Brand protection · UK
PagesEsc
Observations, not verdicts
Glossary · A

Also called Ads Transparency Centre

Letter
A
Related terms
4
Guides
6
Lessons
3
In one line

Google's public, searchable library of ads and the advertisers behind them, by name or by web address, with no account needed.

Google launched the current Ads Transparency Center on 29 March 2023. It covers ads on Search, YouTube, Google Play, Maps and Shopping, and keeps each ad for a year after it was last shown. Its British version spells it Centre. You can search by an advertiser's name or by a website, then filter by region, date, platform and format.

  • An advertiser's page shows its name, legal name, where it's based, whether it verified its identity, an approximate count of its ads, and an id of AR and 20 digits in the address.
  • An ad's page shows the ad as it rendered, up to five variations, its format, where it was shown and when it was last shown.
  • Searching your web address lists the advertiser accounts whose ads point to it.

For UK ads it shows no first shown date, keyword, landing page, spend or reach; those extras are for ads in the EEA. Ads appear 48 to 72 hours after they're shown. Google's FAQ says unverified advertisers are included only in Europe and Türkiye.

It's the public record behind About this advertiser, and it doesn't depend on where or when you search. The guide to the Ads Transparency Center shows how to read it for your brand.

Sources

Google's own help and policy pages first.

  1. Ads Transparency Center: FAQs
  2. Google: Announcing the launch of the new Ads Transparency Center
  3. Advertising Policies Help: Ads transparency
Related terms
Guides that use it
  1. Who is bidding on your brand? How to find outSix places to see which advertisers show ads on searches for your name, what each can and can't tell you, and how to look without skewing your own ads.
  2. How to find which partner is behind an ad on your brandMatch an ad on your brand's searches to a partner in your programme without clicking it: the four clues an ad carries, the record each meets and what to ask.
  3. How to read Google's “About this advertiser”What each line of Google's About this advertiser panel means: verified and unverified names, the name paying for the ads, what not to press, what to do next.
  4. How to use Google's Ads Transparency Center for your brandSearch Google's Ads Transparency Center for your name and web address, read an advertiser's page and each ad's dates, and know what it never shows.
  5. How to check your brand search without skewing your adsWhy searching your own brand again and again changes what you see, how to use Ad Preview and Diagnosis instead, and what it still can't show you.
  6. How to report an ad to Google, without clicking itFour routes to report a search ad to Google, the policy to name for an affiliate outside your terms, what to write in the form, and what happens after.
Lessons that use it
  1. New name, same adAn ad can come back word for word under another advertiser, and Google's Ads Transparency Center keeps the IDs and dates that connect the two.
  2. Aware, not accusingMost unexpected ads have ordinary explanations. How to look without fooling yourself, what to record, and how to ask your network a fair question.
  3. Reading the live checkGodotoro's live check and brand page, part by part: what each tag and figure means, where its data comes from, and what to do next.
Related terms
  1. About this advertiser
  2. Advertiser verification
  3. Display URL
  4. Direct linking