Video Ad Analyzer API – Competitor Ads: Hook, Angle & Script

TubeText · Video & ad analysis · Pay per result. No login. Ready for AI agents. All tools

Quick start (no coding)

1. Click Try for free at the top of this page. A free Apify account is enough – it includes monthly credit.
2. In Brands, domains or Google advertiser IDs, paste one brand per line – a website domain works best (like grammarly.com).
3. Click Start. Usually a few minutes for 10 ads.
4. When it says Succeeded, open the Output tab and click Export → Excel (or CSV). One row per ad: the hook, angle, offer, call to action, script and shots.

Cost: $0.05 per ad – 10 ads from one brand ≈ $0.50. Image and text ads are skipped for free.

Common mistakes

• A brand name finds the wrong company → use its website domain instead.
• No ads found → try another Region; Google only lists ads by the country where they were shown.
• Want Facebook and Instagram ads → put the brand in Brands or Facebook pages (Meta Ad Library) (≈ $0.05 per ad analyzed + $0.003 per ad fetched).

Questions or problems? Open an issue (we read every one). Need a custom version? Ask in an issue or email us – we build it as a private Actor on Apify.

Use from Claude, Cursor or any MCP client

Add https://mcp.apify.com?tools=tubetext/video-ad-analyzer as a remote MCP server and sign in to Apify (Claude: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector). Claude Code:

$claude mcp add --transport http tubetext "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=tubetext/video-ad-analyzer"

Then ask, for example: "Pull grammarly.com's current video ads and tell me which angles and hooks they test." or "Analyze these 3 ad videos and compare their offers and CTAs."

🆓 Free to try: Apify's free plan includes $5 of usage every month, no credit card needed – enough for about 100 ad teardowns with this tool.

What you get – real output from a test run, shortened. One row per ad (plus script, shots and pain points in more columns):

Brand searched	Advertiser (legal name)	Hook type	Opening line	Angle
grammarly.com	Superhuman Platform Inc.	curiosity gap	Chemistry is life, literally. Everything you see,…	AI-powered writing partner
grammarly.com	Superhuman Platform Inc.	visual surprise	Chemistry is life, literally.	AI-powered productivity

Ad analysis API for competitor video ads

Call it from your back end with the Apify API. One request runs the Actor and returns the rows as JSON:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/tubetext~video-ad-analyzer/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"advertisers":["grammarly.com"],"maxAdsPerAdvertiser":3}'

• Big batches: Each ad is analyzed by AI and the sync endpoint waits up to 5 minutes, so keep sync calls to a few ads. For many brands, start the run with POST /v2/acts/tubetext~video-ad-analyzer/runs and a webhook, then fetch the dataset.
• Monitoring: Weekly competitor watch: schedule the run with your brand list. Google ads carry firstShown and lastShown, so you can spot new angles as they launch. Add an Apify webhook to get notified when each run finishes.
• Cost at volume: 50 brands × 5 ads a week ≈ 250 ads ≈ $12.50/week at the free-plan price ($0.05 per ad). Ads that fail to analyze are free.
• Stable output: field names don't change between runs. Failed or empty items come back as status rows that aren't billed, and every row has charged: true/false.
• Why not the official API: Ad libraries give you the ads, not the analysis. This returns the hook, angle, offer, CTA, script and shot list for each ad.

Research your competitors' video ads with AI. Type a brand or domain and this Actor pulls its video ads from the public Google Ads Transparency Center (YouTube ads) and the Meta Ad Library (Facebook and Instagram ads), watches each one and returns a creative teardown: hook, persuasion angle, offer, pain points, claims, CTA, full script and a shot-by-shot breakdown – plus ideas for variations to test. You can also paste ad video links or chain an ad library scraper's dataset.

Built for media buyers, performance agencies, UGC creators and brand teams who need to know what competitors run and why it might work – without watching hundreds of ads by hand.

What you get for every ad

• 🎣 Hook – what the viewer sees, reads and hears in the first ~3 s, its type (problem, bold claim, result first…) and why it works
• 🎯 Angle, offer, pain points, benefits, claims, social proof – the persuasion strategy, spelled out; offers keep their fine print ("up to", caps, conditions, end dates)
• 🛒 Products and CTA – what is sold, when the brand first appears, the call to action and when it lands
• 🎬 Shot list and structure – scene, action, on-screen text and spoken words per shot; beats like problem → demo → offer → CTA
• 📝 Full transcript (captions or Whisper AI) and editing notes (pacing, measured cuts, captions style)
• 💡 Variation ideas your creative team can test
• 📅 Ad facts – advertiser, domain, first/last shown dates, Transparency Center link, YouTube link

Four ways in

1. advertisers – brand names (HelloFresh), domains (grammarly.com), advertiser IDs (AR…) or Transparency Center advertiser links. Filter by region (US, GB, DE…). Newest ads first.
2. metaBrands – brand names, facebook.com/<page> links or numeric page IDs. Pulls that brand's own active Facebook and Instagram video ads from the Meta Ad Library (country set by metaCountry, default US) and analyzes each. Ads by other advertisers that only mention the brand are left out. Rows add adLibraryUrl, pageName, platforms, isActive, isPartnershipAd, ad copy, CTA, landing page and first/last shown.
3. adUrls – ad videos you already have: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or direct .mp4 links (e.g. video URLs from the Meta Ad Library).
4. datasetId – the output of an ad library scraper run (Meta / Facebook Ad Library, TikTok ads, Google transparency). Each row's video, advertiser, ad copy, CTA button, landing page and dates are detected automatically; image and text ads are skipped for free.

Input example

{
  "advertisers": ["grammarly.com", "HelloFresh"],
  "region": "US",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 10,
  "outputLanguage": "English"
}

If you leave out maxAdsPerAdvertiser (for example when calling the API), up to 10 ads per brand are analyzed – about $0.50 per brand.

Output example

Real output (shortened) for grammarly.com:

{
  "status": "ok",
  "advertiserName": "Superhuman Platform Inc.",
  "advertiserDomain": "grammarly.com",
  "creativeId": "CR01613737213038690305",
  "firstShown": "2026-08-27",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-08",
  "transparencyUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR05288677867637440513/creative/CR01613737213038690305",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkwalS03UBQ",
  "durationSeconds": 15,
  "summary": "A student explains how she uses Grammarly to help manage her heavy workload for an economics group project…",
  "hook": {
    "text": "I'm an economics major. And this group project counts for 50% of my grade.",
    "type": "problem",
    "delivered_as": "voice",
    "why_it_works": "It immediately establishes high stakes and a relatable stressor for the target audience."
  },
  "adFormat": "spokesperson/talking head",
  "offer": "Try Grammarly for free",
  "painPoints": ["high-stakes academic projects", "heavy workload"],
  "benefits": ["AI learning partner", "summarize class notes", "improve work quality"],
  "claims": [{"claim": "Grammarly is an AI learning partner that helps do work better", "support": "demo"}],
  "products": [{"name": "Grammarly", "brand": "Grammarly", "first_seen": 0, "how_shown": "app screen recording"}],
  "cta": {"text": "Try Grammarly for free", "type": "get offer", "time": 13.81},
  "whyItWorks": "It addresses a specific, high-stress pain point for students and immediately provides a clear, functional solution…",
  "suggestions": ["Use a testimonial-style hook from a real student instead of a scripted intro.",
                  "Add a 'before vs. after' comparison of a document edited with Grammarly."],
  "shotCount": 3,
  "shots": ["…"],
  "transcript": "I'm an economics major. And this group project counts for 50% of my grade. Lucky for me…"
}

status is ok, skipped (same video as another ad in the run, no video on YouTube, too long – free), no_ads or error (free). matchedAs shows which advertiser or domain a brand name was matched to. Two quality flags help you filter: advertiserNameContainsBrand is false when the ad was bought by an agency, a legal entity with a different name or a co-branding partner – a hint to double-check, not an error. languageMatchesRegion says whether the ad's language is a main language of the region you chose (Google lists ads by where they were shown, so a region can include ads in other languages).

Pricing

Pay per event:

• $0.05 per analyzed ad (cheaper on higher Apify plans: down to $0.037), first 3 minutes included – almost every ad is shorter.
• $0.01 per extra started minute for longer videos.
• Meta Ad Library ads: + $0.003 per ad fetched, billed by our Meta Ad Library Video Ads Actor in the same run. About 1.5× the ads you ask for are fetched, because the same video often runs as several ads – duplicates are analyzed (and charged) once. The library part is capped at 15% of your cost limit.
• Listing ads, duplicates, ads without a downloadable video and failed analyses are free.

Example: 10 ads from each of 5 competitors = 50 ads ≈ $2.50.

Tips

• Brand names vs domains: a brand name is matched through the brand's official domain first (your region's domain, then .com), then by advertiser name, preferring advertisers from the region you chose. matchedAs shows what it matched. Big brands often buy ads under a legal entity with another name (Deliveroo in the UK runs as Roofoods Ltd) or through agencies – those ads are kept and flagged with advertiserNameContainsBrand: false. For the most precise results, enter the domain (canva.com).
• Languages: ads in any language are analyzed; choose the output language, and optionally translate quotes. Filter on languageMatchesRegion to keep only local-language ads.
• Monitoring: schedule a weekly run with your competitor list and compare firstShown dates to spot new creatives.
• Integrations: run it from n8n, Make, Zapier or the API and send rows to Google Sheets or Notion.

Ready-made examples

• Google Ads Transparency Video Ad Analysis
• Competitor YouTube Ads Analysis
• Video Ad Script Extractor
• Facebook & Instagram Ad Analysis

TubeText Labs tools

TubeText Labs builds 35 pay-per-result Apify Actors for video, social and e-commerce data – no login, JSON/CSV/Excel output, and ready for ChatGPT and Claude (Apify MCP), n8n, Make and Zapier. All tools: apify.com/tubetext

Transcripts

• YouTube Transcript Scraper – videos, Shorts, playlists and whole channels to text; Whisper AI when there are no captions
• TikTok Transcript Scraper – TikTok captions plus Whisper AI, SRT and timestamps
• Instagram Reels Transcript – reel links or @usernames to text with Whisper AI
• Podcast & Video Transcript – podcast RSS / Apple Podcasts, X, Facebook, Loom, Twitch and audio files to text
• Facebook Video Transcript – public Facebook videos and Reels to text with Whisper AI
• X (Twitter) Video Transcript – X/Twitter video posts to text with Whisper AI
• Reddit Video Transcript – videos in public Reddit posts (v.redd.it) to text with Whisper AI, with SRT and timestamps
• Bilibili Video Transcript – Bilibili (B站) videos to text with Whisper AI, plus optional English summaries
• Podcast Transcript – podcast RSS feeds and Apple Podcasts episodes to text with Whisper AI

Video & ad analysis

• Video Breakdown AI – hook analysis, shot list, cut pacing, products shown and script of any TikTok, Reel or YouTube video
• Shot-by-Shot Video Analysis Pro – director-level storyboard of any video: framing, camera move, emotion and why each shot works, plus replay peaks, danmaku and comments tied to shots
• YouTube & TikTok Comments API – comments with like-weighted sentiment and themes, plus the moments viewers react to on long YouTube and Bilibili videos
• Video Ad Analyzer (this tool) – competitors' YouTube video ads by brand or domain (Google Ads Transparency), torn down by AI
• Google Ads Transparency API – any advertiser's YouTube video ads from Google Ads Transparency, with first/last shown dates, days running, views and transcripts
• Meta Ad Library Scraper – Facebook and Instagram ads by brand or keyword: video URLs, images, ad copy, CTA and landing page

Social, apps & trends

• YouTube Channel Analytics – subscribers, recent video performance, Social Blade grade, ranks and estimated earnings
• YouTube Shorts Scraper – every Short of a channel with exact views, likes, comments and publish time, plus transcripts and the opening line
• Bilibili Scraper – Bilibili (B站) keyword search, popular board, top-100 ranking, video stats, danmaku text and creator (UP主) followers – no login
• China Trending Topics – Douyin, Weibo, Baidu, Toutiao and Bilibili hot-search boards in one run, in English – plus an optional AI briefing on why topics trend
• WeChat Article Scraper – WeChat 公众号 articles by keyword or link: full text, English titles and optional English summaries
• Google Play Reviews + AI Insights – Android app reviews by star rating, country and language, plus an AI report of complaints and praise
• Steam Reviews Scraper + AI Insights – Steam game reviews with hours played and votes, review score and current players, plus an AI report of top complaints, praise and feature requests
• Social Blade Scraper – Social Blade stats for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitch creators – grade, ranks, 2-week growth, daily history, earnings estimates and top-100 lists
• Spotify Play Count Scraper – play counts for every track of an album, artist or playlist (incl. Top 50 charts), plus monthly listeners, followers, world rank and top cities

E-commerce & travel

• TikTok Shop Product Scraper – US TikTok Shop prices, items sold, stock per SKU and shop stats
• AliExpress Search Scraper – AliExpress search results by keyword: price, items sold, rating, shipping, badges
• Google Hotels Scraper – hotel prices for any destination and dates, per booking site and as a 90-day price calendar
• Taobao & Tmall Product Scraper – Taobao/Tmall products by Chinese or English keyword, category or URL: CNY prices, shops and seller scores
• Alibaba & Yiwu Supplier Finder by Image – product photo in, similar Alibaba.com and Yiwu wholesale listings out: price, MOQ, supplier, country and rating
• Amazon Product Search Scraper – Amazon search results, Best Sellers lists and product pages: price, rating, reviews, monthly sales signal, badges and specs
• Google Flights Scraper – flight prices for any route or multi-city trip, a cheapest-day calendar, price insights and booking options per site
• Agoda & Booking.com Hotel Reviews + AI – Agoda hotel reviews plus verified Booking.com reviews shown on Agoda, hotel scores and sub-scores, and an AI report of complaints, praise and action items
• Gas Prices Scraper (US & Canada) – live gas station prices by ZIP, city or coordinates – regular, premium, diesel, E85 – with an area summary of the cheapest stations
• Idealo Price Scraper – every shop offer for a product on idealo – price, shipping, delivery, shop rating – in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the UK, with a summary per market

Esports & sports data

• Esports Match Timeline – Valorant and CS2 round-by-round scores, winners and VOD timestamps read from broadcast VODs

Questions or problems? Open an issue (we read every one). Need a custom version? Ask in an issue or email us – we build it as a private Actor on Apify.

Found it useful? A short review on this page helps others find it.

Built by TubeText Labs · Pay per result. No login. Ready for AI agents.

FAQ

Does it cover Facebook and Instagram ads? Yes – put the brand in Brands or Facebook pages (Meta Ad Library). You get the brand's own active video ads for the country you choose (default US). Two known gaps: country ALL may pick a brand's non-US page, and for GB the library sometimes returns fewer ads than its website shows.

Which ads does Google Ads Transparency cover? Ads run through Google Ads – this Actor analyzes the video ones (YouTube ads, including app-install video ads). Text, image and display ads are not analyzed.

Is the analysis accurate? It is AI (Google Gemini) watching sampled frames, the transcript and the ad facts. Hooks, offers, CTAs and scripts are usually right; treat strategic fields (angle, why it works, suggestions) as a strong first draft, not ground truth. Song titles are never guessed.

Is this legal? The Actor only reads public pages and public ad libraries, without logging in, and collects no personal data. You are responsible for how you use the results (copyright and the platforms' terms).

How do I get a clean spreadsheet? In the run's Storage tab choose Export → View: Overview for a short set of readable columns in Excel, CSV or Google Sheets. Use JSON to get every field (for example the full shot list).

Can I cap what a run costs? Yes – set Maximum cost per run in the run options. The run stops cleanly when the next item would go over it: you are never charged more, and you get a clear "stopped at your limit" status message.

What happens if a big run hits the time limit? It stops cleanly shortly before the limit: everything finished so far is delivered, the run ends as succeeded, and the status message says how many items weren't started. Raise the run timeout, or run again with the inputs that were not started.

How do I keep a run from costing more than planned? Two limits stack: Max ads per brand caps how many ads are analyzed for each advertiser, and Maximum cost per run stops the run cleanly at your budget. Only video ads are analyzed; image and text ads are skipped for free.

Cost telemetry: when a run ends, the Actor sends us a small anonymous summary via a webhook: run ID, duration, memory, compute and AI cost, whether the account is on a free or paid plan, and counts of free rows. Until about Oct 26, 2026 this is sent for every run (a one-week cost measurement); after that, only for runs that cost more than they earned. We use it to keep prices fair. Your inputs, links and results are never sent.