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Ads Transparency Center

The Ads Transparency Center is Google's public ad library: anyone can look up an advertiser or website and see the ads it has run, without account access.

How it works

You search by advertiser name or website and choose the country where the ads were shown. The library holds ads from verified advertisers on Search, Shopping, YouTube, Google Play and Maps for one year after each ad was last shown. For Europe and Türkiye it also lists unverified advertisers. The page names the advertiser, not its agency.

Each ad page gives the dates the ad was first and last shown, its format and up to five common variations. It can also give a range of how often the ad was shown (“Times shown”), published with a 90-day delay. Ads shown in Europe and Türkiye carry extra detail, such as the ad’s topic and the audience criteria used.

The library shows no spend, clicks or sales, and you can’t click through to the landing page. Our guide to auditing a store’s Google Ads from the outside shows what this reveals about a competitor.

Where you see it

At adstransparency.google.com, where filters narrow the list by date, platform (Google Search, Google Shopping, YouTube, Google Play, Google Maps) and format.

Example

Example store, not client data.

On 2 October the tableware shop opens a competitor’s Shopping ad. It was last shown on 1 October, so the product is still being advertised. The “Times shown” range runs only to 4 July: 2 October minus 90 days. The page shows what the competitor promotes, not what it pays.

Not to be confused with

  • Auction insights — a report in your own Google Ads account on advertisers you met in auctions, with impression share and overlap rate. The Transparency Center needs no account and has no auction statistics.
  • Competitive visibility — a Merchant Center report on how often other shops appear next to yours in a product category and country.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “The competitor has 40,000 ads, so it outspends us.” Right: that number counts ads, not money, and the library shows no spend.
  • Wrong: “We found none of its ads, so it doesn’t advertise.” Right: outside Europe and Türkiye only verified advertisers are listed, a new ad can take 48–72 hours to appear, and some formats aren’t supported.

Sources

  • Ads Transparency Center FAQ (Google) — included ads and advertisers, the one-year window, variations, delays, Europe and Türkiye, landing pages. Checked 2 October 2026.
  • Ads Transparency Center (Google) — search, filters and ad page fields, viewed for Czechia. Checked 2 October 2026.