| name | youtube-ads-scraper |
| description | Scrape Google Ads Transparency for YouTube video ads — thumbnails, view counts, transcripts. Use when the user asks to find YouTube ads, scrape video ads, or spy on a brand's YouTube advertising. |
YouTube Ads Scraper
When the user asks to scrape YouTube ads, find video ads, or get YouTube ads for a domain/advertiser, follow these steps:
1. Parse the request
Extract from the user's message:
- Domain or advertiser (required) — e.g. "nike.com", "apple.com", or a direct Google Ads Transparency URL
- Max videos (optional) — if the user specifies a number, use it; otherwise default to 20
2. Ask before running
Before running the scraper, confirm these with the user:
- Output folder — ask: "Where should I save the results? (default:
~/obsidian-vault/youtube-ads/)"
- Video transcription — ask: "Do you want video transcripts? (requires RAPIDAPI_KEY env var)"
If the user says "just go" or doesn't specify, use the defaults (default folder, skip transcription if no env var set).
3. Run the scraper
Execute this command:
python3 ~/.qwen/skills/youtube-ads-scraper/yt_ads_spy.py "<domain>" --max-videos <N> --output-dir "<output_folder>"
Replace <domain> with the parsed domain (keep original format).
Replace <N> with the max videos count (default 20 if not specified).
Replace <output_folder> with the user's chosen folder (default: ~/obsidian-vault/youtube-ads).
Important: This launches a visible Chromium browser window. It takes 3-10 minutes depending on the number of videos. Do NOT set a short timeout — use at least 600000ms (10 minutes).
4. Report results
After the script finishes, tell the user:
- How many YouTube videos were found
- Where the Markdown file was saved
- Remind them they can open the folder as an Obsidian vault
- Each video includes: title, URL, view count, upload date, thumbnail, and transcript
Example: "Found 12 YouTube video ads for nike.com. Saved to ~/obsidian-vault/youtube-ads/nike-com/nike-com.md. Each video has a thumbnail and collapsible transcript. You can open ~/obsidian-vault/youtube-ads/ as an Obsidian vault to browse them."
