# How to Check Advertiser Accounts Before a Competitor Ad Report

Map your requested brands to checked advertiser accounts before counting or reviewing their ads. Keep each brand, advertiser ID, and legal name observation separate. A domain query, similar name, verification flag, or advertiser country alone does not prove that an account belongs to your competitor.

An Actor is a hosted data collection program. A Task is a saved input preset.

## Step-by-step account mapping method

1. Save your requested competitor list and any public library links. Define your report boundary as one brand, a declared corporate group, or a specified subsidiary set. These choices yield different account lists.
2. Run a small lookup under the current Task using exact current inputs: replace the whole targets sample list with one intended known advertiser ID or URL, set region to CA, platform to ALL, adFormat to ALL, includeDeliveryDetails to false, and maxItems to 2 for the checked Canada path. A fresh exact-ID Canada control run returned one resolved target, one creative, statusCounts ok1, and stopReason sources_finished, with requestedRegion ca, creativeUrl containing region=CA, source advertiserCountryCode SG, and advertiserDomain, payerName, servedRegions, and servedPlatforms as null. This proves bounded identity and context shape, not complete delivery countries or every creative. The initial domain control returned two advertiser IDs from one domain input, showing candidate lists are not one account or proven brand ownership.
3. Project the repeated advertiser fields from creative rows into an account candidate table keyed by a nonblank advertiser ID. Keep every source creative URL and observation time. Keep conflicting legal name and domain observations as review cases. A repeated account on several creatives is one account, not several competitors.
4. Check public relationship evidence against your declared report boundary. Use exact account selections and official legal or about pages. [Save the checked source link and the relationship it proves](/en/articles/web-agent-evidence/). A brand domain in an ad or a matching name is only a clue, not proof of ownership.
5. Assign a status of included under boundary, excluded under boundary, or affiliation unresolved, along with a reason. Retailer, partner, or agency accounts can mention a brand without belonging to it. Missing proof stays unresolved; do not guess ownership or accuse anyone of impersonation because of a verification flag.
6. Keep native advertiser country codes, requested regions, and optional payer names in separate columns. An advertiser registered in one country can show a creative under another requested region. A payer value is not automatically the brand or agency controlling the account.
7. Attach creative observations only after making your account inclusion decision. Use the combination of advertiser ID and creative ID as a key. Keep source observations separate. Report requested brands, included accounts, unresolved candidates, and distinct included creatives as different counts. No count gives you ad spend, total volume, or success.
8. Deliver your brand and account inclusion map before you analyze any creatives. Recheck the map if your brand boundary or account facts change.

## Original fiction worked example

Original fiction: The report asks for brand Cedar under a brand-owned group boundary.

| Source Account Identity | checked source link | Declared Brand Boundary | Direct Official Relationship Edge | Review State & Date | Reason |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A1 | ID links to Legal Entity One (checked 2026-01-10, source: legal-registry.example/a1) | Cedar Group | Entity One linked to Cedar via official group statement (checked 2026-01-12, source: cedar.example/about) | included_under_boundary (2026-01-15) | Direct official statement confirms ownership |
| A2 | ID links to Legal Entity Two (checked 2026-01-11, source: legal-registry.example/a2) | Cedar Group | Entity Two linked to Cedar via official subsidiary disclosure (checked 2026-01-12, source: cedar.example/subsidiaries) | included_under_boundary (2026-01-15) | Direct official statement confirms ownership |
| A3 | ID links to Legal Entity Three (checked 2026-01-11, source: legal-registry.example/a3) | Cedar Group | Official public statement places account outside group (checked 2026-01-13, source: external.example/statement) | excluded_under_boundary (2026-01-15) | Direct positive outside-group evidence |
| A4 | ID links to Legal Entity Four (checked 2026-01-12, source: legal-registry.example/a4) | Cedar Group | None (no official relationship statement found as of 2026-01-15) | affiliation_unresolved (2026-01-15) | Similar name and verification flag, but no relationship statement |

A1 appears on three creative rows with compound keys A1+C1, A1+C2, and A1+C2. A2 appears on A2+C3. This gives two included advertiser accounts and three distinct included creative IDs. The repeated observation of C2 is not an extra creative. One requested brand is not two brands merely because it has two included accounts. A3 and A4 do not enter the included creative count.

If A1 has an advertiserCountryCode of SG and its creative returns under requestedRegion ca, record both native facts without changing the brand decision. The source-country field is not ad-targeting geography or headquarters proof.

## Google Ads Transparency public build 0.2.7

### Native tool inputs and output fields

The public Task accepts inputs for targets, region, platform, ad format, includeDeliveryDetails, and maxItems.

The dataset rows return required fields: input, inputType, requestedRegion, requestedPlatform, requestedFormat, advertiserId, advertiserName, advertiserLegalName, advertiserDomain, advertiserCountryCode, advertiserVerified, creativeId, creativeUrl, observedAt, status, and statusReason. Optional fields like payerName, servedRegions, and servedPlatforms can be null.

The output summary returns aggregate counts and totals: targetsReceived, targetsResolved, targetOutcomes, duplicatesSkipped, unusableCreativesSkipped, creativesSaved, statusCounts, and stopReason. A fresh exact ID Canada control returns one resolved target and one creative with status ok and sources finished, but this does not prove corporate affiliation or complete creative coverage.

## Next action

Decide one candidate account inclusion under your stated boundary and save both identity and direct relationship evidence before counting creatives, using the [Google Ads Advertiser Profile Lookup Actor](https://apify.com/chronometrica/google-ads-transparency-scraper) and the [Advertiser Profile Lookup Task example](https://apify.com/chronometrica/google-ads-transparency-scraper/examples/google-ads-advertiser-profile-lookup).

## Sources

- [Google Ads Transparency Policy](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/13733850?hl=en-CA)
- [Google Ads Advertiser Profile Lookup Actor](https://apify.com/chronometrica/google-ads-transparency-scraper)
- [Advertiser Profile Lookup Task Example](https://apify.com/chronometrica/google-ads-transparency-scraper/examples/google-ads-advertiser-profile-lookup)