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Meta Ad Library (Facebook Ad Library)
November 01, 2026 The Meta Ad Library (often still called the Facebook Ad Library) is Meta’s public, searchable database of every ad currently running across Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s other technologies. Anyone can search it by Page name or keyword, which makes it the fastest way to see what competitors are running.
What is the Meta Ad Library?
The library started as an archive of ads about politics and social issues. On March 28, 2019, Meta expanded it into the Ad Library, bringing in all active ads from every Page and adding search by Page, not just by keyword (Meta Newsroom, A Better Way to Learn About Ads, March 28, 2019).
Today the Ad Library holds all active ads shown across Meta technologies, plus active branded content with a Paid partnership label on Facebook and Instagram created on or after August 17, 2023. Ads with age-restricted content such as alcohol or gambling are not shown to people who are underage or not logged in (Meta Business Help Center, About the Meta Ad Library, accessed November 2026).
What the Facebook Ad Library shows
The detail depends on the type of ad and where it was delivered (same Meta source):
| Ad type | What you can see | How long it stays |
|---|---|---|
| Regular ads delivered only outside the EU and UK (including Vietnam) | Creative, the Page that ran it, the start date. No spend, no impressions. | Only while active |
| Ads about social issues, elections or politics | Also spend range, impression range, who paid, share of viewers by age, gender and location | 7 years |
| Ads delivered to the EU | Also total reach, reach by location, age and gender, targeting selections | 1 year after the last impression |
| Ads delivered to the UK | Also total reach and ad-level targeting selections | 1 year after the last impression |
For ads that run only in Vietnam, you see the creative and start date, but not how much a competitor spends or how well the ad performs.
How to look up competitor ads
- Go to facebook.com/ads/library, choose Vietnam (or your market) and the “All ads” category.
- Type a competitor’s Page name or a category keyword.
- Filter by active status, platform and media type (image, video).
- Click See ad details for more information, such as the lead form.
- Open Page transparency to see when the Page was created and its name changes.
What to read from the Ad Library
- Message and offer. Are competitors selling on price, gifts or warranty? That is how you find a USP nobody is using.
- Format. The mix of video, image and carousel, and how videos open.
- CTA and landing page. Does “Shop now” go to a marketplace or a website, a message thread or a lead form?
- Start date. An ad that has run for months may be one the competitor is happy with, but that is a hint only. The Ad Library shows neither spend nor results.
Example: finding a messaging gap (hypothetical)
You sell water purifiers. You review 3 competitors and log 40 active ads. 28 ads (70%) talk about discounts, 8 (20%) about filtration technology and only 4 (10%) about home installation and warranty. If installation is something you do well, that is the message to test first, because few people are saying it.
Do not copy what you find. An ad that looks like a competitor’s gives buyers no reason to pick you, and any ad that runs long enough will hit creative fatigue. How Meta selects and delivers creative in 2026 is covered in our article on Meta Andromeda and Advantage+.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Ad Library show how much a competitor spends?
Only for ads about social issues, elections or politics, and only as a range (for example $1,000 to $5,000). Regular sales ads in Vietnam show no spend data.
Can I see ads that have stopped running?
Regular ads appear only while active. Political and social issue ads are kept for 7 years; ads delivered to the EU or UK are kept for 1 year after their last impression.
If you want competitor ad analysis to shape your creative direction, see Adtek’s Creative Strategy page.
