/google-ad-scraper

name: google-ad-scraper
description: Scrape competitor ads from Google Ads by domain. Returns ad creatives, formats, and campaign details. Use for competitive ad research and messaging analysis.

Google Ads Scraper

Scrape ads from Google Ads using the Apify `burbn/google-ads-search` actor. Search by domain to get ad creatives, formats, and campaign details.

Quick Start

Requires `APIFY_API_TOKEN` env var (or `--token` flag).

# Search by domain (recommended)
python3 skills/google-ad-scraper/scripts/search_google_ads.py \
  --domain "hubspot.com"

# Search by company name (resolves to domain via transparency center)
python3 skills/google-ad-scraper/scripts/search_google_ads.py \
  --company "Nike"

# Limit results
python3 skills/google-ad-scraper/scripts/search_google_ads.py \
  --domain "hubspot.com" --max-ads 30

# Human-readable summary
python3 skills/google-ad-scraper/scripts/search_google_ads.py \
  --domain "stripe.com" --output summary

How It Works

1. **Domain Input**: Pass the target company's domain directly via `--domain` 2. **Company Name Resolution** (optional): If only `--company` is provided, the script searches Google Ads Transparency Center using Apify's web-scraper (Puppeteer) to resolve the company name to advertiser info 3. **Ad Scraping**: Calls the Apify `burbn/google-ads-search` actor with `{"domain": "...", "maxItems": N}` 4. **Output**: Returns ads as JSON or human-readable summary

CLI Reference

| Flag | Default | Description | |------|---------|-------------| | `--domain` | none | Company domain (e.g. hubspot.com) — recommended | | `--company` | none | Company name (resolved to domain via transparency center) | | `--max-ads` | 50 | Maximum number of ads to return | | `--output` | json | Output format: `json` or `summary` | | `--token` | env var | Apify token (prefer `APIFY_API_TOKEN` env var) | | `--timeout` | 300 | Max seconds to wait for Apify run |

At least one of `--company` or `--domain` is required.

Output Fields

Each ad in the output contains:

{
  "advertiserId": "AR13129532367502835713",
  "advertiserName": "Nike, Inc.",
  "creativeId": "CR12345678901234567890",
  "originalUrl": "https://www.nike.com/",
  "imageUrl": "https://...",
  "variantFormat": "TEXT",
  "variantContent": "Shop the latest Nike shoes...",
  "variants": [...],
  "variantCount": 3,
  "startDate": "2026-01-15"
}

**Output fields:**

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `advertiserId` | Google Ads advertiser ID | | `advertiserName` | Company/advertiser display name | | `creativeId` | Unique ID for the ad creative | | `originalUrl` | Destination URL the ad links to | | `imageUrl` | URL of the ad image (if applicable) | | `variantFormat` | Ad format (TEXT, IMAGE, VIDEO, etc.) | | `variantContent` | Ad copy/text content | | `variants` | Array of ad variants | | `variantCount` | Number of variants for this creative | | `startDate` | Date the ad first appeared |

Cost

• Ad scraping: Varies by actor pricing, typically a few cents per domain
• Company name resolution (optional): ~$0.05 (one web-scraper page)

Common Workflows

1. Competitor Ad Research

python3 skills/google-ad-scraper/scripts/search_google_ads.py \
  --domain "competitor.com" --max-ads 100 --output summary

2. Compare Multiple Competitors

# Run for each competitor domain
for domain in "competitor1.com" "competitor2.com" "competitor3.com"; do
  python3 skills/google-ad-scraper/scripts/search_google_ads.py \
    --domain "$domain" --max-ads 50
done

Limitations

• **Company name resolution** uses Puppeteer-based web scraping of Google's SPA. It may occasionally fail — use `--domain` for best results.
• **Ad coverage**: Google only shows ads from verified advertisers. Some smaller advertisers may not appear.
• **Historical data**: Primarily shows recently active ads.