To research competitors' Facebook ads, list the advertisers in your niche, open their active ads in the Meta Ad Library, keep only the ones that have run for three weeks or more, and for each of those record the hook, the offer and where the click goes. Then repeat weekly, because most ads stop within two weeks and the useful signal is what survives. The steps below take about an hour per competitor the first time and fifteen minutes a week after that.
What are the steps of competitor ad research?
- List the advertisersYour direct competitors, plus whoever buys the same audience: search your category keywords and note the pages that appear repeatedly.
- Pull their active adsMeta Ad Library, your country, "All ads", search each page name (how to search it).
- Keep the survivorsSort by launch date; ads live for three weeks or more are the ones to study.
- Break each ad downHook, angle, format, offer, price, call to action.
- Follow the clickLanding page type, quiz steps, where the email is asked, plans and prices.
- Track the changesNew launches, stops, new offers and price changes, week over week.
How do you tell a competitor's winning ad from a test?
By how long it runs compared with the ads launched next to it. Meta does not publish spend for commercial ads (Meta Help Center), but it shows launch dates, and advertisers stop losing ads fast. In NextAngle's US archive, 64% of stopped ads ran 14 days or less and only 15% ran past 30 days (data). So a competitor's ad that is three weeks old and still live, while its siblings from the same week are gone, has survived a real test.
| Signal | Where to see it | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Days on air | Launch date in the Ad Library | The advertiser kept paying for it |
| Siblings stopped | Other ads of the page launched the same week | It beat the alternatives |
| Versions | "This ad has multiple versions" in the ad details | It is being scaled with variants |
| Same creative on several pages | Image or video reused across advertisers | It works well enough to be copied or syndicated |
What should you record about each ad?
A screenshot is not enough; record the parts you can reuse or compare. A simple sheet with these columns covers most needs:
- Launch date and status — running or stopped, days on air.
- Hook — the first line of text or the first three seconds of video.
- Angle — pain, desire, social proof, curiosity, authority, price.
- Format — UGC video, static with text, before/after, comparison, screenshot.
- Offer and price — discount, trial, intro price, guarantee.
- Destination — product page, advertorial, quiz, app store, lead form.
Why follow the click to the landing page?
Because the ad is half of the strategy; the other half is what the visitor gets. Two competitors can run similar ads and sell completely differently: one sends traffic to a product page, another to a 40-screen quiz that ends in a $7 intro offer. NextAngle's teardown of 22 fitness app funnels found a median of 43 screens before the paywall and a first payment of about $7 (fitness teardown). You can walk a funnel by hand in a private browser window; stop at the payment form and never pay.
How do you keep competitor research up to date?
Weekly, with a list of what changed: new ads launched, ads stopped, new landing pages, new prices. Doing this by hand works for three to five competitors. Beyond that, an archive helps. At NextAngle, we collect Meta ads every day, keep them after they stop with launch and stop days, and show each advertiser's launches and stops over 90 days, its best ads and the domains and apps it uses (advertiser research). A saved advertiser shows what changed since you last looked, and the collector follows the ads to their landing pages, quizzes and prices (quiz funnels). For a comparison of tools for this job, see Best Facebook ad spy tools in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How can I see my competitors' Facebook ads for free?
Search the competitor's page name in the Meta Ad Library at facebook.com/ads/library, choose your country and 'All ads'. It lists their active ads with launch dates and creatives.
How do I know which competitor ads are working?
Look at run time and survival. An ad running for three weeks or more while the competitor stopped the ads launched next to it has usually paid for itself; Meta does not publish spend for commercial ads.
How often should I check competitors' ads?
At least weekly. In NextAngle's US archive, a third of stopped ads ran a week or less, so a monthly check misses most tests.
What should I record about each competitor ad?
The launch date, whether it still runs, the hook in the first line or seconds, the offer and price, the call to action, and where the click leads: landing page, quiz or store.
Can NextAngle research competitors on TikTok or Google?
No. NextAngle covers Meta ads only, on Facebook, Instagram and Meta's other placements.
Sources
- Meta Ad Library. facebook.com/ads/library
- Meta Help Center — what the Ad Library shows. facebook.com/help/259468828226154
- NextAngle archive: US commercial ads by run time, as of 15 November 2026.
- NextAngle — fitness app quiz funnel teardown. nextangle.app/insights/fitness-app-quiz-funnels
- NextAngle — advertiser research and quiz funnels. meta-ad-library-search, quiz-funnel-spy