AdLibrary Search Actor

This Apify Actor provides programmatic access to AdLibrary.com's comprehensive advertising database, allowing you to search and extract ads from Meta (Facebook), Google, and other major advertising platforms.

What it does

The Actor searches through millions of ads from major advertising platforms and returns structured data including:

• Ad Content: Titles, descriptions, captions, and creative assets
• Performance Data: Reach, spend estimates, and engagement metrics
• Targeting Info: Geographic targeting, demographics, and audience data
• Advertiser Insights: Company information, spending patterns, and campaign strategies
• Platform Data: Where ads are displayed (Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc.)

Key Features

✅ Multi-Platform Search: Search Meta/Facebook and Google ads in one request
✅ Advanced Filtering: Date ranges, spend thresholds, exact matching, geographic targeting
✅ Structured Output: Clean, normalized data ready for analysis
✅ Advertiser Grouping: Automatic grouping by advertiser with summary statistics
✅ High Performance: Fast API responses with configurable result limits
✅ No Rate Limits: Use unlimited queries through secure token authentication

Input Configuration

Required Parameters

• query (string): Search term or phrase to look for in ads
  • Example: "fitness supplements", "crypto trading", "real estate"

Optional Parameters

• platforms (array): Which platforms to search

  • Options: ["meta", "google"]
  • Default: ["meta"]

• pageSize (integer): Number of ads per page (1-1000)

  • Default: 50

• desiredAdvertisers (integer): Target number of unique advertisers (1-200)

  • Default: 50

• limit (integer): Maximum total ads to retrieve (1-1000)

  • Default: 500

• exactMatch (boolean): Use exact phrase matching instead of keyword matching

  • Default: false

Advanced Filtering

• dateRange: Filter by ad delivery dates

  {
    "start": "2024-01-01",
    "end": "2024-03-31"
  }
  

• adType: Filter by ad category

  • Options: "all", "political_and_issue_ads", "political", "issue", "housing", "employment", "credit"

• targetLocation: Filter by geographic targeting (country code)

  • Example: "US", "DE", "GB"

• filters: Additional advanced options

  {
    "adSpendRange": [100, 5000],
    "estimatedCpm": 2.5,
    "industry": "technology", 
    "countries": ["US", "CA", "GB"]
  }
  

Output Format

The Actor saves data to the Apify dataset in three types:

1. Individual Ads (type: "ad")

{
  "type": "ad",
  "id": "ad_123456",
  "platform": "meta",
  "advertiser": "TechCorp Inc",
  "title": "Revolutionary Fitness App",
  "description": "Transform your workout routine...",
  "caption": "Download now and get 30% off",
  "url": "https://facebook.com/ads/archive/...",
  "reach": 125000,
  "spend": 2500,
  "website": "https://techcorp.com",
  "platforms": ["facebook", "instagram"],
  "searchQuery": "fitness app",
  "retrievedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}

2. Advertiser Summaries (type: "advertiser_summary")

{
  "type": "advertiser_summary", 
  "advertiser": "TechCorp Inc",
  "platform": "meta",
  "adCount": 15,
  "totalReach": 1250000,
  "totalSpend": 25000,
  "landingDomain": "techcorp.com",
  "searchQuery": "fitness app",
  "retrievedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}

3. Search Metadata (type: "search_metadata")

{
  "type": "search_metadata",
  "searchQuery": "fitness app",
  "platforms": ["meta"],
  "filters": { "pageSize": 50, "exactMatch": false },
  "totalAds": 127,
  "totalAdvertisers": 23,
  "authMethod": "general_token",
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Example Usage

Basic Search

{
  "query": "sustainable fashion"
}

Advanced Search with Filters

{
  "query": "electric vehicles",
  "platforms": ["meta", "google"],
  "exactMatch": true,
  "pageSize": 100,
  "desiredAdvertisers": 25,
  "dateRange": {
    "start": "2024-01-01", 
    "end": "2024-03-31"
  },
  "targetLocation": "US",
  "adType": "all"
}

High-Volume Data Extraction

{
  "query": "cryptocurrency", 
  "limit": 1000,
  "desiredAdvertisers": 200,
  "platforms": ["meta", "google"],
  "filters": {
    "adSpendRange": [500, 50000],
    "countries": ["US", "CA", "GB", "AU"]
  }
}

Use Cases

• Competitive Intelligence: Monitor competitor advertising strategies
• Market Research: Analyze advertising trends in specific industries
• Compliance Monitoring: Track political and issue-based advertising
• Ad Creative Analysis: Study successful ad formats and messaging
• Advertiser Profiling: Build comprehensive advertiser databases
• Trend Analysis: Identify emerging advertising patterns and topics

Data Export & Integration

The Actor outputs data to Apify's dataset, which can be:

• Downloaded as JSON, CSV, Excel, or other formats
• Integrated with other tools via API
• Scheduled to run automatically for ongoing monitoring
• Processed with additional Apify Actors for advanced analysis

Performance & Limits

• Maximum Results: 1,000 ads per run
• Maximum Advertisers: 200 advertisers per run
• Response Time: Typically 5-30 seconds depending on query complexity
• Data Freshness: Real-time access to latest ad library data
• Rate Limits: None (uses dedicated API token)

Support

For issues or questions:

• Check the API Documentation
• Contact support through Apify platform
• Review logs in the Actor run details

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