Facebook Ad Library Scraper

Scrape any brand's active ads from Facebook's public Ad Library — total ad count, creative text, CTAs, start dates, and platform mix across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network.

What you get

Monitor competitor ad activity across the Meta ecosystem (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network) without logging in. For every brand you pass in, this scraper returns whether the brand is currently running ads, how many ads are live, and up to 200 individual creative samples with text snippets, call-to-action buttons, start dates, and platform mix. Data is country-filterable (US, IN, GB, etc.).

Coverage note: Meta's Ad Library shows all ad categories in many countries, but in the EU, UK, and US only political and issue ads (plus housing, employment, and credit ads where applicable) are publicly surfaced. Outside those regions, general commercial ads are usually visible too. Use the adType parameter to target a specific category.

Output fields

Field	Description
brand	Brand name searched
country	Country filter applied (or ALL)
adType	Ad category (all, political, housing, employment, credit)
url	Ad Library search URL
active	Whether the brand is currently running ads
adCount	Total number of active ads matching the search
creatives	Array of individual ad creative samples
creativeCount	Number of creatives captured
scraped_at	Timestamp

Creative fields

Field	Description
startDate	Date the ad started running
platforms	Platforms the ad is running on (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network)
cta	Call-to-action button text (e.g., "Shop Now", "Sign Up")
textSnippet	Ad copy / text content

Example output

{
    "brand": "allbirds",
    "country": "US",
    "adType": "all",
    "url": "https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=active&ad_type=all&country=US&q=allbirds",
    "active": true,
    "adCount": 42,
    "creatives": [
        {
            "startDate": "Mar 18, 2026",
            "platforms": ["Facebook", "Instagram"],
            "cta": "Shop Now",
            "textSnippet": "New Tree Runners. Made with eucalyptus. Comfortable from your first step."
        },
        {
            "startDate": "Apr 2, 2026",
            "platforms": ["Instagram"],
            "cta": "Learn More",
            "textSnippet": "Plant-based materials. Real carbon reduction. Meet Allbirds."
        }
    ],
    "creativeCount": 20,
    "scraped_at": "2026-04-23T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Input parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
brands	Yes	Brand names or keywords to look up in the Ad Library (e.g., ["allbirds", "on running", "hoka"]). One dataset item per brand.
country	No	ISO country code or ALL for worldwide. Default ALL. Common: US, IN, GB, CA, AU.
adType	No	Ad category. One of all, political_and_issue_ads, housing_ads, employment_ads, credit_ads. Default all.
maxCreatives	No	Maximum number of individual ad creatives to capture per brand. Set to 0 to return count only. Default 20, max 200.

Use cases

• Growth marketers: Reverse-engineer competitor acquisition strategies — which ads are running, on which platforms, and how long they've been live.
• Brand monitoring: Track your own active ad inventory across Meta or catch rogue creatives running longer than intended.
• Ad agencies: Build creative swipe files by pulling active ads for top performers in any vertical.
• Political campaigns: Monitor opponent ad spend activity with adType: political_and_issue_ads.
• Compliance teams: Audit housing, employment, or credit ads for regulatory compliance.

Limitations

• Coverage varies by country. Meta's Ad Library shows all ad categories (commercial + political/issue/housing/employment/credit) in many regions, but in the EU, UK, and US non-political ads are restricted and only political_and_issue_ads (plus housing/employment/credit where applicable) are surfaced. Expect smaller result sets for general-brand searches in those markets.
• Creative capture is best-effort — Facebook's Ad Library lazy-loads creatives; the first 20–50 are most reliable. Deeper pagination can miss creatives.
• Ad visibility varies by country. A brand active in the US may return active: false when filtered to IN.
• Political, housing, employment, and credit ads have extra disclosure fields on Meta's site; this scraper captures the standard fields only.
• Text snippets are truncated to the first portion of the ad copy visible in the Library card view.

Compared to alternatives

• vs. Meta's Ad Library API: Meta's API requires business verification and is limited to political, housing, employment, and credit ads in most regions. This actor covers all ad categories with no approval required.
• vs. Other Apify Store Facebook ad scrapers: Most pull Page posts, not Ad Library data. This actor is focused specifically on the active-ad inventory.

Pairs well with Instagram Scraper for organic post monitoring and TikTok Scraper for cross-platform competitor tracking.

FAQ

Do I need a Facebook account? No. The Ad Library is a public tool and this scraper does not log in.

Why does the same brand return different adCount for different countries? Meta shows different ads in different regions. Use country: "ALL" for worldwide totals or pass a specific country code to see that country's ad inventory.

Can I get ad spend data? Only for political, housing, employment, and credit ads — Meta publishes spend ranges for those categories only. Standard ads do not include spend.

Can I pull creative images or videos? This actor returns text, CTA, platforms, and start date. Creative media URLs are available on request for custom integrations.

Last verified: 2026-04

More scrapers at thirdwatch.dev.