Facebook Hashtag Scraper — Search the Ad Library by Hashtag

Search the Facebook (Meta) Ad Library for every ad creative that uses a given hashtag, and export it as clean, structured JSON. Give it a list of hashtags (#blackfriday, #skincare, #realestate) and get back the advertisers running those tags, their ad copy, call-to-action, creative media, run dates, target platforms, and disclosed impressions — with no Facebook login and no cookies.

What it does

The Meta Ad Library is the only public, searchable index of Facebook & Instagram advertising. This actor searches it by hashtag and returns one row per matching ad, so you can see exactly who is advertising on a tag and what their creative looks like.

It is cookieless and login-free. Requests are routed through resilient data providers (ScrapeCreators primary, SociaVault fallback) and normalized into one stable schema, so a single provider hiccup does not break your run.

Note on scope: Facebook does not expose a public, scrapable feed of organic posts by hashtag — facebook.com/hashtag/<tag> is login-walled. The Ad Library is the reliable public hashtag surface, so this actor searches advertising that uses a hashtag, not organic timeline posts.

When to use it

• Competitor ad research — see every brand bidding on a hashtag and how they position.
• Creative intelligence — collect winning ad copy, hooks, CTAs, and image/video creatives for a niche.
• Campaign monitoring — track which advertisers are live on a seasonal tag (#blackfriday, #primeday).
• Trend & spend signals — find the highest-impression advertisers on an issue or product hashtag.
• AI agents (MCP) — a single hashtag in, structured ad records out — ideal as an agent tool.

Do not use it to scrape a specific page's posts (use a Facebook page scraper) or to read organic hashtag timelines (not publicly available).

Output

One dataset record per ad. Key fields:

Field	Description
inputHashtag / query	The hashtag you searched.
pageName / pageId / pageProfileUrl	The advertiser.
title / bodyText / caption	Ad headline and copy.
ctaText / ctaType / linkUrl	Call-to-action and destination.
mediaType / imageUrls / videoUrls / cardCount	Creative format and media.
isActive / startDate / endDate / totalActiveDays	Run status and timeline (ISO 8601).
publisherPlatforms	facebook, instagram, messenger, audience_network.
impressionsText / reachEstimate / spend / currency	Disclosed reach (mostly for political/issue ads).
categories / containsSensitiveContent / collationCount	Ad metadata.
adArchiveId / adLibraryUrl	Open the ad directly in Meta's Ad Library.
provider / scrapedAt	Data source and collection time.

Sample record

{
  "recordType": "ad",
  "inputHashtag": "#blackfriday",
  "pageName": "Acme Store",
  "title": "Black Friday Blowout",
  "bodyText": "Save 50% this weekend only. #blackfriday",
  "ctaText": "Shop Now",
  "linkUrl": "https://acme.example/sale",
  "mediaType": "VIDEO",
  "videoUrls": ["https://video.example/1.mp4"],
  "isActive": true,
  "startDate": "2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "publisherPlatforms": ["FACEBOOK", "INSTAGRAM"],
  "impressionsText": "10K-15K",
  "adArchiveId": "123456789",
  "adLibraryUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=123456789",
  "provider": "scrapecreators"
}

Pricing

Pay-per-event:

• Actor start — $0.00005 per run.
• Ad found — $0.005 per ad saved to the dataset.

maxResultsPerHashtag is your per-hashtag cost cap. 3 hashtags × 50 ads ≈ $0.75. The actor prints the maximum possible cost at the start of every run and the actual billed amount at the end.

Input

Field	Type	Default	Notes
hashtags	array	—	Required. # optional; spaces stripped.
maxResultsPerHashtag	integer	50	1–1000. Also the cost cap.
country	string	ALL	2-letter ISO code or ALL.
status	enum	ACTIVE	ACTIVE, INACTIVE, ALL.
mediaType	enum	ALL	IMAGE, VIDEO, MEME, …
searchType	enum	broad	exact-phrase available.
sortBy	enum	impressions	or relevance.
startDate / endDate	string	—	YYYY-MM-DD impressions window.

Example input

{
  "hashtags": ["#blackfriday", "#skincare"],
  "maxResultsPerHashtag": 100,
  "country": "US",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "mediaType": "ALL"
}

Using it from the API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/khadinakbar~facebook-hashtag-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "hashtags": ["#blackfriday"], "maxResultsPerHashtag": 50, "country": "US" }'

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("khadinakbar/facebook-hashtag-scraper").call(
    run_input={"hashtags": ["#skincare"], "maxResultsPerHashtag": 50}
)
for ad in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(ad["pageName"], ad["title"])

MCP / AI agents

Exposed in the Apify MCP server as apify--facebook-hashtag-scraper. A hashtag goes in, structured ad records come out — a clean tool call for competitor and creative research agents.

Related actors

• meta-ad-library-scraper — full Meta Ad Library by advertiser/keyword across Facebook & Instagram.
• google-ads-transparency-scraper — Google Ads creatives.
• tiktok-ads-scraper — TikTok Creative Center top ads.
• instagram-hashtag-scraper — organic Instagram posts by hashtag.

FAQ

Does this scrape organic Facebook posts by hashtag? No. Facebook hashtag timelines are login-walled and not publicly scrapable. This searches the public Ad Library (advertising).

Do I need cookies or a Facebook login? No. It is fully cookieless.

Why are spend and impressions often empty? Meta only discloses spend/impressions for political and social-issue ads. Commercial ads return creative and timing data but no spend.

Can I search multiple hashtags? Yes — pass an array; each is searched and capped independently.

Legal

This actor collects data from Meta's public Ad Library, which Meta publishes for ad transparency. Use it in compliance with Meta's Terms of Service and applicable laws (including data-protection rules such as GDPR/CCPA). You are responsible for how you use the collected data. This tool does not access private, login-gated, or personal content.