# Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Search, YouTube & Display Ads (`zaiq/google-ads-transparency-scraper`) Actor

Every ad an advertiser runs on Google, from the Ads Transparency Center: by name, website or id, in any country. Format, first and last shown, days shown, ad image, preview and Transparency link; YouTube links for video ads.

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

## Pricing

from $1.20 / 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: Search, YouTube & Display Ads

See **every ad an advertiser runs on Google** (Search, YouTube, Display, Shopping and Maps) from Google's public
**Ads Transparency Center**. Give advertisers by **name, website or Transparency Center id**, optionally only ads shown
in one country, and get each ad's format, when it was first and last shown, how many days it ran, an image of the ad,
its preview and its Transparency Center link. For video ads it can also find the **YouTube link**. No login, no API key.

**$1.50 per 1,000 ads.** Advertisers that aren't found and failed calls are free.

### What you can do with it

- **Competitor ad research**: everything a rival has advertised on Google, newest first, with images of the ads.
- **Creative history**: `firstShown`, `lastShown` and `daysShown` show which ads ran longest.
- **Country checks**: only the ads shown in the US, the UK, Germany, South Africa or any of 50 countries.
- **Video ads**: the YouTube video behind a rival's video ads, to watch or transcribe.
- **Agency and compliance checks**: confirm which ads an advertiser is running, verified by Google.

### Input

```json
{
  "advertisers": ["example.com", "Competitor Name", "AR17766143077581324289"],
  "country": "US",
  "format": "any",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 200,
  "youtubeLinks": true
}
```

- `advertisers`: one per line: a **website** (all advertisers whose ads point to it), an advertiser's **name** (the
  Transparency Center's own match, preferring advertisers verified in your country), an advertiser **id** (AR...) or a
  Transparency Center link.
- `country`: only ads shown in that country, or `ANY`.
- `format`: `any`, `text` (search ads), `image` or `video`.
- `maxAdsPerAdvertiser`: up to 5,000, newest first.
- `youtubeLinks`: open each video ad's preview and return its YouTube link when it has one.

### Output

One row per ad. An example (advertiser and ids replaced):

```json
{
  "adId": "CR00000000000000000000",
  "advertiserId": "AR00000000000000000000",
  "advertiserName": "Example, Inc.",
  "advertiserCountry": "US",
  "format": "video",
  "firstShown": "2026-02-17T21:32:21Z",
  "lastShown": "2026-10-12T12:28:16Z",
  "daysShown": 238,
  "imageUrl": null,
  "previewUrl": "https://displayads-formats.googleusercontent.com/ads/preview/content.js?...",
  "youtubeUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...",
  "adUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR.../creative/CR...",
  "region": null,
  "searchQuery": "example.com",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-12T13:05:00Z"
}
```

- `format`: `text` (Google Search ads, which the Transparency Center keeps as an image: `imageUrl`), `image` or `video`.
- `imageUrl`: an image of the ad when Google keeps one; `previewUrl`: Google's preview script for rich and video ads.
- `daysShown`: how many days Google showed the ad.
- The key-value store record `SUMMARY` gives, per advertiser asked for: the advertiser it resolved to, its verified
  country, **Google's own count of its ads** (a range, e.g. 1,000-2,000), other advertisers with a similar name, and
  notes (for example "no ads shown in ZA").

### Pricing

- **$0.0015 per ad** ($1.50 per 1,000 ads), lower on Apify's Scale and Business plans (Store discounts).
- **$0.001 per YouTube link found** (only with `youtubeLinks`; video ads without one are free).
- **Free**: advertisers not found, ads already returned by another of your advertisers, and failed calls.

### Use it from code, automations and AI agents

- **API**: `POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/zaiq~google-ads-transparency-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN`
  with the input as JSON returns the ads in one call. The API tab has Python, JavaScript and cURL examples.
- **Python** (`pip install apify-client`):

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("zaiq/google-ads-transparency-scraper").call(run_input={
    "advertisers": ["example.com"],
    "country": "US",
    "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 300,
})
for ad in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(ad["format"], ad["firstShown"], ad["daysShown"], ad["adUrl"])
```

- **No code**: schedule weekly runs to catch rivals' new ads, send rows to Google Sheets, Zapier, Make or n8n from the
  Integrations tab, and get a webhook when a run finishes.
- **AI agents (MCP)**: `https://mcp.apify.com?tools=zaiq/google-ads-transparency-scraper` adds it as a tool to Claude,
  Cursor or any MCP client.

### Also from Zaiq

- [Facebook Ads Library Scraper](https://apify.com/zaiq/facebook-ads-library-scraper): the same competitor's ads on
  Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads.

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** Google's public Ads Transparency Center (adstransparency.google.com), the same pages
anyone can open. No login, no Google Ads account, no API key.

**Name, website or id: which should I use?** A website is the most complete: it finds every advertiser whose ads lead
to it. A name uses the Transparency Center's own suggestions; when several advertisers share a name, `SUMMARY` lists
the others so you can pass the right id.

**Can I get the text of search ads?** Google keeps search ads as images in the Transparency Center, so each text ad
comes with `imageUrl`, an image of the ad as shown.

**How far back does it go?** As far as the Transparency Center shows: Google keeps ads shown in roughly the last year
for most advertisers, longer for political ads.

### Limits

- 40 ads per page from the Transparency Center; a 1,000-ad advertiser takes under a minute (more with `youtubeLinks`).
- Up to 5,000 ads per advertiser per run.

# Actor input Schema

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

One per line: an advertiser's name, its website (example.com), its Transparency Center id (AR...) or a Transparency Center link.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Only ads shown in this country. ANY = anywhere.

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

Only ads of this format.

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

How many ads at most for each advertiser, newest first.

## `youtubeLinks` (type: `boolean`):

Open each video ad's preview and return its YouTube link when it has one ($0.001 per link found).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "advertisers": [
    "hubspot.com",
    "Mailchimp"
  ],
  "country": "ANY",
  "format": "any",
  "maxAdsPerAdvertiser": 100,
  "youtubeLinks": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset: one row per ad.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Each advertiser and what it returned.

# 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": [
        "hubspot.com",
        "Mailchimp"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("zaiq/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": [
        "hubspot.com",
        "Mailchimp",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("zaiq/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": [
    "hubspot.com",
    "Mailchimp"
  ]
}' |
apify call zaiq/google-ads-transparency-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,zaiq/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/HaOzT0pYeB6CzqqRp/builds/MveWVC8O1OWCZvWdW/openapi.json