Guide
Facebook Ad Library: what it shows and how to use it
Meta’s free, official search of the ads running on its apps. You can see any page’s active ads in every country, but spend appears only for political and issue ads, and reach only for ads shown in the EU and UK.
Free plan. No card needed.
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How to search it
- 1
Pick a country
Open the Ad Library and choose a country, or all countries.
- 2
Pick the ad category
All ads, or issues, elections and politics.
- 3
Search and open an ad
Search a page name or a keyword, then open an ad to see its details.
What it shows, by region
| Data | All ads | Ads shown in the EU and UK | Political and issue ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative, copy, page, start date and platforms | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reach by age, gender and country | No | Yes | Yes |
| Targeting: ages, genders and locations | No | Yes | EU and UK only |
| Spend and impressions | No | No | Yes |
| Ads that stopped running | No | For 1 year after the last view | Kept for 7 years |
What it does not show
Spend on regular ads
How much a brand spends on its ads, in any country.
The product and the store
Which product an ad sells, or how much the store sells.
History outside Europe
An ad’s past once it stops running, outside the EU and UK.
Going further with SearchTheTrend
Every ad keeps its history
We check more than 10,000 pages every day and keep every ad, so you can see how long it ran.
Days running and Ad Rank, everywhere
For ads from every country, with each ad’s position among its brand’s ads, day by day.
Spend you can trace
We turn the reach Meta publishes for the EU and UK into an estimated spend in US dollars.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see how much a competitor spends on Facebook ads?
Not in the Ad Library: it shows spend only for political and issue ads. For ads shown in the EU and UK it shows reach, which SearchTheTrend turns into an estimated spend.
Is the Facebook Ad Library free?
Yes. The web search and the API are free. The API needs an access token.
Which apps does it cover?
Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network, WhatsApp and Threads.
Resources
See the Meta ads that keep running in your niche
Create a free account and open the Meta ads, products and online stores selling right now.
Free plan. No card needed.