Google Ads Transparency Scraper: Competitor Ads

Get every ad a company runs on Google, Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps and Play, straight from the Google Ads Transparency Center: advertiser, verification status, creative ID, format, preview image, and when each ad was first and last shown. Search by domain, advertiser name or advertiser ID, one row per ad, or just check which domains run ads at all.

All fees at a glance (event fees; Apify platform usage billed separately): $0.0023 per advertiser/domain search that returns ads · $0.00051 to $0.001 per ad or advertiser row (Gold → Free) · $0.0028 per Check (Only check line, advertiser name lookup, or a search with nothing to deliver) · $0.0001 per fetched ad not delivered (repeats in "Only new ads"). Details under Pricing.

Why this Actor

• Ad metadata, not ad copy: you get advertiser, creative ID, format, preview image/link, dates and a Transparency Center link per ad. The ad's headline/text, landing page URL and impressions are not included (see Not included); if you need those, some pricier Actors in the comparison below return them.

• From $0.51 per 1,000 ads on Gold plans ($1.00 on Free) plus $0.0023 per advertiser or domain searched. Apify platform usage is billed separately by Apify (at the default 256 MB a small run typically uses about $0.001 to $0.005). See the dated comparison below.

• Check 1,000 domains for ads for $2.80 with "Only check whether each domain/advertiser runs ads": one row per line with hasAds, total ads, format mix and first/last shown dates ($0.0028 per checked line).

• Only new ads since the last run: schedule the same list and get just the creatives that appeared since the previous run. Ads you already received are skipped and cost only $0.0001 each (they still have to be fetched to be recognized).

• Up to 700 ads per advertiser or domain, with filters for region (249 countries), platform, ad format and date range. 25 fields per ad, including a stable row id, preview image size, days the ad ran and a direct link to the ad in the Transparency Center.

• Small runs are processed instantly (up to 20 advertisers or domains, no queue); bigger batches go through a queue and usually take a few minutes.

• Failed searches are retried automatically (up to 2 more times) and are not charged if they still fail (the one exception, a request that got no answer at all, is explained under Pricing).

• No login, no API key, no proxies. Enter a domain and press Start.

One example row from a real run, shortened:

{
  "id": "a41d07c9e2b85f6031c4",
  "input": "examplebrand.com",
  "inputType": "domain",
  "checkStatus": "adsFound",
  "hasAds": true,
  "totalAdsFound": 92,
  "adsChecked": 40,
  "advertiserCount": 1,
  "advertiserIds": [
    "AR04489795172984422401"
  ],
  "advertiserNames": [
    "Examplebrand OU"
  ],
  "verified": true,
  "formats": [
    "image",
    "text",
    "video"
  ],
  "formatCount": 3,
  "textAds": 32,
  "imageAds": 5,
  "videoAds": 3,
  "firstShownEarliest": "2026-01-20T16:22:37.000Z",
  "lastShownLatest": "2026-09-24T22:09:42.000Z",
  "lastShownDaysAgo": 4,
  "transparencyUrl": "https://adstransparency.google.com/?region=anywhere&domain=examplebrand.com",
  "region": "anywhere",
  "platform": "all",
  "adFormatFilter": "all",
  "dateFrom": null,
  "dateTo": null,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-29T05:06:29.348Z"
}

The Actor has three modes (What do you want to get?). Each mode writes its own kind of row.

Ads mode, one row per ad (default)

Only check mode, one summary row per line

The format counts and the date range come from the checked ads (the 40 most recent). totalAdsFound is Google's full total.

Find advertisers mode, one row per advertiser account

Why some fields are empty (null by mode)

All three row types share one dataset, so a CSV export has every column. id, region and scrapedAt are filled on every row. Columns that belong to another mode stay empty:

Within a mode, a field is null when Google has no value: for example previewImageUrl for ads that only have a previewUrl, advertiserName/advertiserId on domain rows, and all counts on only check rows with checkStatus failed or invalidInput. Each dataset view (Ads, Ad timeline, Ad check, Advertisers) shows only the columns of its mode.

You pay per event, through your Apify account. Main price: $1.00 per 1,000 ads on the Apify Free plan and $0.51 on Gold, plus $0.0023 per search with results. Every event and plan:

Every run is one HTTP request to the Apify API with your Apify token; the input below is the actor's own example. The synchronous endpoint returns the rows in the response for runs up to 300 seconds; for longer runs start a run and fetch its dataset.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/cheapapi~google-ads-transparency-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode":"ads","targets":["nike.com"],"maxAdsPerTarget":100,"region":"anywhere","platform":"all","adFormat":"all","targetType":"auto","advertiserNameMatch":"best","monitoringName":"default","processingSpeed":"auto"}'

With the JavaScript client:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('cheapapi/google-ads-transparency-scraper').call({
  "mode": "ads",
  "targets": [
    "nike.com"
  ],
  "maxAdsPerTarget": 100,
  "region": "anywhere",
  "platform": "all",
  "adFormat": "all",
  "targetType": "auto",
  "advertiserNameMatch": "best",
  "monitoringName": "default",
  "processingSpeed": "auto"
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

Typical run: 1,000 ads from 10 domains (100 ads each).

Prices from public Apify Store listings, checked September 2026. The amounts above are event fees only; for this Actor, Apify platform usage is billed separately by Apify on top (at the default 256 MB a small run typically uses about $0.001 to $0.005); the second Actor's listing also bills platform usage to the user. Platinum and Diamond plans pay the Gold price here; the listed rivals charge the same as on Gold on those plans. For this typical run our event fees are 30.9% lower than the cheapest of these options on Free ($1.023 vs. $1.480) and 30.8% lower than the cheapest of the three most used on Gold ($0.533 vs. $0.770, start fees included). Rivals that return the ad text or impressions give richer data per ad, if you need the copy itself, compare on that basis, not on price alone. We are not the cheapest in every configuration: the ~790-user Actor above costs $0.70 on Gold (we are 23.9% lower there, not 30%), and a few small Actors (under 200 users) list lower per ad prices, some well under $0.50 per 1,000 ads. Our $0.0023 search fee is charged per domain that returns ads, so a run that fetches only one or two ads from each of many domains can cost less with a per result Actor; for those, "Only check" mode ($0.0028 per line, no per ad fee) is usually the cheaper way to screen domains. Store prices change; check the current listing before you decide.

• Competitor ad research: see every creative a competitor runs, which formats they use and how long each ad has been live.
• Creative inspiration: collect preview images of long running ads (a high daysShown usually means the ad performs well).
• Market and regional monitoring: compare a brand's ads across countries, platforms (YouTube vs. Search) and time ranges.
• Lead generation for agencies: run "Only check" on a list of prospect domains to see who advertises on Google right now (hasAds, lastShownDaysAgo), how much (totalAdsFound) and in which formats, for $0.0023 per advertiser.
• Brand protection: detect advertisers using your brand name or domain.
• New campaign alerts: turn on "Only new ads since the last run" and schedule the run weekly, each run returns only the creatives that appeared since the previous one.

• See Not included: no ad text, landing page URL, impressions or targeting.
• Up to 700 ads per advertiser, domain or combined ID list per run.
• Only check mode looks at the 40 most recent ads of each line: totalAdsFound is Google's full total, but the format counts and firstShownEarliest cover only those 40 ads. It always runs through the fast queue, so results take about a minute.
• An advertiser name that matches several companies uses the best match (or all matches if you choose that). For exact results, use the domain or the advertiser ID.
• Data comes from Google's own public archive, so it only covers ads Google shows there. Political and some policy restricted ads may appear differently.
• The ad order and the totalAdsFound count come from Google and can change from run to run.