Is there a Google Play ad library?

Not a separate one. Play ads are in Google's Ads Transparency Center with the advertiser's other Google ads. AdLib filters them with platform=play.

How do I see which apps a competitor advertises in Google Play?

Search with platform=play and the competitor's domain or advertiser name. Put the advertiser on a watchlist to get new Play ads as alerts.

Can I see spend for Play ads?

No spend. Google publishes impressions ranges per EU country for ads served in the EU, on the ad detail.

Google Ads Transparency Center (Google Play)

Google Play Ad Library API

Google ads that ran in the Google Play Store, from Google's Ads Transparency Center. Ask with platform=play.

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Coverage: Play ads are in Google's global Ads Transparency Center. platform=play is the same as platform=google&placement=play, and the ads keep google: ids. EU impressions and targeting exist for ads served in the EU and EEA.
Price: 2 credits per ad. 2 credits per delivered ad, as on Google. A live search page costs at most 10 credits. Ads last shown more than 12 months ago cost double. Empty, cached and failed results are free.
Status: Same as Google: unknown with last_shown, or active when you search with status=active (served yesterday or today).

Find ads by

Advertiser name (advertiser=…)
Advertiser id (advertiser=google:AR…)
Domain (domain=…)
Ad id (GET /v1/ads/google:AR…_CR…)
Our archive (source=history)

Filters

country: any ISO country
from / to: dates the ad was served
format: text, image or video
status=active: served yesterday or today

What you get for each ad

The same fields as every other platform, in one schema. What Google Play publishes is filled in; what it does not stays null.

Ad and advertiser

id: google:AR…_CR…
advertiser.id, advertiser.name: The verified Google advertiser
first_shown, last_shown: First and last day served
placements: On the ad detail: all surfaces, play among them

Creative

formats, creatives[]: Format and media; the ad detail adds text where the preview shows it
countries: On the ad detail: every country it was served in

Only for ads shown in the EU

Published under the Digital Services Act; see EU reach.

impressions_range and extra.by_country: impressions per EU country, with surfaces and served days
eu_data.targeting.other: targeting categories used or excluded
eu_data.payer and eu_data.beneficiary
On the ad detail (GET /v1/ads/{id}), not in search results

What Google Play does not publish

Spend and reach: Google publishes impressions ranges for EU ads only
An active flag: status is unknown unless you filter with status=active
Keyword search in the ad text

Try it

Google ads for duolingo.com that ran in Google Play in Germany.

Media: Images and videos as Google publishes them; video ads link to the YouTube video with its thumbnail. Images are copied to media.adlibapi.com under stable URLs.

curl "https://api.adlibapi.com/v1/search?platform=play&domain=duolingo.com&country=DE" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $ADLIB_API_KEY"

What to do with it

Watch which apps a competing studio promotes in Google Play.
Compare a developer's Play ads with its App Store ads from platform=apple.

Limits

No keyword search: start from an advertiser or a domain.
Pick one of platform=youtube, platform=play or placement per request.
A platform=play search runs only on Google, not across platforms.

Questions

Is there a Google Play ad library?: Not a separate one. Play ads are in Google's Ads Transparency Center with the advertiser's other Google ads. AdLib filters them with platform=play.
How do I see which apps a competitor advertises in Google Play?: Search with platform=play and the competitor's domain or advertiser name. Put the advertiser on a watchlist to get new Play ads as alerts.
Can I see spend for Play ads?: No spend. Google publishes impressions ranges per EU country for ads served in the EU, on the ad detail.

Other platforms

Questions about Google Play data? [email protected]