# Google Ads Transparency Scraper - Ads, Copy & Regions (`vital_tuxedo/google-ads-transparency-scraper`) Actor

Every Google ad an advertiser runs, from the public Ads Transparency Center. Search by advertiser name, domain or ID; filter by country, format and date. Returns ad copy, images, YouTube video IDs, landing URLs, first/last shown dates and regions. No login or API key.

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

## Pricing

Pay per event

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 Scraper - every ad a competitor runs on Google

Get **every Google ad an advertiser is running or has run** - Search text ads, display image ads and YouTube video ads - from Google's public [Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com). Give it a company name, a website domain or an advertiser ID; get back one clean row per ad with the **ad copy, image, YouTube video, landing URL, first and last shown dates and the countries it ran in**.

No login, no Google account, no API key, no browser. It reads the same JSON the Transparency Center website loads, so runs are fast (about 1-2 seconds per 100 ads without details) and cheap.

### What you can use it for

- **Competitor ad research** - see every ad a rival has run, which formats they use, how long each ad has been live (long-running ads are the ones that convert), and which countries they target.
- **Ad creative swipe files** - pull headlines, descriptions, images and YouTube videos for a whole category of advertisers into a spreadsheet.
- **Lead generation for agencies** - find businesses that are actively spending on Google Ads right now (`lastShown` = today) and pitch them.
- **Brand and trademark monitoring** - search by your domain to see every ad that lands on your site, including resellers, affiliates and agencies bidding on your brand.
- **Market and political ad research** - filter by country and date range; every ad comes with the regions it was shown in.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `advertisers` (required) | One per line. A **domain** (`shopify.com`) returns every ad that lands on that site, whoever paid for it. A **name** (`Nike`) is matched to the advertiser with the most ads. An **advertiser ID** (`AR16735076323512287233`) or a Transparency Center advertiser URL is read directly. |
| `region` | Two-letter country code (`US`, `GB`, `DE`...) or `anywhere` (default). |
| `adFormat` | `ALL` (default), `TEXT`, `IMAGE` or `VIDEO`. |
| `dateFrom` / `dateTo` | `YYYY-MM-DD`. Keeps ads that ran at any time inside the range. |
| `maxAdsPerAdvertiser` | Newest first, default 100, up to 10,000. |
| `includeAdDetails` | Default on. Opens each ad for its copy, landing URL, regions and variations. |

Example:

```json
{
  "advertisers": ["shopify.com", "Nike", "AR04545452743640219649"],
  "region": "US",
  "adFormat": "ALL",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 200,
  "includeAdDetails": true
}
```

### Output

One row per ad. Sample (a video ad, details on):

```json
{
  "query": "shopify.com",
  "queryType": "domain",
  "advertiserId": "AR01625195283841286145",
  "advertiserName": "Shopify Inc.",
  "creativeId": "CR09563301432564645889",
  "format": "VIDEO",
  "firstShown": "2025-12-19",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-14",
  "landingDomain": "shopify.com",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR01625195283841286145/creative/CR09563301432564645889",
  "headline": "Time for Shopify",
  "description": "See why millions of businesses start selling with Shopify.",
  "callToAction": "Learn more",
  "displayUrl": "shopify.com",
  "landingUrl": "https://www.shopify.com/es-es/comienza?country=es&lang=en",
  "videoId": "XySb72wRNu8",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XySb72wRNu8",
  "videoDuration": "0:17",
  "channelName": "Shopify",
  "regions": [{"code": "ES", "firstShown": "2025-12-19", "lastShown": "2026-10-14"}],
  "variationCount": 4
}
```

All fields: `query`, `queryType`, `advertiserId`, `advertiserName`, `creativeId`, `format`, `firstShown`, `lastShown`, `landingDomain`, `adUrl`, `imageUrl`, `imageWidth`, `imageHeight`, `previewUrl`, `headline`, `description`, `longHeadline`, `callToAction`, `displayUrl`, `landingUrl`, `videoId`, `videoUrl`, `videoDuration`, `channelName`, `thumbnailUrl`, `regions`, `variationCount`, `variationImageUrls`, `regionFilter`, `scrapedAt`. Fields Google does not publish for an ad are `null`.

A `RUN_SUMMARY` record in the key-value store lists, per advertiser, the advertiser it resolved to, Google's own estimate of how many ads match your filters, how many were saved, and the events charged.

### Pricing

Pay only for what you get - no monthly rental, no start fee:

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| Advertiser resolved (per input entry) | $0.002 |
| Ad saved | $0.0012 |
| Ad details (copy, regions, landing URL) | $0.0018 |

1,000 ads with full details cost about **$3.00**; without details about **$1.20**. The run stops by itself before it would cross the maximum charge you set for the run.

### FAQ

**Why do some text ads have no headline?** Google archives many older Search ads only as a rendered image. For those the row has the `imageUrl` of the ad (the text is in the image) but no separate headline field.

**Does a name always find the right company?** Names are matched without punctuation or suffixes ("Nike" = "Nike, Inc."), and the match with the most ads wins. For an exact advertiser, paste its `AR...` ID or Transparency Center URL, or use its domain.

**Do I need proxies?** No. If Google starts rate-limiting, the actor backs off and switches to Apify Proxy by itself.

**Is this legal?** The Ads Transparency Center is published by Google so that anyone can see who is advertising and what. This actor reads only that public data, at a polite rate, and collects no personal data.

### Related

From the same developer: [Website Contact & Lead Enricher](https://apify.com/vital_tuxedo/website-contact-lead-enricher) (owner emails, tech stack and email DNS per domain) - pair it with this actor to turn active advertisers into leads.

# Actor input Schema

## `advertisers` (type: `array`):

One per line. A domain (shopify.com) returns every ad that lands on that site, whoever paid for it. A name (Nike) is matched to the advertiser with the most ads. An advertiser ID (AR167...) or a Transparency Center advertiser URL is read directly. Leave empty to try a small example (10 ads for shopify.com).

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

Only ads shown in this country. 'anywhere' means all countries.

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

TEXT (search ads), IMAGE (display) or VIDEO (YouTube).

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

YYYY-MM-DD. Keeps ads that ran at any time inside the date range.

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

YYYY-MM-DD.

## `maxAdsPerAdvertiser` (type: `integer`):

Newest ads first. Up to 10,000.

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

Opens each ad: the countries it ran in with dates, its variations, and the ad copy (headline, description, display URL, call to action, landing URL, YouTube ID). Charged as one extra 'ad-detail' event per ad.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Not needed normally. The actor switches to Apify Proxy by itself if Google starts rate-limiting.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "advertisers": [
    "shopify.com",
    "Nike"
  ],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "adFormat": "ALL",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100,
  "includeAdDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One row per ad: advertiser, format, dates, copy, image or video, landing URL and regions.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Per-advertiser counts, Google's total-ad estimate for each, and the events charged.

# 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 = {
    "advertisers": [
        "shopify.com",
        "Nike"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vital_tuxedo/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 = {
    "advertisers": [
        "shopify.com",
        "Nike",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vital_tuxedo/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 '{
  "advertisers": [
    "shopify.com",
    "Nike"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call vital_tuxedo/google-ads-transparency-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,vital_tuxedo/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/iaMtpdbjnKtVn6mha/builds/Yb0PYnsWT1GYUqsbt/openapi.json