# Google Ads Transparency Scraper — Competitor Ads & Ad Copy (`vladased/google-ads-transparency-fast`) Actor

See any company's Google ads (Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube) from the Ads Transparency Center: ad copy, product titles, images, first/last shown, days running. By domain, advertiser name or ID. Only-new monitoring. No browser.

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

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 ads

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 company runs — Search, Shopping, Display and YouTube — straight from Google's Ads Transparency Center:
advertiser, domain, first and last time shown, days running, the ad image or preview, and the ad itself: headline + description for
text ads, product title + image + merchant for Shopping ads, call-to-action for display ads.** No browser. **From $2 per 1,000 ads** (Starter plan).

### Why this one

| | This Actor | Typical Ads Transparency scrapers |
|---|---|---|
| Ad content | Headline/description, Shopping product title/image/merchant, CTA — **included in the price** | Preview links only, or details as a paid extra |
| Search by | Website domain, advertiser name (biggest advertisers first) or advertiser ID | Usually one of these |
| Alerts | **Only new ads**: schedule it daily = competitor ad alerts | Re-delivers everything |
| Date window | Ads running between two dates | — |
| Reliability | Google's own data endpoints, direct first, proxy only when Google limits us | Browser automation |
| Switching | Accepts other actors' names (`searchQuery`, `domain`, `searchDomains`, `advertiser_id`, `maxResults`, `startDate`, `endDate`…) | — |

### Input examples

All current Google ads pointing to two competitors' sites, in the US:

```json
{ "domains": ["nike.com", "adidas.com"], "region": "US", "maxAdsPerSearch": 200 }
```

New-ad alerts (schedule daily):

```json
{ "domains": ["hubspot.com", "salesforce.com"], "onlyNewAds": true, "stateKey": "crm-competitors" }
```

By advertiser name, ads running this quarter:

```json
{ "queries": ["Nike, Inc."], "activeFrom": "2026-07-01", "maxAdvertisersPerQuery": 1 }
```

### Output

One row per ad: `advertiserName`, `advertiserId`, `domain`, `creativeId`, `adUrl` (Transparency Center link), `formatCode`, `firstShown`,
`lastShown`, `daysShown`, `imageUrl` / `previewUrl`, and when available `adType` (text / shopping / display) with `headline`,
`description`, `displayUrl`, or `productTitle`, `productImage`, `merchant`, or `callToAction`.

### Pricing

| Event | Price (free plan) | When |
|---|---|---|
| Ad | $0.0025 | One ad row ($0.002 Starter, down to $0.0013); ad copy included |
| Searches with no ads | free | Returned as an `error` row |

### Good to know

- Public data published by Google for ad transparency. No login.
- Video ads come with their preview link; YouTube details aren't extracted yet.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/vladased/google-ads-transparency-fast/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

Ads that point to these sites, e.g. nike.com (most reliable way to find a brand's ads).

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Google's advertiser search (verified names like 'Nike, Inc.'); the biggest matches are used.

## `advertiserIds` (type: `array`):

AR… IDs from adstransparency.google.com URLs.

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

2-letter country code (US, GB, DE, FR, BR, IN, JP…) or empty for anywhere.

## `activeFrom` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD: only ads shown on or after this date.

## `activeTo` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD: only ads first shown on or before this date.

## `maxAdsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Per domain / advertiser / ID.

## `maxAdvertisersPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

For name searches: how many matching advertisers to include.

## `includeAdCopy` (type: `boolean`):

Read each ad's preview: headline/description for text ads, product title/image/merchant for Shopping ads, CTA for display (free).

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

Schedule it: each run delivers only ads it hasn't sent you before — competitor ad alerts.

## `stateKey` (type: `string`):

Optional: separate 'only new' memory per task.

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

Default: direct first, Apify proxy only when Google limits us.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "maxAdsPerSearch": 40,
  "maxAdvertisersPerQuery": 3,
  "includeAdCopy": true,
  "onlyNewAds": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per ad: advertiser, format, dates, regions, ad text/product details.

# 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 = {
    "domains": [
        "nike.com"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vladased/google-ads-transparency-fast").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 = {
    "domains": ["nike.com"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vladased/google-ads-transparency-fast").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 '{
  "domains": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call vladased/google-ads-transparency-fast --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,vladased/google-ads-transparency-fast"
        }
    }
}
```

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/zYNohGoMviPee6FVx/builds/qeokMajO1fWEYvb8s/openapi.json