeaImpressionsMax": 4000,
    "targeting": {
        "demographics": { "included": true, "excluded": false },
        "location": { "included": true, "excluded": false },
        "contextualSignals": { "included": false, "excluded": false }
    },
    "paidBy": "Nike, Inc.",
    "category": "Clothing & Accessories",
    "containsSyntheticMedia": null,
    "advertiserCountry": "US",
    "advertiserVerified": true,
    "detailsFetched": true,
    "detailsError": null,
    "searchType": "advertiserId",
    "searchValue": "AR16735076323512287233",
    "searchRegion": "GB",
    "matchedDomain": null,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-11-02T11:13:51.555Z"
}

More real examples, including political ads and video ads, are in samples/sample-output.json.

Notes on the fields:

• creativeId is stable across runs. Use it to de-duplicate.
• format is Google's own label. Shopping product ads are labelled image. Text ads are often archived as an image of the rendered ad: then previewUrl is that image and imageUrls stays empty, because the image shows text rather than an image asset.
• regions without details only repeats the region you searched (or the political region). The full list needs details.
• impressionsMin of 0 means "under impressionsMax". impressionsMax of null with a value in impressionsMin means open-ended, for example "10M+".
• advertiserName is the name Google discloses for that account, so one brand can appear under several names (Nike, Inc., Nike Retail BV, ...).
• headline and adText may contain keyword-insertion placeholders exactly as Google stores them, for example {KeyWord:Nike Shoes}.

A RUN_SUMMARY record in the run's key-value store lists, for every search: status, ads output, ads listed, ads skipped (already seen or duplicate), how many ads Google says match (exact or a range such as 50000-60000), how a name was resolved and the other candidates, request counts and errors.

How much does it cost to scrape Google Ads Transparency data?

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

• $1.50 per 1,000 ads ($0.0015 per ad) for ads in your dataset.
• $2.00 per 1,000 ad details ($0.002 per ad), only when Fetch ad details is on and the details were fetched.

Ads	Without details	With details
100	$0.15	$0.35
1,000	$1.50	$3.50
10,000	$15.00	$35.00

Ads removed by your filters, already-seen ads in incremental mode, duplicates and failed searches cost nothing. Your Apify plan's free monthly credit applies. To cap spending, set Maximum cost per run in the run options. The scraper checks the budget before fetching details and before saving each batch, then stops cleanly and tells you so in the status message.

Scheduling and incremental monitoring of new ads

Use this to get alerts when a competitor launches new ads:

1. Turn on Only new ads and give the monitor a name in Monitor name (e.g. competitors-uk).
2. Save the configuration as a Task and add a Schedule (e.g. every morning).
3. The first run outputs all matching ads (up to your limit) and saves them as the baseline.
4. Every later run outputs only ads that weren't output before. To keep repeat runs fast, later runs only look at ads shown since the previous run, with a 2-day overlap. Ads that stopped running before the previous run are not "new" and are not revisited.

The memory is kept per domain or advertiser in a named key-value store (google-ads-transparency-state by default), under the monitor name you choose. Different monitor names are fully independent. Don't run two runs with the same monitor name at the same time.

If you also set Max ads per advertiser, each run delivers up to that many unseen ads and the rest arrive in later runs. To start with only genuinely new ads, do the first run without a limit, or with a narrow region and date range.

Political ads

Google publishes a political ads report for Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, EU countries, India, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Turn on Political ads only and pick one of these regions:

• With domains, IDs or names, you get those advertisers' political ads.
• With no domains, IDs or names, you get all political ads in the region, most recently shown first. In the United States that is close to a million ads, so set Max ads per advertiser.

Each political ad includes impressionsMin/impressionsMax and spendMin/spendMax with spendCurrency, as ranges exactly as Google publishes them (for example 450,000–500,000 impressions and $5,000–$6,000). Google does not publish exact figures. With details on, targeting criteria (age, gender, location) are included when Google publishes them.

Integrations and API

• API. Start runs and fetch results with the Apify API, or the JavaScript and Python clients:

  curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/rjmacarthy~google-ads-transparency-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{"domains":["nike.com"],"region":"GB","maxAdsPerAdvertiser":50}'
  

• Webhooks. Get notified (or trigger your pipeline) when a run finishes.

• Zapier, Make, n8n. Send new ads to Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack or email with no code.

• Google Sheets, Slack, Airbyte, Keboola and more through Apify integrations.

• AI agents. Use the Actor as a tool through the Apify MCP server.

FAQ

Do I need a Google account, cookies or an API key? No. The Transparency Center is public and the scraper reads the same data the website loads.

Are there limits on the free plan? No. Free-plan users get the same features. You pay only per ad, and your Apify free monthly credit covers it.

How fast is it? Without details, Google returns up to 100 ads per request and the scraper sends at most one request per second, so large advertisers are listed quickly. A test run listed 5 ads in under half a second. With details, each ad needs up to 2 more requests. In testing, 3 ads with details took 9 seconds at a 2-second delay; at the default 1-second delay that works out to roughly 40–60 ads per minute (an estimate, not yet measured on large runs).

Why does a domain return ads from several advertisers? Google matches ads by the domain they point to. Big brands run ads from several accounts (per country, agencies, resellers). Use advertiser IDs to target one account.

Why did my advertiser name pick the wrong advertiser? Names are not unique, and Google's suggestions only return the first 10 matches for what you type. For example, Nike resolves to a small account literally named "Nike", while Nike, Inc. resolves to the main US account. Check the log or RUN_SUMMARY for the other candidates, then use their advertiser IDs.

Can I get the exact number of impressions or the exact spend? No. Google only publishes ranges, and only for political ads and (impressions) for ads shown in the EU.

Can I get the ad's landing page? Partly. landingDomain is filled for domain searches and from the ad's display URL when details are on. Google rarely exposes the full landing URL.

Is scraping the Google Ads Transparency Center legal? The scraper only collects information Google publishes for transparency. It doesn't collect personal data. Always check that your use complies with the applicable terms and laws.

Troubleshooting

• "Google is rate-limiting or CAPTCHA-checking this run's IP address". Google limits how many requests one IP address can make, and it blocks cloud servers that connect directly. That's why Proxy configuration is on by default, using Apify's datacenter proxy, which works in testing. If you still see this message, set the proxy group to RESIDENTIAL and run again. The run stops with a clear status message instead of returning partial data silently, and ads already saved stay in the dataset.
• "Google rejected the request format". The Transparency Center's private API has changed. Please report it on the Issues tab; fixes are usually quick.
• A search returns 0 ads. The advertiser may not run ads in that region, or your filters (dates, format, platform) excluded everything. Try region anywhere and no date range. Political searches need a region with a political ads report.
• Some fields are empty. Google doesn't publish every field for every ad type. Turn on details for regions, ad copy and payer information.

Limits

• This Actor uses the private JSON API behind adstransparency.google.com. Google can change it without notice. The request format is covered by tests, and the run fails with a clear message if Google rejects it.
• Ad copy, images and landing domains come from Google's ad previews, which differ by ad type. Extraction is best-effort: some ad types (for example rich display ads) may have no text.
• Google returns ads most recently shown first. There is no sort by first shown date.
• Impressions and spend are ranges, never exact numbers.
• Incremental state lives in a named key-value store in your account, created by the Actor itself. Deleting that store resets the monitor.

Ready-to-run examples

• See every Google ad a competitor is running
• Scrape UK political ads on Google and YouTube

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Browse all my Actors on my Apify Store profile.

Support

Found an advertiser that doesn't work, or need an extra field? Open an issue on the Issues tab with your input. Fixes are usually quick.