Facebook Ad Library search: tips for competitor research
·4 min read
A good Facebook Ad Library search starts with the right mode. Search an advertiser's page when you know the competitor, and search a keyword in quotes when you want everyone running ads on a phrase. Then narrow the filters, read the oldest active ads first and save the good ones, because ordinary ads vanish when they stop. New to the library? Start with the Meta Ad Library walkthrough.
Keyword vs advertiser search in the Facebook Ad Library
Use an advertiser search to audit one competitor and a keyword search to map a market. Most people only ever run the first.
An advertiser search returns everything one Facebook page runs. Pick the page from the suggestions under the search box, so you get that page's ads rather than every ad that mentions the name. Check the follower count, since fan pages can share a brand's name.
A keyword search matches words in the ads themselves, from any page. Searches I run for every client:
- The problem the product solves, in the customer's words ("back pain at desk", not "ergonomic solutions").
- Offer language for the category, such as "7-day trial" or "50% off".
- The client's own brand name, which turns up affiliates, resellers and competitors bidding on the name in their copy.
How to search an exact phrase
Put the phrase in quotes, or pick the "exact phrase" option Meta offers as you type. Without it, the library treats each word separately. Meta's Ad Library API reference describes both modes. The default returns ads containing the words in any order. Exact phrase returns only ads matching the phrase as written.
The difference is large for common words. Unquoted, money back pulls in every ad with "money" anywhere and "back" anywhere else. In quotes, you get ads that offer a money-back guarantee.
Write the phrase in the language of the market you filtered to. When an exact phrase returns little, try the plural and a shorter version before deciding nobody advertises on it.
Which Facebook Ad Library filters to use
Set the filters before you read a single ad, because the defaults show a global mix sorted by impressions.
| Filter | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Country | Always, unless you sell everywhere. One market's ads read as a program. All countries is noise. |
| Platform | To see what a brand runs on Instagram alone. |
| Media type | Video only, to study opening seconds. Images only, to compare headlines and offers fast. |
| Active status | Active for what works now. Inactive is mostly useful for ads that ran in the EU or UK, which Meta keeps for a year. |
| Impressions by date | To see what launched around a season or a sale, such as the two weeks before Black Friday last year. |
Then switch the sort to "Most recent" to see launches, or scan the start dates to find the veterans. The filters you set stay in the page address, so bookmark a search you plan to repeat each month.
Reading "This ad has multiple versions" and long-running ads
A card that says the ad has multiple versions groups variants that Meta treats as one ad. Open it and compare the versions side by side. If only the headline changes, the advertiser is testing the promise. If only the image changes, the message is settled and they are testing how to show it. A card saying several ads use the same creative and text usually means one winning ad copied into more campaigns or audiences, which is a stronger signal than a test.
An advertiser keeps paying for an ad they could switch off, so an ad active for three months or more is a likely winner. Treat that as a heuristic, not proof. Small retargeting ads and ads nobody remembers to stop run for months too. It is a stronger bet when its hook also appears in newer ads.
Save a swipe file before the ads disappear
Ordinary ads that never ran in the EU or UK drop out of the library when they stop, so save the good ones the day you find them. Use a spreadsheet, one row per ad:
- Date found, page name and the Library ID link (facebook.com/ads/library/?id= followed by the number).
- The opening line, the offer and the call-to-action button.
- The landing page URL, plus a screenshot of the page, since landing pages change too.
- Format, platforms, start date and the number of versions.
- A status you update each month, active or stopped.
Screenshot the creative too, because the ID link dies with the ad. After a few months the status column shows which ideas lasted. For search ads, see how to find a competitor's Google ads.
Run the search for a competitor in one report
Our Meta Ad Finder runs an advertiser search or a keyword search for you, in every country or one market you choose. The page name has to match the page's name on Facebook exactly. It returns up to 30 of the most recently started active ads, listed longest-running first, with each ad's text, headline, call-to-action button, landing page, format, platforms, start date, days running, the number of versions when Meta groups more than one, and a link to the ad in the library. A keyword search also lists the pages behind the ads.
The summary counts the active ads Meta reports and how many started in the last 30 days, and flags when older ads fall outside the 30. It shows no images or videos, no spend or reach and no stopped ads. A run costs 5 credits, and a search that finds no ads is refunded.