# Google Ads Transparency Scraper (`wakeful_outhouse/google-ads-transparency-scraper`) Actor

Extract all Google ads (Search, YouTube, Display, Shopping, Maps) for any advertiser or domain from the Ads Transparency Center. Returns real ad copy, CTA, landing page, YouTube video ID, first/last shown dates, per-country impressions and targeting. No login, no browser, pay per result.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/wakeful_outhouse/google-ads-transparency-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Roman](https://apify.com/wakeful_outhouse) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 ad records

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

Scrape **every ad an advertiser runs on Google** (Search, YouTube, Display, Shopping, Play, Maps) from the [Google Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com/), and get the **actual ad copy**, not just a screenshot link.

Give it a **domain**, an **advertiser name**, an **advertiser ID** or any **Transparency Center URL**. It returns structured ads with:

- ✍️ **Decoded ad content**: headline, long headline, body/description, call-to-action, landing page URL, display URL, logo and image URLs.
- ▶️ **YouTube video ads**: video ID, ready-to-open YouTube URL, video title, channel name and URL, duration and thumbnail.
- 📍 **Maps / local ads**: store name, Google rating, headline, description and CTA.
- 🛍️ **Shopping ads**: product title, merchant and product image.
- 📅 **Run dates**: first shown, last shown, total days shown. Long-running ads are usually the winners.
- 🌍 **Per-country data** (optional): first/last shown per country, impression ranges and the platforms the ad ran on. Google publishes impressions mainly for EU countries under the DSA.
- 🎯 **Targeting** (optional): whether demographics, locations, contextual signals or customer lists were used. Also the ad topic and the paying sponsor.
- 🔔 **Monitoring**: give a search a name and schedule it. Each run returns only ads you have not seen yet, so you pay only for new ones.

No login, no cookies, no browser. It talks to the same API the Transparency Center website uses, so it is fast and cheap. Pair it with the [Facebook Ads Library Scraper](https://apify.com/wakeful_outhouse/facebook-ads-library-scraper) to compare a competitor's ads on Google and Meta.

### Use cases

- **Competitor research**: see every creative a competitor is running right now and which ones have run for months.
- **Ad copy swipe files**: export hundreds of headlines and CTAs from a niche into a spreadsheet.
- **YouTube ad research**: collect the video IDs of a brand's video ads and watch them all.
- **Agency pitches & audits**: show a prospect what their competitors run, by country and platform.
- **Compliance & brand protection**: find advertisers bidding on your brand or running ads on your domain.

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `queries` | One per line: `nike.com`, `Booking.com`, `AR16735076323512287233` or `https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR…/creative/CR…` |
| `region` | Country where the ad was shown (default: anywhere) |
| `platform` | Search, YouTube, Play, Maps, Shopping or all |
| `format` | Text, Image, Video or all |
| `dateFrom` / `dateTo` | Only ads shown in this date range |
| `monitorName` | Name a search to get only new ads on each run (see Monitoring new ads) |
| `maxAdsPerQuery` | Limit per query (0 = everything) |
| `maxAdvertisersPerQuery` | For name queries: how many matching advertiser accounts to include |
| `decodeContent` | Extract headline, CTA, landing page, YouTube ID… (default on) |
| `includeDetails` | Per-country impressions, platforms, targeting, sponsor, all variations |

```json
{
  "queries": ["booking.com", "Nike"],
  "region": "DE",
  "platform": "YOUTUBE",
  "maxAdsPerQuery": 200,
  "decodeContent": true,
  "includeDetails": true
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
  "query": "booking.com",
  "advertiserId": "AR02934798844673654785",
  "advertiserName": "Booking.com",
  "creativeId": "CR01456002477508788225",
  "format": "VIDEO",
  "domain": "booking.com",
  "firstShown": "2026-10-06T09:10:49Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-15T17:10:06Z",
  "totalDaysShown": 10,
  "transparencyUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR02934798844673654785/creative/CR01456002477508788225",
  "headline": "別荘やホテルなど豊富な選択肢から探そう",
  "longHeadline": "個性と好みに合う宿を、幅広い選択肢から選ぼう",
  "description": "料金表示は明確で、予約もラクラク！安心して旅を楽しもう",
  "callToAction": "今すぐ予約",
  "destinationUrl": "http://www.booking.com/index.html?aid=2259564",
  "visibleUrl": "booking.com",
  "youtubeVideoId": "2Nai5unnZ8w",
  "youtubeUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nai5unnZ8w",
  "youtubeChannelName": "Booking.com",
  "videoDuration": "0:20"
}
```

With `includeDetails: true` each ad also gets per-country data, targeting and the paying sponsor:

```json
{
  "sponsor": "INITIATIVE MEDIA B.V.",
  "regions": [
    {"geoId": 2756, "countryCode": "CH", "countryName": "Switzerland", "lastShown": "2026-10-15",
     "impressionsMin": null, "impressionsMax": null, "platforms": []}
  ],
  "targeting": {"demographics": "INCLUDED", "geographicLocations": "EXCLUDED"},
  "variations": [{"previewUrl": "https://displayads-formats.googleusercontent.com/ads/preview/content.js?..."}]
}
```

Text (Search) ads are stored by Google only as images. For them you get `previewImageUrl`, a direct link to the archived ad image, instead of decoded text.

### Monitoring new ads

Track competitors without paying twice for the same ads:

1. Fill in `queries` and filters as usual and set `monitorName`, for example `competitors-de`.
2. Save the input as a Task and add an Apify **Schedule** (daily or weekly).
3. The first run returns every matching ad. Each later run with the same `monitorName` returns only ads that earlier runs have not returned. Old ads are skipped and **not charged**.

Connect a webhook or the Slack / email integration to the Task to get new ads delivered. The list of seen ads is stored in the `google-ads-monitor` key-value store in your account. To start over, use a new `monitorName` or delete its record from that store.

### Pricing

Pay per result:

- **$1.50 per 1,000 ads** (basic record: advertiser, format, dates, preview, links).
- **+ $1.00 per 1,000 ads** when enrichment runs (decoded content and/or details).

Set a maximum cost per run in the Apify Console, and the scraper stops cleanly when it is reached.

### Tips

- Big brands have tens of thousands of ads. Narrow with `region`, `platform`, `format` and dates, or set `maxAdsPerQuery`.
- In monitor mode `maxAdsPerQuery` counts all ads checked, new and old. Set it above the advertiser's total, or narrow with `dateFrom` and `region`, so new ads are not missed.
- An advertiser name often matches several legal entities (e.g. "Nike, Inc." and regional distributors). Raise `maxAdvertisersPerQuery`, or paste the exact advertiser URL.
- Google blocks datacenter IPs on the Transparency Center (HTTP 302 loops). Keep Apify Proxy with the **Residential** group, which is the default. Traffic is small, roughly 10 MB per 1,000 ads.

### Integrations, API and MCP

**REST API.** Run the Actor and get the results in one call (replace `YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN`; it's in Console → Settings → API & Integrations):

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/wakeful_outhouse~google-ads-transparency-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queries": ["booking.com"], "maxAdsPerQuery": 50}'
```

**Python** (`pip install apify-client`):

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("wakeful_outhouse/google-ads-transparency-scraper").call(run_input={"queries": ["booking.com"], "maxAdsPerQuery": 50})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)
```

**AI agents (MCP).** Give Claude, Cursor or any MCP client this Actor as a tool through the Apify MCP server:

- hosted: `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=wakeful_outhouse/google-ads-transparency-scraper`
- local: `npx -y @apify/actors-mcp-server --actors wakeful_outhouse/google-ads-transparency-scraper` (set `APIFY_TOKEN`)

**No-code.** Use the Apify integrations for **Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, Slack** and **webhooks**: for example, run the Actor on a Schedule and send each new competitor ad to a Slack channel or append the ad copy to a Google Sheet. All formats are available as JSON, CSV, Excel and HTML from the dataset.

### More ad-intelligence tools

Same author, same data format, same pay-per-result pricing:

- [Facebook Ads Library Scraper](https://apify.com/wakeful_outhouse/facebook-ads-library-scraper) — ad text, headlines, CTAs, landing pages, images and videos from the Meta Ad Library (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads).
- [Google Trends Scraper](https://apify.com/wakeful_outhouse/google-trends-scraper) — interest over time, interest by region, related queries and today's trending searches by country, to see which keywords are rising.
- [LinkedIn Ad Library Scraper](https://apify.com/wakeful_outhouse/linkedin-ad-library-scraper) — B2B ad copy, CTAs, landing pages, media, impressions by country and targeting from the LinkedIn Ad Library.

All tools: https://apify.com/wakeful_outhouse

### FAQ

**Is it legal?** The Transparency Center is a public database Google publishes so anyone can inspect ads. The scraper collects only what the website shows publicly and no personal data. You are responsible for how you use the data.

**Why are impressions empty?** Google publishes impression ranges mainly for ads shown in the EU (Digital Services Act). Outside the EU you get dates and platforms per country.

**Something broke?** Open an issue on the Issues tab with the run link. Fixes usually ship within a day.

# Actor input Schema

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

One per line. Accepts a domain (<code>nike.com</code>), an advertiser name (<code>Booking.com</code>), an advertiser ID (<code>AR16735076323512287233</code>), or any adstransparency.google.com URL (advertiser, creative or domain search).

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

Only ads shown in this country.

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

Only ads shown on this Google platform.

## `format` (type: `string`):

Only ads of this format.

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

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

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

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

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

Turn on monitoring: give this search any name, for example <code>competitors-de</code>. Each run then saves only ads that earlier runs with the same name have not returned, so you pay only for new ads. Use it with an Apify Schedule. The first run returns everything. The list of seen ads is kept in the <code>google-ads-monitor</code> key-value store of your account. Leave empty for a normal run.

## `maxAdsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

0 = all ads Google returns (big brands have tens of thousands). In monitor mode this counts all ads checked, new and already seen.

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

When a query is an advertiser name, how many matching advertiser accounts to scrape (big brands often have several legal entities).

## `decodeContent` (type: `boolean`):

Opens each ad preview and extracts headline, description, call-to-action, destination URL, images, YouTube video ID / channel, Shopping product title and merchant. Text (search) ads are archived as images by Google, so only the image URL is returned for them.

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Per-country first/last shown dates, impression ranges and platforms (impressions are published mainly for EU countries), targeting criteria, ad topic, paying sponsor and all ad variations. One extra request per ad.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many requests run in parallel. Lower it if you see many retries in the log.

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

Google blocks datacenter IPs on the Transparency Center, so keep Apify Proxy with the RESIDENTIAL group (default). Traffic is tiny: about 10 MB per 1,000 ads.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "booking.com",
    "Nike"
  ],
  "region": "anywhere",
  "platform": "ALL",
  "format": "ALL",
  "maxAdsPerQuery": 50,
  "maxAdvertisersPerQuery": 1,
  "decodeContent": true,
  "includeDetails": false,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All scraped ads with decoded content, run dates and optional per-country 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 = {
    "queries": [
        "booking.com",
        "Nike"
    ],
    "maxAdsPerQuery": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("wakeful_outhouse/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 = {
    "queries": [
        "booking.com",
        "Nike",
    ],
    "maxAdsPerQuery": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("wakeful_outhouse/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 '{
  "queries": [
    "booking.com",
    "Nike"
  ],
  "maxAdsPerQuery": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call wakeful_outhouse/google-ads-transparency-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,wakeful_outhouse/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/SeE8T1PwvbSKHRPfd/builds/APFZE02BOjW4F4CyO/openapi.json