canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/adslighthouse.com/adslighthouse # Ads Lighthouse API The Ads Lighthouse API monitors paid-search advertising for a brand and reports what it finds as account-scoped data. Monitoring projects run scheduled and on-demand checks of keywords across markets, search engines, and devices, recording observations of the paid ads displayed and the advertisers behind them. From there it ranks competing advertisers by ad occurrences, tracks one advertiser's history, heatmap, and ad copy over time, and surfaces affiliate IDs seen behind ads that use your brand. Alert rules fire by email, Slack, or webhook, PDF reports and CSV-style exports are available as endpoints, and the account endpoint reports plan allowances and usage. ## For AI agents Run paid-search monitoring checks, read observations of ads and advertisers, rank competitors, track affiliate compliance, and configure alerts. Authenticates with a bearer API key. ## Scope Does not handle creating or buying ads, bid management, or organic SEO rank tracking. Use for monitoring paid-search ads, competitors, and affiliate compliance only. ## Capabilities - Create monitoring projects and start on-demand checks of their keywords across markets and search engines - Read observations of the paid ads found for monitored keywords and the advertisers behind them - Rank competing advertisers by ad occurrences and inspect one advertiser's history, heatmap, and ad copy - Track affiliate IDs seen behind ads that use your brand and set their review status - Configure alert rules by email, Slack, or webhook and read the alerts they fire - Request PDF reports and export paid results and non-compliant affiliate cases as JSON ## Use cases ### Agent-Run Ad Monitoring via Jentic An AI agent can watch paid search for a brand and act on what appears instead of someone refreshing a dashboard. Through Jentic the agent starts an on-demand check of a project's keywords, waits for it to finish, then reads the observations and the advertisers found, flagging anything that uses the brand term. Example prompt: Start an on-demand check for a project's keywords, poll it until it completes, then read the observations and list advertisers appearing on the brand terms ### Competitor Paid-Search Intelligence Teams track who competes for their keywords and how often. Ads Lighthouse ranks advertisers by ad occurrences, exposes one advertiser's appearance history and hourly-weekday heatmap, and lists its distinct ad copy over time, so an agent builds a picture of competitive pressure on a keyword set. Example prompt: Read the ranked competitors for a project, then open one advertiser to read its appearance history, heatmap, and recent ad copy ### Brand and Affiliate Compliance Brands police affiliates that bid on brand terms. Ads Lighthouse surfaces affiliate IDs seen behind ads that use the brand, lets a reviewer set each one's compliance status, evaluates saved ads against policy rules, and opens cases with evidence, so non-compliant activity is tracked to resolution. Example prompt: List a project's affiliate findings, set a non-compliant affiliate ID's review status, and read the policy cases opened against it ## Key endpoints | Method | Path | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | GET | `/projects` | Projects in the account | | POST | `/projects` | Create a project and start its first checks | | GET | `/projects/{project_id}/observations` | Saved checks with the paid ads they found | | POST | `/projects/{project_id}/checks` | Start an on-demand check of a project's keywords | | GET | `/projects/{project_id}/competitors` | Other advertisers ranked by ad occurrences | | GET | `/alert-rules` | Alert rules configured in the account | | GET | `/account` | Plan, monthly allowances, usage and rate limit | ## Key resources - **Projects and checks** — Create projects, configure monitoring, and start and track on-demand keyword checks. - **Observations and advertisers** — Read observed paid ads, advertiser metrics, competitor rankings, histories, heatmaps, and ad copy. - **Alerts and reports** — Configure alert rules by email, Slack, or webhook, read alert events, and request PDF reports and exports. - **Policy and affiliate compliance** — Declare policy rules, evaluate saved ads, open cases, and track affiliate IDs and their review status. ## AI readiness This API is usable in Jentic One now. Its AI-readiness score against Jentic's framework shows where it stands today and where improvements would make it even easier for agents to use. - **Score:** 68 / 100 - **Maturity:** AI-Aware - **Dimensions:** - Foundational Compliance: 99 / 100 - Developer Experience & Jentic Compatibility: 69 / 100 - AI-Readiness & Agent Experience: 50 / 100 - Agent Usability: 88 / 100 - Security: 60 / 100 - AI Discoverability: 72 / 100 - **View full report:** https://jentic.com/apis/adslighthouse.com/adslighthouse/scorecard - **How the score is calculated:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/overview/ - **More about the dimensions:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/specification/#dimensional-model-overview ### Score it yourself Every API in the directory is allowlisted, so you can re-score it with no key required. - **Score your own API:** https://jentic.com/scorecard.md - **Scoring CLI agent skill:** https://github.com/jentic/jentic-api-scorecard/blob/main/skills/jentic-api-scorecard/SKILL.md ```sh npx @jentic/api-scorecard-cli score ``` ## Why Jentic - **Setup:** Wiring Ads Lighthouse by hand means learning its bearer key with the als_ prefix, staying within its request-rate limit, and polling on-demand checks until they finish before reading observations. Through Jentic you install once, import Ads Lighthouse from the API Directory, store the key once, and your agent runs checks and reads results. - **Permission scoping:** Ads Lighthouse puts the project id in the URL path (`/projects/{project_id}`), so a rule can pin your agent to one project and the operations you choose, such as starting checks and reading observations. You decide which operations it may call, so deleting projects or removing keywords stays out unless you add it. - **Credential handling:** Your Ads Lighthouse key is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context. - **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'monitor paid ads on my brand keywords' or 'find competitors bidding on my terms', and Jentic returns the matching Ads Lighthouse operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint directly. ## Related APIs - **Semrush** — Semrush offers broad competitive and advertising research; Ads Lighthouse focuses on live paid-search monitoring and brand compliance. - **Moz** — Moz centers on organic SEO metrics; Ads Lighthouse watches paid-search ads and advertisers instead. - **SerpApi** — SerpApi returns raw search-results-page data on demand; Ads Lighthouse turns ongoing captures into monitored observations and alerts. ## FAQ ### What authentication does the Ads Lighthouse API use? The Ads Lighthouse API authenticates with an API key sent as a bearer token in an Authorization: Bearer header, per its OpenAPI spec, and the REST API is available on Scale plans and above. The same credential carries your plan's monthly allowances, which you can read from the account endpoint. Through Jentic the key is stored encrypted on your own instance and injected at call time. ### Is there an Ads Lighthouse MCP server? Yes, the same JSON operations are offered as MCP tools. You can also connect Ads Lighthouse directly through Jentic: your agent gets the full 87-endpoint surface without loading another server's tool definitions into its context, your key is injected at call time by your self-hosted instance instead of living in a config file, and your rules decide which operations the agent may call. ### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Ads Lighthouse API? Yes. Because the project id travels in the URL path, you can write a rule that allows only starting checks and reading observations on one project, so the agent monitors that project and nothing else. Deleting projects, removing keywords, or changing team roles stays out of the rule unless you add it, and every call is logged. ### Can I find competitors bidding on my keywords with the Ads Lighthouse API? Yes. The competitors endpoint ranks advertisers by how often their ads appear for a project's keywords, and you can open one advertiser to read its appearance history, an hourly-weekday heatmap, and its distinct ad copy over time. Observations also link each paid ad back to the keyword and search it appeared on. ### What are the rate limits for the Ads Lighthouse API? The Ads Lighthouse spec states that each credential may make 120 requests per minute. Paid checks and redirect traces also draw on your plan's monthly allowances rather than that per-request limit, and the account endpoint reports current usage and remaining allowance. Check the Ads Lighthouse guide at https://adslighthouse.com/api for plan details. ### How do I run an ad check with the Ads Lighthouse API through Jentic? Search the Jentic API Directory for an intent like 'monitor paid ads on my brand keywords', import Ads Lighthouse, and store your key once. Your agent then starts an on-demand check for a project and reads the observations through Jentic. To run it on your own infrastructure, install Jentic One from its GitHub repo.