How to use the Meta Ad Library to see a company's ads
Every ad a company runs on Facebook and Instagram is public. Here is how to find them, and how to read them like a competitor would.
The Meta Ad Library is Meta's free, public archive of every ad running on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network. Search it by advertiser to see a company's live ads, their start dates and how many versions it is testing. It doesn't show spend or results, except reach for ads shown in the EU.
What is the Meta Ad Library?
It's a public search over every active ad on Meta's apps, open to anyone without an account.
Meta built it for transparency, so it covers every advertiser, not only the ones who opt in. Ads about elections or social issues stay for seven years. Ads shown in the EU stay for a year after they stop, with reach and a targeting summary.
Everything else disappears from search once it's switched off. So the library is a picture of what a company is running today, not its history.
How do I search a company's ads?
Search by the company's page, not by keyword: a keyword search matches ad text, so it misses ads that never say the brand's name.
- Open the libraryGo to facebook.com/ads/library. Set the country to All and the ad category to All ads.
- Pick the advertiserType the brand's name and choose its page from the dropdown instead of pressing Enter. Enter runs a keyword search.
- FilterKeep Active status on to see what's live. Filter by platform (Instagram only, for example) and by media type to see just the videos.
- Open the details"See ad details" shows every version of an ad and the date it started running.
What does a long-running ad tell you?
An ad that has run for months is almost always making money, because advertisers switch losers off within days.
Read the "Started running on" date of each ad. A cluster of ads started on the same day is a test; the one or two still running weeks later are the winners. Many versions of the same video with different first lines are a hook test.
Our reports do this for you: the Meta ads agent reads the page's ads, how long each has run, the formats and the copy, and flags the long runners.
How many brands lean on Meta ads?
In our 13 stored growth reports, Meta ads were a main driver for 7 and supporting for 5.
The main-driver group is Perplexity, ElevenLabs, HeyGen, Cal AI, Opal, Liquid Death and AG1. Their reports' headlines name Meta ads next to creators or their own posts.
What won't the library show?
Spend, impressions, clicks and targeting for ads outside the EU, and anything about results.
- No budget or cost figures for commercial ads.
- No ads that have stopped, unless they ran in the EU or were political.
- No ads from other platforms: Google, TikTok and LinkedIn each have their own library.
To see a company's ads everywhere it advertises, use how to see a competitor's ads on every platform, or let our ad library search read them all in one report.
Questions
Is the Meta Ad Library free?
Yes. Anyone can search it without a Facebook account, from facebook.com/ads/library.
Can I see how much a company spends on Meta ads?
No. The library shows spend only for political and social issue ads. For commercial ads it shows the ads, their start dates and, in the EU, their reach.
Why can't I find a brand's ads?
Search by its page in the dropdown, not by keyword, and set the country to All. Some brands run ads from a page with a different name, such as a regional or product page.
Does the library show Instagram ads?
Yes. It covers Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network. Use the platform filter to see Instagram only.
Sources
- Meta Ad Library, read 2026-10-29
- Meta Transparency Center: Ad Library tools, read 2026-10-29
- Our stored growth reports (teaser data: channels, importance and counts), read 2026-10-29