Meta Ad Library Scraper - Facebook & Instagram Ad Intelligence with AI Sentiment

Scrape the Meta Ad Library for competitor ad research. Extract ad creatives, copy, targeting data, spend estimates, and demographic distribution from Facebook and Instagram ads. Features Camoufox anti-detection, Firecrawl API option, and AI sentiment analysis from 5 providers (BYOK). Essential for competitive intelligence, creative research, and media buying strategy.

Features

• Ad Creative Extraction - Download images, videos, and carousel assets
• Copy Analysis - Headlines, descriptions, CTAs, and link URLs
• Multi-Platform - Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network
• Targeting Insights - Demographics, age, gender, and location distribution
• Spend Estimates - Impression ranges and estimated spend brackets
• Status Filtering - Active, inactive, or all ads
• Camoufox Anti-Detection - Browser fingerprint evasion for reliable access
• Firecrawl Option - API-based scraping alternative (BYOK)
• AI Sentiment Analysis - Analyze ad copy tone with 5 AI providers (BYOK)
• Country Filtering - Search ads in 13+ countries
• Demo Mode - Test with sample data before going live

Foreplay-Inspired Ad Longevity Tracking

• Ad Age Calculation - Automatically tracks how many days each ad has been running
• Likely Winner Detection - Flags ads running >14 days as likely profitable (advertisers kill losers quickly)
• Longevity Tiers - Classifies ads into testing, promising, winner, or evergreen categories
• Winner Filtering - Dedicated dataset view to see only proven winning ads

Who Should Use This Actor?

Media Buyers & Ad Agencies

Research competitor ad strategies before launching campaigns. See what messaging, creatives, and CTAs competitors use to inform your own creative strategy.

Brand Managers

Monitor competitor advertising activity across Facebook and Instagram. Track when competitors launch new campaigns, change messaging, or increase ad spend.

E-Commerce Companies

Analyze competitor product ads, promotional offers, and seasonal campaigns. Understand what products competitors push and how they position them.

Political & Compliance Researchers

Access political ad transparency data including spend, impressions, and targeting demographics. Required for political advertising compliance monitoring.

Creative Teams

Build swipe files of winning ad formats, copy approaches, and visual styles from top advertisers in any industry.

Market Research Analysts

Track advertising trends by industry, region, and platform. Understand how ad strategies shift over time with scheduled monitoring.

Quick Start

Demo Mode (Free Test)

{
  "demoMode": true
}

Search Ads by Keyword

{
  "searchQuery": "meal delivery",
  "country": "US",
  "platform": "ALL",
  "activeStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "maxAds": 100,
  "demoMode": false
}

Search by Page Name

{
  "pageName": "Nike",
  "country": "US",
  "maxAds": 50,
  "includeCreatives": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

With Camoufox Anti-Detection

{
  "searchQuery": "software",
  "country": "US",
  "useCamoufox": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  },
  "maxAds": 50,
  "demoMode": false
}

With AI Sentiment Analysis

{
  "searchQuery": "fitness app",
  "country": "US",
  "maxAds": 50,
  "enableSentimentAnalysis": true,
  "aiProvider": "anthropic",
  "aiApiKey": "sk-ant-...",
  "demoMode": false
}

Input Parameters

Search Options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchQuery	string	-	Search ads by keyword (e.g., "fitness app")
pageName	string	-	Facebook/Instagram page name (e.g., "Nike")
pageId	string	-	Direct Facebook Page ID (more accurate)

Filter Options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
country	string	"US"	Target country (US, GB, CA, AU, DE, FR, etc.)
platform	string	"ALL"	Platform filter: FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, MESSENGER, ALL
adType	string	"ALL"	Ad category: POLITICAL, HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, CREDIT, ALL
mediaType	string	"ALL"	Media type: IMAGE, VIDEO, MEME, ALL
activeStatus	string	"ACTIVE"	Status filter: ACTIVE, INACTIVE, ALL
maxAds	number	50	Maximum ads to scrape (1-500)
includeCreatives	boolean	true	Include image/video URLs

Advanced Options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
useFirecrawl	boolean	false	Use Firecrawl API for scraping
firecrawlApiKey	string	-	Your Firecrawl API key (BYOK)
useCamoufox	boolean	false	Enable Camoufox anti-detection browser
enableSentimentAnalysis	boolean	false	Enable AI sentiment analysis of ad copy
aiProvider	string	"none"	AI provider: openai, anthropic, google, mistral, cohere
aiApiKey	string	-	Your AI provider API key (BYOK)
proxyConfiguration	object	Residential	Proxy settings
demoMode	boolean	true	Return sample data for testing
webhookUrl	string	-	Webhook URL for results delivery

Output Format

{
  "adId": "META-1704412800000-0",
  "pageName": "Nike",
  "pageId": "123456789012345",
  "pageProfileUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/nike",
  "adContent": "Ready to make a change? Our proven system...",
  "headline": "Transform Your Life Today",
  "linkCaption": "www.nike.com",
  "callToAction": "Shop Now",
  "linkUrl": "https://www.nike.com/offer",
  "imageUrls": ["https://..."],
  "videoUrls": [],
  "platform": ["FACEBOOK"],
  "startDate": "2026-01-15",
  "endDate": null,
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "impressions": "10K-50K",
  "spend": "$500-$999",
  "demographicDistribution": {
    "age": "25-44",
    "gender": "All",
    "location": "United States"
  },
  "sentiment": {
    "score": 0.72,
    "label": "positive",
    "confidence": 0.88,
    "summary": "Persuasive transformation-focused copy",
    "tone": "motivational"
  },
  "adAge": 21,
  "isLikelyWinner": true,
  "longevityTier": "winner",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-28T10:00:00.000Z"
}

AI Sentiment Analysis (BYOK)

Enable AI-powered sentiment analysis to understand the tone and emotional appeal of ad copy. Supports 5 providers:

Provider	Model	Best For
OpenAI	GPT-4o-mini	Fast, affordable analysis
Anthropic	Claude Haiku	Nuanced understanding
Google	Gemini Flash	Cost-effective at scale
Mistral	Mistral Small	European data residency
Cohere	Command-R	Enterprise deployments

Each ad's copy is analyzed and returns:

• score - -1 to 1 (negative to positive)
• label - negative, neutral, or positive
• confidence - 0 to 1
• summary - Brief description of ad tone
• tone - Emotional tone (urgent, motivational, informative, etc.)

Ad Longevity Tracking (Foreplay-Inspired)

Automatically identify winning ads based on how long they've been running. This feature is inspired by Foreplay.co's ad research methodology.

Why longevity matters: Advertisers stop spending on losing ads quickly. If an ad has been running for 2+ weeks, the advertiser is likely seeing positive ROI. Ads running 30+ days are almost certainly profitable "evergreen" creatives.

Longevity Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
adAge	number	Days since the ad started running
isLikelyWinner	boolean	true if ad has run >14 days (likely profitable)
longevityTier	string	Classification: testing, promising, winner, evergreen

Longevity Tiers Explained

Tier	Days Running	What It Means
testing	0-7 days	New ad being tested - results unknown
promising	8-14 days	Showing early potential - not cut yet
winner	15-30 days	Likely profitable - worth studying
evergreen	31+ days	Proven performer - copy this approach

Pro Tip: Filter for Winners

Use the "Likely Winners" dataset view (available in Apify Console) to see only ads running >14 days. These are your swipe file gold - proven creatives worth modeling.

Supported Countries

Code	Country	Code	Country
US	United States	GB	United Kingdom
CA	Canada	AU	Australia
DE	Germany	FR	France
ES	Spain	IT	Italy
BR	Brazil	IN	India
MX	Mexico	JP	Japan
KR	South Korea

Pricing (Pay-Per-Event)

Event	Description	Price
ad_scraped	Per ad scraped	$0.01

Example costs:

• 50 ads: 50 x $0.01 = $0.50
• 200 ads: 200 x $0.01 = $2.00
• 500 ads: 500 x $0.01 = $5.00
• Demo mode: $0.00

Note: AI sentiment analysis uses your own API key (BYOK) - no additional Apify charge. Firecrawl API costs apply separately (BYOK).

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Competitor Ad Audit

{
  "pageName": "Competitor Brand",
  "country": "US",
  "activeStatus": "ALL",
  "maxAds": 200,
  "includeCreatives": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

See all ads a competitor has run, including inactive ones, with full creative assets.

Scenario 2: Industry Creative Research

{
  "searchQuery": "SaaS project management",
  "country": "US",
  "platform": "FACEBOOK",
  "activeStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "maxAds": 200,
  "enableSentimentAnalysis": true,
  "aiProvider": "anthropic",
  "aiApiKey": "sk-ant-...",
  "demoMode": false
}

Research active ads in your industry with AI analysis of messaging tone.

Scenario 3: Political Ad Transparency

{
  "searchQuery": "election 2026",
  "country": "US",
  "adType": "POLITICAL",
  "maxAds": 500,
  "demoMode": false
}

Access political advertising data with spend and demographic targeting details.

Webhook & Automation Integration

Zapier / Make.com / n8n

1. Create a webhook trigger in your automation platform
2. Copy the webhook URL to webhookUrl
3. Route results to Google Sheets, Slack, email, etc.

Popular automations:

• New competitor ads -> Slack alert (real-time competitive monitoring)
• Ad data -> Google Sheets (creative swipe file)
• Sentiment analysis -> Airtable (ad copy research database)
• Weekly ad audit -> Email (competitive intelligence report)

Apify Scheduled Runs

Schedule daily or weekly runs to track competitor ad changes over time.

FAQ

Q: Do I need a Facebook account?

A: No. The Meta Ad Library is publicly accessible. No login required.

Q: What is Camoufox?

A: Camoufox is an anti-detection browser that hides automation indicators and randomizes browser fingerprints. Enable it with useCamoufox: true for more reliable access when Meta's bot detection is aggressive.

Q: Can I get historical ads?

A: Yes. Set activeStatus: "ALL" to include both active and inactive ads. Meta retains ads for up to 7 years for political ads and 1 year for commercial ads.

Q: How accurate are spend estimates?

A: Meta provides spend ranges (e.g., "$500-$999"), not exact amounts. These are official Meta figures and are the best publicly available data on competitor ad spend.

Q: Which AI provider should I use for sentiment analysis?

A: Anthropic Claude Haiku provides the best balance of quality and cost. For maximum speed at scale, Google Gemini Flash is most cost-effective.

Common Problems & Solutions

"No ads found"

• Try different search queries or page names
• Check if the page name is spelled correctly
• Use Page ID instead of name for better accuracy
• Enable Camoufox or Firecrawl mode

"Getting blocked"

• Enable useCamoufox: true for fingerprint evasion
• Use Apify proxy configuration with residential proxies
• Try Firecrawl mode as an alternative scraping method
• Reduce maxAds per run

"Slow scraping"

• Meta Ad Library requires JavaScript rendering
• Consider using Firecrawl for faster results
• Reduce maxAds for quicker runs

"Demo data showing"

• Set demoMode: false - no account required

---

📞 Support

• Actor Arsenal: Full Actor Catalog
• Developer: John Rippy

---

Built by John Rippy | Actor Arsenal