What Is the Google Ads Transparency Center and Why Does It Matter for Marketers?
Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 3:33 am
Launched in March 2023, the Google Ads Transparency Center is a library of paid content that advertisers are running across Google properties including YouTube. It includes search, display, Gmail, and YouTube ads that either are currently active or have delivered in the last 30 days. The site also displays political ads that have run in the last 7 years.
google-ads-transparency-center-landing-page-1
Although the Google Ads Transparency Center primarily aims to give users more control over the ads they see, it’s also a valuable resource for advertisers. Because the site is searchable, advertisers can easily use it for competitive research. In other words, you can use it to look for your competitors and view the YouTube ads they’re running.
With the Google Ads Transparency Center, you can find any verified advertiser and:
Watch their video ads.
View their image ads.
Read their ad copy including headlines and descriptions.
See the calls to action (CTAs) they’re using.
Count the number of ads they’re running.
So what can’t the Google Ads Transparency Center do? It doesn’t list unverified advertisers or philippines mobile numbers list show paid content from unverified advertisers. That means you can’t use it to search for competitors who haven’t completed Google’s advertiser verification program yet. Google appears to be actively pushing this program so more advertisers should be on board soon.
Does that mean you’re out of luck if none of your competitors are verified yet? If you want to find ads from an unverified advertiser, you may be able to use a workaround. We’ll cover the process below.
Another limitation of the Google Ads Transparency Center is its lack of ad versions. For example, if you search for ads run by Google in the Google Ads Transparency Center, you’ll see about 20,000 ads (pictured below). The ads are sorted chronologically but there’s no way to tell which are test versions of each other and which are independent ads.
google-ads-transparency-center-landing-page-1
Although the Google Ads Transparency Center primarily aims to give users more control over the ads they see, it’s also a valuable resource for advertisers. Because the site is searchable, advertisers can easily use it for competitive research. In other words, you can use it to look for your competitors and view the YouTube ads they’re running.
With the Google Ads Transparency Center, you can find any verified advertiser and:
Watch their video ads.
View their image ads.
Read their ad copy including headlines and descriptions.
See the calls to action (CTAs) they’re using.
Count the number of ads they’re running.
So what can’t the Google Ads Transparency Center do? It doesn’t list unverified advertisers or philippines mobile numbers list show paid content from unverified advertisers. That means you can’t use it to search for competitors who haven’t completed Google’s advertiser verification program yet. Google appears to be actively pushing this program so more advertisers should be on board soon.
Does that mean you’re out of luck if none of your competitors are verified yet? If you want to find ads from an unverified advertiser, you may be able to use a workaround. We’ll cover the process below.
Another limitation of the Google Ads Transparency Center is its lack of ad versions. For example, if you search for ads run by Google in the Google Ads Transparency Center, you’ll see about 20,000 ads (pictured below). The ads are sorted chronologically but there’s no way to tell which are test versions of each other and which are independent ads.