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Google Ads Transparency API | Competitor Ad Library for Marketing Agents

List any advertiser's ads from the Google Ads Transparency Center as clean structured JSON. Give the API an advertiser ID and get back the ads they are running, each with its format, the dates it was first and last shown, the total days it has run, and a preview link. It is a competitor ad library for growth teams, agencies, and AI marketing agents, the kind of competitive intelligence tools like SpyFu and SEMrush charge a subscription for, available pay-as-you-go.

What you get

One row per ad:

• advertiser and advertiser_id
• ad_creative_id and format (text, image, or video)
• first_shown and last_shown (timestamps) and total_days_shown
• link to a preview of the creative, and a details_link to the ad on the Transparency Center

Use cases

• Build a competitor ad library and watch what creatives a rival runs
• Track how long an ad has been running (long run time signals a winner)
• Audit a brand's video vs image vs text ad mix over time
• Feed an AI marketing agent a competitor's live ads for creative analysis
• Monitor several advertisers at once and diff their libraries on a schedule

Input

To get an advertiser ID, open the advertiser on the Google Ads Transparency Center; the AR... code is in the URL.

Example input

{
"advertiserId":"AR01614014350098432001",
"maxResultsPerAdvertiser":50
}

Sample output

{
"result_type":"ad",
"advertiser_id":"AR01614014350098432001",
"position":1,
"ad_creative_id":"CR08181256642625536001",
"advertiser":"lululemon athletica canada inc.",
"format":"video",
"first_shown":1731000000,
"last_shown":1748700000,
"total_days_shown":204,
"link":"https://displayads-formats.googleusercontent.com/ads/preview/...",
"details_link":"https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR01614014350098432001/creative/CR08181256642625536001"
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: a small actor_start fee plus a per-ad charge. The per-ad price scales down with your Apify plan.

You only pay for the ads you receive. No monthly minimum.

How to get started

1. Open Google Ads Transparency API on the Apify Store.
2. Enter an advertiserId (or a advertiserIds list).
3. Set maxResultsPerAdvertiser, then run the Actor.
4. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel, or pull it from the API.

Prefer code? See johnvc's GitHub for setup guides and code examples.

Run from the API

curl-X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/johnvc~google-ads-transparency-api/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"\
-H"Content-Type: application/json"\
-d'{"advertiserId":"AR01614014350098432001","maxResultsPerAdvertiser":25}'

🔌 Use this API from Claude (MCP)

This Actor is compatible with the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so AI agents can call it as a tool. Add it through the hosted Apify MCP server using this Actor-specific URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/google-ads-transparency-api

If you run agents from Claude Code (free trial) or Claude Cowork (free trial), add the Apify MCP server and ask it to "pull this competitor's ad library and summarize their creative strategy."

Setup walkthrough:

Apify MCP integration docs: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp

MCP setup, step by step

Visual setup guides for each client (source and more assets: ApifyPublicData on GitHub):

Claude Cowork Desktop (free trial)

👁 Apify MCP install screenshot for the Cowork desktop app

Claude Code (free trial)

👁 Apify MCP install screenshot for the Code CLI

Claude (website)

👁 Install in Claude website

Cursor

👁 Install in Cursor

ChatGPT

👁 Install in ChatGPT

FAQ

What is an advertiser ID? It is the AR... code that identifies an advertiser on the Google Ads Transparency Center. Open the advertiser there and copy the code from the URL.

How many ads come back? Up to maxResultsPerAdvertiser (default 50). The Actor paginates an advertiser's library for you.

Can I track several competitors at once? Yes. Pass an advertiserIds list; each is fetched independently.

Does it include the ad preview? Yes. Each ad has a link to a preview of the creative and a details_link to the ad on the Transparency Center.

n8n integration

Available as an n8n community node, n8n-nodes-google-ads-transparency-api. In n8n: Settings, Community Nodes, install n8n-nodes-google-ads-transparency-api, then use it in any workflow (it also works as an AI Agent tool).

Featured Tasks

Ready-to-run examples that show this API solving a specific problem. Each opens its own setup so you can run it on your account in one click.

• Spy on a Competitor's Google Ads - See every Google ad a competitor is running: ad format, first and last shown dates, total days running, and a link to each ad on the Transparency Center.
• Monitor a Political Advertiser's Google Ads - Pull a political advertiser's Google ads from the Transparency Center: ad format, first and last shown dates, total days running, and a link to each ad.
• Export an advertiser's Google ads to CSV - Export every ad an advertiser runs in the Google Ads Transparency Center to CSV.
• Track how long a competitor's ads have run - Track how long each of a competitor's Google ads has run.
• Audit an advertiser's Google ad creatives - Audit every ad creative an advertiser runs on Google.

Last Updated: 2026.06.29