# Black Friday & Holiday Promo Ad Tracker (`weirworks/holiday-promo-ad-tracker`) Actor

Track competitors' Black Friday, Cyber Monday and holiday promotions across Google Ads and Microsoft (Bing) Ads: discounts, promo codes, free shipping, sale events and deadlines pulled from the ad copy, with a promo summary per brand.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/weirworks/holiday-promo-ad-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Weirworks](https://apify.com/weirworks) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 promo ads

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

## Black Friday & Holiday Promo Ad Tracker

See **what your competitors are promoting, and when**, across **Google Ads** and **Microsoft (Bing) Ads**. Enter brands or domains and get every promotional ad with the promotion pulled out into clean fields:

- **discount %** and **$ off**
- **promo codes**
- **sale events**: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, early access, holiday, Christmas...
- **offers**: free shipping, BOGO, gift with purchase
- **urgency and deadlines**: "ends Sunday", "today only", doorbusters

Each brand also gets a **promo summary**: share of ads running promos, top discount, codes found, events and offers.

Built for DTC brands, e-commerce managers, agencies and analysts planning **Black Friday / Cyber Monday (BFCM)** and holiday campaigns. Schedule it daily through November to see the moment a competitor starts its sale.

### How it works

1. **Google:** the Actor reads the brand's ads from the public Google Ads Transparency Center. Most Search ads there are only images of the ad, so it **reads the copy with OCR**. That's how you get real headlines, descriptions and codes, not just thumbnails.
2. **Microsoft:** it reads ads from the official Microsoft Ad Library (ads served in the EU/EEA).
3. **Promo extraction:** every ad's copy is checked for promotional signals. Everyday ad words like "deals" or "save" don't count on their own, so the results aren't padded with non-promotions.

### Input

```json
{
  "brands": ["bestbuy.com", "Target", "currys.co.uk"],
  "platforms": ["google", "microsoft"],
  "maxAdsPerBrand": 200,
  "promoAdsOnly": true,
  "saleEvents": ["black_friday", "cyber_monday", "early_access"],
  "onlyNewAds": true
}
```

### Output

Promo ad:

```json
{
  "platform": "google",
  "brand": "bestbuy.com",
  "headline": "Black Friday Early Access - Up to 60% Off | Shop Now",
  "description": "Use code BF2026 at checkout. Free shipping on orders $35+. Ends Sunday.",
  "displayUrl": "www.bestbuy.com/blackfriday",
  "hasPromo": true,
  "discountPercentMax": 60,
  "discountAmountsUsd": [],
  "promoCodes": ["BF2026"],
  "saleEvents": ["black_friday", "early_access"],
  "offers": ["free_shipping"],
  "urgency": [],
  "deadlineText": "Ends Sunday",
  "firstShown": "2026-11-10T14:02:11Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-11-12T21:28:17Z",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR.../creative/CR..."
}
```

Brand summary (`"type": "brand-summary"`): `adsScanned`, `promoAds`, `promoShare`, `maxDiscountPercent`, `promoCodes`, `saleEvents`, `offers` and `earliestPromoFirstShown`.

### Pricing

- **You pay for promotions found, not for scanning:**
  - **$5 per 1,000 promo ads** ($0.005 each)
  - **$0.02 per brand summary**
- **Other ads:**
  - With *Only ads with a promotion* turned on (the default), ads without a promo cost nothing.
  - With it turned off, non-promo ads cost $2 per 1,000.

No start fee. You can set a maximum cost per run.

### Tips

- Use **domains** (`bestbuy.com`) for the most precise Google results; brand names are matched to the advertiser account.
- **Microsoft's Ad Library only covers ads served in the EU/EEA.** For US-only brands, Google is the main source.
- Promotions in image and video ads appear only if their text is shown; this Actor reads search-ad copy and image text, not video audio.

Questions or custom reports: open an issue or email **hello@weirworks.com**.

*Independent tool by weirworks. Not affiliated with Google or Microsoft.*

# Actor input Schema

## `brands` (type: `array`):

Competitors to track, as brand names (e.g. <code>Best Buy</code>) or domains (e.g. <code>bestbuy.com</code>). Domains are most precise.

## `platforms` (type: `array`):

Where to look for ads.

## `maxAdsPerBrand` (type: `integer`):

Newest ads first. Only promo ads are charged.

## `maxAdvertisersPerBrand` (type: `integer`):

Big brands advertise from several accounts; raise this to cover them (ignored for domains on Google).

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

Two-letter country code for Google ads, or <code>anywhere</code>.

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

Search text ads carry most promo copy.

## `promoAdsOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Return only ads whose copy contains a discount, code, offer, sale event or urgency. Turn off to get every ad with promo fields filled in.

## `saleEvents` (type: `array`):

Only ads mentioning these events, e.g. Black Friday, Cyber Monday. Leave empty for any promo.

## `includeBrandSummary` (type: `boolean`):

One row per brand: ads scanned, promo ads, top discount, promo codes found, sale events and offers.

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

Skip ads returned by earlier runs with the same brands. Schedule daily through BFCM.

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

Google blocks most shared datacenter IPs on the Transparency Center; residential is the default and its cost is included in the price.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "brands": [
    "bestbuy.com",
    "Target"
  ],
  "platforms": [
    "google",
    "microsoft"
  ],
  "maxAdsPerBrand": 100,
  "maxAdvertisersPerBrand": 1,
  "region": "US",
  "adFormat": "all",
  "promoAdsOnly": true,
  "includeBrandSummary": true,
  "onlyNewAds": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

The dataset rows.

# 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 = {
    "brands": [
        "bestbuy.com",
        "Target"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("weirworks/holiday-promo-ad-tracker").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 = {
    "brands": [
        "bestbuy.com",
        "Target",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("weirworks/holiday-promo-ad-tracker").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 '{
  "brands": [
    "bestbuy.com",
    "Target"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call weirworks/holiday-promo-ad-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,weirworks/holiday-promo-ad-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

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/ADBTS2U9PtkkbYe1E/builds/bd9BJNKz3T4Qrs4jw/openapi.json