{"id":8675,"date":"2026-11-01T09:33:58","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T02:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adtek.agency\/glossary\/meta-ad-library\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T09:33:58","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T02:33:58","slug":"meta-ad-library","status":"publish","type":"mona_glossary","link":"https:\/\/adtek.agency\/en\/glossary\/meta-ad-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta Ad Library (Facebook Ad Library)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

What is the Meta Ad Library?<\/h2>\n

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<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What the Facebook Ad Library shows<\/h2>\n

The detail depends on the type of ad and where it was delivered (same Meta source):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Ad type<\/th>\nWhat you can see<\/th>\nHow long it stays<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Regular ads delivered only outside the EU and UK (including Vietnam)<\/td>\nCreative, the Page that ran it, the start date. No spend, no impressions.<\/td>\nOnly while active<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ads about social issues, elections or politics<\/td>\nAlso spend range, impression range, who paid, share of viewers by age, gender and location<\/td>\n7 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ads delivered to the EU<\/td>\nAlso total reach, reach by location, age and gender, targeting selections<\/td>\n1 year after the last impression<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ads delivered to the UK<\/td>\nAlso total reach and ad-level targeting selections<\/td>\n1 year after the last impression<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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.<\/p>\n

How to look up competitor ads<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Go to facebook.com\/ads\/library, choose Vietnam (or your market) and the “All ads” category.<\/li>\n
  2. Type a competitor’s Page name or a category keyword.<\/li>\n
  3. Filter by active status, platform and media type (image, video).<\/li>\n
  4. Click See ad details for more information, such as the lead form.<\/li>\n
  5. Open Page transparency to see when the Page was created and its name changes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What to read from the Ad Library<\/h2>\n