# Facebook Ad Creative Tracker (`om_kh/facebook-ad-creative-tracker`) Actor

Compare two snapshots of ad creative data you already have and get back only what changed: new ads, edited copy, swapped landing pages, dropped ads. Bring your own ad records; this does not fetch ads itself. Pricing: $0.02 per change. First 10 changes free.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/om\_kh/facebook-ad-creative-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [omar khandji](https://apify.com/om_kh) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, MCP servers
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $11.00 / 1,000 actionable ad changes

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Ad Creative Change Detector — Bring Your Own Ad Data (Vigia)

> Compare two snapshots of ad creative data you already have (e.g. from your own Ads Library export or scraper) and get back only what changed: new creatives, ended ads, headline and landing-page edits. This Actor does not fetch ads itself — you supply `currentAds` (and optionally `previousAds`); it does the diffing, deduplication and change-detection. Charged per change event, not per run. Ideal for marketing and competitive-intel agents who already have ad data flowing in.

### What this is NOT

This is a delta/change-detection engine, not a scraper. It never queries Meta Ad Library, TikTok, or any ad platform on its own — you provide the ad records (from your own pipeline, another Actor, or a manual export) and this Actor tells you what's new, changed, or gone since your last run. If you need the ads themselves collected first, see [Facebook Ads Library Scraper](https://apify.com/om_kh/vigia-ads-library-monitor) or [Google Ads Transparency Scraper](https://apify.com/om_kh/vigia-google-ads-transparency-monitor) below.

### Free tier — 10 results free on every run

**The first 10 results of every run are free**, on every run you ever make —
not a one-off trial. Run it on your own subjects and see the real output before
you are billed for a single result.

One guard: the free allowance never covers more than half of a run, so a run
returning 6 results gets 3 free. That keeps the offer sustainable.

### What it does

Track a competitor's creative rotation without paying to re-scan unchanged ads. You get **only what changed since your last check** — never a full re-dump to diff yourself.

### Why Vigia — 5 advantages a raw scraper can't match

1. **You pay the alert price only for real change.** New-ad creative alerts are billed only for genuinely new ad creatives since your last check. A quiet run bills just the small source-check fee (the cost of looking) — never the alert price on unchanged data. Raw scrapers bill every row of a full re-scan every run.
2. **Never billed on a failed source.** The source check is charged only when the source actually responded. If it's down, you don't pay for our outage.
3. **Append-only delta + spike signal.** The first monitored run stores a free baseline; later runs deliver only what's new, plus a velocity-spike alert when volume suddenly surges (trend / review-bomb / hiring-surge).
4. **Hard cost cap you control.** Set `maxTotalChargeUsd` and the run can never bill above it — predictable spend, no surprise invoice.
5. **Agent-ready output.** Clean, normalized rows and a `RUN_SUMMARY.json` with ready-to-use signals — chainable from any MCP / A2A agent in one step.

### Example input

```json
{
  "monitorEnabled": true,
  "maxTotalChargeUsd": 1.0
}
```

Set `monitorEnabled: true` so the first run stores a free baseline and later runs return only new results. Pin a `monitorId` to keep separate targets from sharing state.

### Output

Each row is a normalized change record: `record_id`, `change_type`, `ad_id`, `landing_url`, `runs_seen`, `long_running_creative`, `creative_fingerprint`. A `RUN_SUMMARY.json` accompanies every run with the aggregated signal (counts, velocity spikes, trend).

### How you're charged

- **Ad creative alert** — billed once per new ad creative (the only charge).
- **Bring-your-own dataset** — you pass the records in, so there is no upstream fetch and **no source-check fee**.
- **A run with no new ad creatives costs $0.**

***

*Part of the Vigia monitoring suite — change-only billing, outage-safe, agent-ready.*

### Related scrapers

Same data, other sources — all with the same free tier, the same clean schema and the same pay-only-for-what-you-get billing:

| Actor |
|---|
| [Facebook Ads Library Scraper - Competitor Ad Data](https://apify.com/om_kh/vigia-ads-library-monitor) |
| [Google Ads Transparency Scraper - Competitor Ads](https://apify.com/om_kh/vigia-google-ads-transparency-monitor) |
| [Google Search Results Scraper - SERP Positions](https://apify.com/om_kh/vigia-serp-rank-delta) |
| [ATS Jobs Search API | Any Company Domain | $2/1K, 3 Free](https://apify.com/om_kh/ats-jobs-api) |
| [Hiring Signals | $0.02/company | Buying Triggers](https://apify.com/om_kh/company-hiring-signals) |
| [Career Site Job Listing API | Careers Page Scraper | $2/1K](https://apify.com/om_kh/careers-page-scraper) |

# Actor input Schema

## `previousAds` (type: `array`):

Ads from the prior run; used to identify changes.

## `currentAds` (type: `array`):

Current authorized ad data to compare.

## `maxTotalChargeUsd` (type: `number`):

Hard maximum amount that this run may charge.

## `sources` (type: `array`):

Declare every upstream source before this run. Each item needs name, authorization, and estimated\_cost\_usd.

## `monitorEnabled` (type: `boolean`):

The first monitored run stores a free baseline. Later runs deliver and charge only new results.

## `monitorId` (type: `string`):

Pins the persistent baseline to a name of your choice, so separate targets never share state. Leave empty to derive it automatically.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "previousAds": [],
  "currentAds": [
    {
      "ad_id": "123",
      "advertiser": "Example Co",
      "headline": "50% off today",
      "landing_url": "https://example.com/sale"
    }
  ],
  "maxTotalChargeUsd": 1,
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "Customer-authorized input",
      "authorization": "customer_authorized",
      "estimated_cost_usd": 0
    }
  ],
  "monitorEnabled": false,
  "monitorId": ""
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `report` (type: `string`):

A visual summary of delivery, charges, changes, and source issues.

## `results` (type: `string`):

Business-ready results in a sortable table. No JSON knowledge required.

## `csv` (type: `string`):

Results ready for spreadsheets, CRMs, and analytics tools.

## `excel` (type: `string`):

Results as an Excel workbook for non-technical teams.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Machine-readable delivery, billing, and source diagnostics.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "currentAds": [
        {
            "ad_id": "123",
            "advertiser": "Example Co",
            "headline": "50% off today",
            "landing_url": "https://example.com/sale"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("om_kh/facebook-ad-creative-tracker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "currentAds": [{
            "ad_id": "123",
            "advertiser": "Example Co",
            "headline": "50% off today",
            "landing_url": "https://example.com/sale",
        }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("om_kh/facebook-ad-creative-tracker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "currentAds": [
    {
      "ad_id": "123",
      "advertiser": "Example Co",
      "headline": "50% off today",
      "landing_url": "https://example.com/sale"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call om_kh/facebook-ad-creative-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,om_kh/facebook-ad-creative-tracker"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/65wUF0P9hGiVP1xU8/builds/sY5dhAZjRy8tf71Ft/openapi.json