# Google Ads Transparency Scraper - Competitor Ads & Ad Copy (`upendra_11/google-ads-transparency-scraper`) Actor

Get every Google ad a competitor runs on Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps and Play, by website, advertiser name or ID. Ad copy, landing pages, images, YouTube videos, countries, dates, EU impressions and targeting. Bulk-check which websites run Google Ads. Monitoring mode.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/upendra_11/google-ads-transparency-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Upendra Kumar](https://apify.com/upendra_11) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, SEO tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.05 / 1,000 ad saveds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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 & Ad Copy

See **every Google ad a competitor runs** on Google Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps and Play. Enter websites, brand names, advertiser IDs or Ads Transparency Center links. You get clean data straight from the official [Google Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com/):

- ad copy and landing pages
- images and YouTube videos
- first and last shown dates, and how many days each ad ran
- countries
- EU impressions and targeting

No login, no API key, no browser extension.

**Also included: an advertiser check.** Paste a list of websites to see which ones run Google Ads, roughly how many ads they run, and when their latest ad ran. It's a fast way to qualify leads.

### What you can do with it

- **Competitor ad research:** see every active ad of a competitor, with its headlines, descriptions and landing pages.
- **Find long-running "winning" ads:** `daysShown` and `firstShown` show which creatives a brand keeps paying for.
- **YouTube ad intelligence:** get video IDs, links, durations and channels of a brand's video ads.
- **Market and country analysis:** see where a brand advertises (`countryCodes`). In the EU you also get impressions per platform and targeting (turn on *Include countries and EU stats*).
- **Lead generation for agencies:** check thousands of websites at once to see who spends on Google Ads (Advertiser check mode).
- **Daily competitor monitoring:** schedule the Actor with *Only new ads* to receive only ads you haven't seen before.
- **Feed your tools and AI agents:** clean JSON through the Apify API, webhooks, Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, or the Apify MCP server.

### What data you get

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `advertiserName`, `advertiserId` | Shopify Inc., AR01625195283841286145 |
| `format` | `text`, `image` or `video` |
| `headlines`, `descriptions`, `callToAction` | "Launch your business. Start for free." |
| `displayUrl`, `landingUrls` | shopify.com, https://www.shopify.com/free-trial |
| `previewImageUrl`, `imageUrls` | images of the ad and its variations |
| `videoIds`, `videoUrls`, `videoDuration`, `youtubeChannel` | GvYt6OgsRqk, 0:15, Shopify |
| `firstShown`, `lastShown`, `daysShown`, `isActive` | 2026-07-07 → 2026-10-28, 98 days, active |
| `adUrl` | link to the ad in the Transparency Center |

With **Include countries and EU stats** turned on, you also get:

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `countryCodes`, `regions` | where the ad ran, with dates per country |
| `euImpressionsMin` / `euImpressionsMax`, `euImpressionsByPlatform` | EU: 125,000–150,000 impressions, mostly Google Search |
| `euTargeting` | EU: demographics, locations, contextual signals, topics of interest, customer lists (included / excluded) |
| `paidBy`, `variationCount` | who paid for the ad; number of ad variations |

In **Advertiser check** mode you get one row per input instead:

- `runsGoogleAds`
- `adCountMin` / `adCountMax`
- the advertiser accounts found
- `latestAdLastShown` and `isActive`
- the ad formats seen
- links to the ad library

### How to use it

1. Add one or more inputs, one per line. All of these work:
   - a website: `nike.com`, or a full URL like `https://www.nike.com/running`
   - an advertiser name: `Nike, Inc.` or `Canva`
   - an advertiser ID: `AR16735076323512287233`
   - any Transparency Center link: an advertiser page, a `?domain=` search, or a single ad
2. Optionally filter by **region** (country), **platform** (Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps, Play), **ad format** (text, image, video) and **dates** (last N days, or a date range).
3. Set **Max ads per input**. Google lists the most recently shown ads first.
4. Choose the extras. **Ad copy and media** is on by default. Turn on **Countries and EU stats** if you need where each ad ran and EU impressions; it's slower.
5. Click **Start**, then download the results as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read them via the API.

#### Input example

```json
{
  "targets": ["shopify.com", "Canva", "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233"],
  "region": "US",
  "platform": "youtube",
  "shownInLastDays": 30,
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 200,
  "includeAdDetails": true,
  "includeRegionStats": false
}
```

#### Advertiser check example

```json
{
  "targets": ["nike.com", "allbirds.com", "my-local-bakery.com"],
  "mode": "advertisers",
  "region": "US"
}
```

#### Output example (one ad from a real run, both options on)

```json
{
  "type": "ad",
  "creativeId": "CR06448405838846492673",
  "advertiserId": "AR01625195283841286145",
  "advertiserName": "Shopify Inc.",
  "domain": "shopify.com",
  "format": "video",
  "firstShown": "2026-09-08T19:57:26Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-28T19:15:43Z",
  "daysShown": 51,
  "isActive": true,
  "headlines": [
    "Earn 1% credit back on sales.",
    "Launch your business on Shopify and get 1% credit back on sales for your first six months."
  ],
  "descriptions": ["Join Shopify and launch now to get 1% credit back on sales for your first six months"],
  "displayUrl": "shopify.com",
  "landingUrls": ["https://www.shopify.com/free-trial/bfcm"],
  "videoIds": ["abiUOUwaNW8"],
  "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abiUOUwaNW8"],
  "videoDuration": "0:15",
  "youtubeChannel": "Shopify",
  "variationCount": 4,
  "countryCodes": ["US"],
  "paidBy": "Shopify Inc.",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR01625195283841286145/creative/CR06448405838846492673?region=anywhere",
  "input": "shopify.com"
}
```

For ads shown in the EU you also get impressions and targeting, for example:

```json
{
  "countryCodes": ["NL"],
  "euImpressionsMin": 2000,
  "euImpressionsMax": 3000,
  "euImpressionsByPlatform": [
    {"platform": "google_search", "impressionsMin": 2000, "impressionsMax": 3000},
    {"platform": "google_shopping", "impressionsMin": 0, "impressionsMax": 1000},
    {"platform": "youtube", "impressionsMin": 0, "impressionsMax": 1000}
  ],
  "euTargeting": {"demographics": "included", "locations": "included", "contextualSignals": "both", "topicsOfInterest": null, "customerLists": "excluded"}
}
```

A per-input report (what each input was matched to, how many ads Google lists, how many were saved) is in the `TARGETS` record of the run's key-value store.

### Pricing

You pay only for results. There's no monthly fee, and proxies are not needed.

💰 **Volume discounts:** on paid Apify plans the per-result price drops automatically, by up to 30%. See the pricing table on this page for your plan's exact price.

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| Ad saved (ad copy, media, countries and EU stats included) | **$1.50 per 1,000 ads** |
| Advertiser check (one row per input) | **$2.00 per 1,000 inputs** |
| Run start | $0.001 |

Examples:

- 200 ads of 5 competitors (1,000 ads): about **$1.50**
- checking 5,000 websites for Google Ads: about **$10**
- a daily monitor of 10 competitors that finds 30 new ads a day: under **$1.50 per month**

Set a **maximum cost per run** in the run options and the Actor stops cleanly when it's reached. You are never charged for ads that weren't saved.

### Monitoring competitors (scheduling)

1. Turn on **Only new ads since the last run** and give the monitor a name.
2. The first run returns all current ads as a baseline.
3. Later runs check the most recently shown ads and return only ones you haven't received before.
4. Create a [schedule](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules) (for example, daily) and add a webhook, email, Slack or Google Sheets integration to get new competitor ads automatically.

### Good to know

- **Text ads are stored by Google as pictures.** For most search text ads, Google's archive holds an image of the ad, so you get the image in `previewImageUrl` / `imageUrls`. The written copy (`headlines`, `descriptions`, `adTexts`) comes from image (display) and video ads, and from text ads that Google also shows on Maps.
- **Ad counts are ranges** (for example 50,000–60,000) because Google publishes them that way.
- **Website searches** return every ad that points to that website. That's usually the site owner, sometimes partners or resellers. To get only one company's ads, use its name or advertiser ID.
- **Impressions and targeting** are published by Google only for ads shown in the European Union (EU Digital Services Act).
- **Speed:** Google limits how fast its Transparency Center can be read, so the Actor paces itself and slows down automatically when asked. Listing ads with their copy and media takes seconds for a few hundred ads. With *Include countries and EU stats* on, expect roughly 60 ads per minute, because that needs one request per ad. If Google temporarily limits requests, the Actor keeps everything found so far and tells you to run again later. It never tries to get around Google's limits.
- **History:** Google lists ads from verified advertisers for one year after they were last shown. In Europe and Türkiye it also lists ads from unverified advertisers.

### FAQ

**Is this legal?**
The Ads Transparency Center is a public library that Google publishes so anyone can review ads. EU law (the Digital Services Act) requires ad repositories like it to be searchable and machine-readable. The Actor reads only public ad data, respects Google's rate limits, and does not log in. As with any data, use it in line with the laws that apply to you.

**Is this an official Google product?**
No. This is an independent tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.

**Can I get ads for a whole country or keyword without a brand?**
The Transparency Center is organised by advertiser and website, so start from a list of websites or brands. The Advertiser check mode is handy for finding which of them advertise.

**Something is missing or wrong?**
Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab and include the input you used, so the problem can be reproduced.

# Actor input Schema

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

One per line. A website (nike.com), an advertiser name (Nike, Inc.), an advertiser ID (AR16735076323512287233) or any adstransparency.google.com link (advertiser, domain or single-ad page). The type is detected automatically.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

"Ads" saves every ad with its details. "Advertiser check" saves one row per input: does it run Google Ads, roughly how many ads, which advertiser accounts, when the latest ad ran (great for lead lists).

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

Only ads shown in this country. "Anywhere" covers all regions.

## `platform` (type: `string`):

Only ads shown on this Google platform.

## `adFormat` (type: `string`):

Only text, image or video ads.

## `shownInLastDays` (type: `integer`):

Only ads shown during the last N days (for example 7 or 30). 0 = any time. Ignored when you set a date range below.

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

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

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

Optional. Only ads shown on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to today when only the start date is set.

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

Upper limit of ads saved for each input line, newest first (Google lists ads by when they were last shown). Big brands have tens of thousands of ads.

## `includeAdDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Adds headlines, descriptions, call to action, display URL, landing pages, images and YouTube videos, read from Google's ad previews (one light request per image or video ad). Google archives most text ads as a picture, so for those you get the image. Same price per ad.

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

Adds the countries where each ad ran (first/last shown per country), EU impressions per platform, EU targeting and who paid for the ad. Needs one extra request per ad to the Transparency Center, which Google rate-limits, so runs are slower (roughly 60 ads per minute). Same price per ad.

## `maxAdvertisersPerName` (type: `integer`):

When you enter a name, the best-matching advertiser account is used (exact name first, then the one with most ads). Raise this to also include other accounts with the same name (e.g. a brand's country subsidiaries).

## `onlyNewAds` (type: `boolean`):

Checks the most recently shown ads (up to "Max ads per input") and saves only ads this Actor has not returned before in your account. The first run returns everything as a baseline. Schedule it daily to get competitors' new ads.

## `monitorName` (type: `string`):

Use a different name for each separate monitor so they remember already-seen ads independently.

## `maxRequestsPerSecond` (type: `integer`):

Starting speed for Google's Transparency Center (each request returns up to 100 ads). The Actor slows down automatically when Google asks it to and speeds up again gradually. Raising this makes Google more likely to limit the run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "targets": [
    "shopify.com",
    "Canva",
    "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233?region=US"
  ],
  "mode": "ads",
  "region": "anywhere",
  "platform": "all",
  "adFormat": "all",
  "shownInLastDays": 0,
  "dateFrom": "",
  "dateTo": "",
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 50,
  "includeAdDetails": true,
  "includeRegionStats": false,
  "maxAdvertisersPerName": 1,
  "onlyNewAds": false,
  "monitorName": "default",
  "maxRequestsPerSecond": 1
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `targets` (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 = {
    "targets": [
        "shopify.com",
        "Canva",
        "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233?region=US"
    ],
    "maxAdsPerTarget": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("upendra_11/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": [
        "shopify.com",
        "Canva",
        "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233?region=US",
    ],
    "maxAdsPerTarget": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("upendra_11/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": [
    "shopify.com",
    "Canva",
    "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR16735076323512287233?region=US"
  ],
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 50
}' |
apify call upendra_11/google-ads-transparency-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,upendra_11/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/gYgczzp3KHjWE7hod/builds/Y6Tas4nEYlHf8c5cy/openapi.json