--- title: "Google Ads Transparency Center guide" description: "The Google Ads Transparency Center shows the search, YouTube, and display ads any advertiser runs, free. How to search it, filter it, and keep the good ones." source: https://savepad.app/blog/google-ads-transparency-center --- [Blog](https://savepad.app/blog) · 2 March 2026 # How to use the Google Ads Transparency Center The Google Ads Transparency Center shows the search, YouTube, and display ads any advertiser runs, free. How to search it, filter it, and keep the good ones. *Search ads from the Google Ads Transparency Center saved in Savepad* **TLDR** - Go to [adstransparency.google.com](https://adstransparency.google.com), search a company or website. Free, no login. - You see their ads across Search, YouTube, Display, Shopping, Maps, and Play, filterable by country, date, and format. - It doesn’t show keywords, budgets, or results. It shows what they said, which is the useful part. ## Search it 1. Open the [Google Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com). 2. Search an **advertiser name** or a **website**. Website is usually more reliable, since the advertiser name is the legal entity (Lumen Software GmbH, not Lumen). 3. Pick the advertiser from the dropdown. ## Filter it - **Region:** the country the ad ran in. Set this to your market or you’ll see a mix. - **Date range:** last 30 days, or a custom range. - **Platform:** Search, YouTube, Shopping, Maps, Play, or Display. - **Format:** text, image, or video. Search ads are the gold for copywriters. The headline and description lines are the result of years of A/B testing by companies with way bigger budgets than yours. ## What you can’t see No keywords, no spend, no clicks. You can’t tell which ad performs best. A decent proxy: ads that have been running for months are probably working, because nobody keeps paying for a loser. ## Keep what you find The Transparency Center only shows what’s running and what ran recently. Screenshot the search ads you like, especially if you’re about to write your own, and keep them grouped by competitor. In Savepad, screenshots get their text read, so you can search every saved search ad for “free trial” or “no credit card”. It’s a cheap way to see how a whole category words its pitch. The [competitor research](https://savepad.app/use-cases/competitor-research) use case and the [competitor analysis template](https://savepad.app/blog/competitor-analysis-template) show how to keep it organised. The social side is in the [Meta Ad Library](https://savepad.app/blog/meta-ad-library) and [LinkedIn Ad Library](https://savepad.app/blog/linkedin-ad-library) guides. *A mock Google search ad for the fictional SaaS Lumen* 0225 · search ad · text found *A mock Google search ad for the fictional dev tool Tidepool* 0322 · search ad · text found *A mock frame from a YouTube ad* 0419 · YouTube ad Competitors' Google ads kept in one folder: two search ads and a YouTube ad, searchable by their copy. ## FAQ ### How do I see a competitor's Google ads? Go to adstransparency.google.com, search their company name or website, and you'll see every ad they're running, filterable by country, date, format, and platform. ### Does the Google Ads Transparency Center show keywords? No. It shows the ads, not the keywords they bid on, budgets, or results. For keywords you need an SEO tool. ### Can I see YouTube ads in the Transparency Center? Yes. Filter by platform and pick YouTube to see a brand's video ads. [Join the waitlist](https://savepad.app/#waitlist) ## Read these next - [How to use the LinkedIn Ad Library: The LinkedIn Ad Library shows every ad a company ran in the past year, free. How to search it, what the EU data shows, and how to keep the good ones.](https://savepad.app/blog/linkedin-ad-library) - [The best ad swipe file tools: Most ad swipe file lists are written by ad spy tools ranking themselves first. Here's the field with real prices, which ones use AI, and which save more than ads.](https://savepad.app/blog/best-ad-swipe-file-tools) - [Do you need an ad spy tool or just a swipe file?: Ad spy tools find ads for you for $26 to $459 a month. A swipe file keeps the ones you liked. How to tell which you need, and the free stack that covers most.](https://savepad.app/blog/ad-spy-tools)