To search the Meta Ad Library, open facebook.com/ads/library, choose a country and the ad category "All ads", then type a keyword or an advertiser's page name. The results show every active ad that matches, with its text, creative, launch date and the platforms it runs on. What the library does not show is just as important: commercial ads that stopped running disappear from search outside the EU and UK, there is no spend data for them, and nothing tells you what happens after the click.
How do you search the Meta Ad Library step by step?
The library has one search box and a few filters, and the order you set them matters.
- Choose the countryPick the market you sell in. Results are per country, and the same ad can run in several.
- Choose "All ads"The other category, "Issues, elections or politics", is a separate archive with different rules.
- Search a keyword or an advertiserA keyword finds ads whose text contains it; typing a page name suggests the advertiser's page.
- Filter the resultsActive status, platform (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network, Threads), media type, language and date range.
- Open an ad's detailsSee the launch date, the versions that share one creative, and the platforms it runs on.
Two habits save time. First, search the advertiser, not just the product: a page view lists all its active ads at once. Second, sort mentally by launch date: the library shows when each ad started, and the old ones that are still live are the ones worth studying.
What does the Meta Ad Library not show?
The library is a transparency tool, not a research tool, and four gaps matter for anyone studying competitors.
| What you need | Meta Ad Library | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Ads that stopped running (commercial, outside EU/UK) | Not searchable | Tests a competitor ran last month vanish, so you cannot see what they tried and dropped. |
| Spend and impressions (commercial ads) | Not published | You cannot rank ads by money; you need indirect signals such as run time. |
| Landing page, quiz, paywall, prices | Not shown | The offer behind the ad is half of the strategy. |
| Search across all advertisers in a niche over time | One query, one moment | Trends (who started advertising, what grows) need daily snapshots. |
Meta's help center states the retention rules: ads about social issues, elections or politics stay in the library for seven years whether they are active or not; ads delivered in the EU stay for a year; for other commercial ads the library shows the ones that are currently running (Meta Help Center). The Ad Library API follows the same split: it covers political and issue ads and ads delivered in the EU, not commercial ads elsewhere (Meta Transparency Center).
How long do ads stay visible, and why does it matter?
Most ads are short-lived, so a competitor's library page changes fast. In NextAngle's US archive, of 691,257 commercial ads that had stopped by 15 November 2026, 64% stopped within two weeks of launch and 85% within 30 days. If you check a competitor once a month in the Meta Ad Library, you miss most of what they tested. We break the numbers down in How long do Facebook ads run?
How do you get history and funnels on top of the Ad Library?
There are three ways: save ads by hand (screenshots or a swipe-file tool), use the API where it applies (political and EU ads), or use a service that archives the library every day. At NextAngle, we take the third route for Meta: we collect commercial ads every day, keep them after they stop with the launch day and the stop day, and make them searchable by topic, advertiser, landing domain, app and creative (how search works). Each ad gets a winner score built from public signals such as days on air and how many of the advertiser's other ads were already stopped, because Meta does not publish spend (how the score works).
We also follow the click. For ads that lead to a quiz or a web paywall, the collector walks the funnel and records the steps, the plans and the prices (quiz funnel research). If you only need to look up one brand's live ads today, the free library is enough; if you need what changed over weeks, or the offer behind the ad, you need an archive.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Meta Ad Library free?
Yes. Anyone can search it at facebook.com/ads/library without an account; Meta does not charge for it.
Can I see ads that stopped running in the Meta Ad Library?
For commercial ads outside the EU and UK, no: only active ads can be searched. Social issue, electoral and political ads stay for seven years, and ads delivered in the EU stay for a year.
Does the Meta Ad Library show ad spend or results?
Not for commercial ads. Spend and impression ranges are published for political and issue ads; for commercial ads the library shows the creative, the text, the launch date and where the ad runs.
How do I find every ad of one competitor?
Search the advertiser's Facebook page name in the Ad Library and open its page view, which lists its active ads. To keep ads after they stop, you need to save them yourself or use a tool that archives them, such as NextAngle.
What does NextAngle add to the Meta Ad Library?
NextAngle archives Meta ads every day, keeps them after they stop with the launch and stop days, scores which ones keep running, and follows each ad to its landing page, quiz and paywall prices. It is independent of Meta.
Sources
- Meta Help Center — Ad Library: which ads are shown and for how long. facebook.com/help/259468828226154
- Meta Transparency Center — Ad Library tools and API. transparency.meta.com/researchtools/ad-library-tools
- NextAngle archive: US commercial ads by run time, as of 15 November 2026. Stopped ads counted from Meta's launch date to the stop day.
- NextAngle — Meta Ad Library search with history. nextangle.app/meta-ad-library-search