# Facebook Ad Library Scraper - Meta Ads Intelligence (`top_mythos/ad-library-scraper`) Actor Scrape the Facebook & Instagram Ad Library for any advertiser or keyword. Creatives, spend, dates, reach. Pay only for ads delivered, never over your cap. - **URL**: https://apify.com/top\_mythos/ad-library-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Pascoal Dias](https://apify.com/top_mythos) (community) - **Categories:** Marketing, Social media, E-commerce - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $0.75 / 1,000 record scrapeds This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 ## Facebook Ad Library Scraper - Meta Ads Spy & Competitor Intelligence Scrape the **Facebook & Instagram Ad Library** for any advertiser or keyword and get clean, structured data on every ad they are running. Built for competitor ad intelligence, creative research, and ad monitoring. **You are charged only for ads actually delivered to your dataset, never for failed runs, and never a single ad over your limit.** --- ### Why this scraper Most Facebook ad scrapers hide the real price, ignore your result cap, stop early on big advertisers, and hand back metadata with links that expire. This one is different: - **Fair, flat pricing: $0.75 per 1,000 ads.** Printed right here, no surprises. - **Your result cap is law.** Set `maxResultsPerPlatform` and the run will never exceed it or bill you past it. - **No charge for failed or empty runs.** If we do not deliver an ad, you do not pay for it. - **Complete results at scale.** Paginates through large advertisers instead of silently stopping at a few thousand. - **Own your creatives.** Optionally download every image and video into your storage, not a link that expires next week. - **Cost preview before you spend.** Turn on `estimateOnly` to see the projected ad count and price without running a paid scrape. - **Reliable.** Automatic retries, residential-proxy rotation, and save-as-you-go so a long run never loses delivered work. ### What you get Every ad in the Meta Ad Library, across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network: - Advertiser (page name, id, profile URL, verification) - Full creative: headline, body text, call to action, landing URL, and every image/video URL - Where it ran (the publisher platforms) and whether it is still active - Start date, end date, and total days active - EU reach and targeting, and political spend/impression ranges, where Meta publishes them ### Quick start Pull Nike's active ads in the US: ```json { "platforms": ["meta"], "searchMode": "advertiser", "searchTerms": ["nike"], "countries": ["US"], "adStatus": "active", "maxResultsPerPlatform": 500 } ```` Want a price first? Add `"estimateOnly": true` for a free cost preview. ### Common use cases - **Spy on a competitor's ads:** search their brand name and see every creative, hook, and offer they are running. - **Find winning angles:** filter by media type and active status to see what is working right now. - **Monitor new ads:** enable `monitoringEnabled` and schedule the run to get only ads you have not seen before. - **Feed an AI workflow:** call it from an agent via API or MCP, clean JSON in, clean JSON out. ### Key input options | Field | What it does | |-------|--------------| | `searchMode` | `keyword` (ad text), `advertiser` (page/brand name), or `advertiserId` (exact page ID or profile URL). | | `searchTerms` | Brands or keywords to search. | | `countries` | ISO country codes, also geo-targets the proxy. | | `adStatus` | `active`, `inactive`, or `all`. | | `adCategory` | `all`, `commercial`, or `political` (political unlocks spend/impression ranges where published). | | `maxResultsPerPlatform` | Hard cap on ads returned. Strictly enforced. | | `downloadMedia` | Save image/video creatives into your storage (billed separately). | | `monitoringEnabled` | Return only ads not seen in previous runs. | | `estimateOnly` | Preview count and cost without a paid scrape. | ### Output One row per ad: ```json { "platform": "meta", "adId": "1702938977100376", "advertiser": { "name": "Nike", "id": "...", "verified": true, "pageUrl": "..." }, "creative": { "type": "carousel", "headline": "...", "body": "Bring sports more fully into your day with the Nike App.", "cta": "Install now", "landingUrl": "https://nike.com/...", "mediaUrls": ["https://..."], "downloadedMedia": [] }, "surfaces": ["facebook", "instagram", "audience_network", "messenger"], "status": "active", "dates": { "startDate": "...", "endDate": null, "totalActiveDays": 455 }, "countries": ["US"], "sourceUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=1702938977100376" } ``` ### Pricing | Event | Price | |-------|-------| | Ad scraped | $0.00075 per ad ($0.75 per 1,000) | | Creative downloaded (optional) | $0.003 per file ($3 per 1,000) | You are billed per ad delivered to your dataset. Failed runs, empty runs, and anything over your cap are free. ### Roadmap Google Ads Transparency Center and TikTok ad-library support are in development and will be added as free updates. Follow the Actor to be notified. ### Data and compliance This Actor collects only **public ad-transparency data** that Meta publishes by design, while logged out, using public fields only. It does not log in, bypass authentication, or collect private personal data. Advertiser information is business data. For any data concern or removal request, contact the publisher. ### FAQ **Do I need proxies?** Yes, use Apify Residential (the default). Meta blocks datacenter IPs. **Will it stop at my limit?** Always. The cap is enforced before any ad is counted, and you are never charged past it. **Which countries can I search?** Any country Meta serves the ad in. The Ad Library is global for commercial ads. # Actor input Schema ## `platforms` (type: `array`): Which ad libraries to query. Currently Meta (Facebook and Instagram). Google Ads and TikTok support is coming soon. ## `searchMode` (type: `string`): How to find ads. 'keyword' searches ad text (Meta and TikTok only, Google has no free-text search). 'advertiser' searches by brand/page name. 'domain' finds a brand by website (best for Google). 'advertiserId' uses exact platform IDs or profile URLs. ## `searchTerms` (type: `array`): Keywords, advertiser names, or brands to search for. One run can cover several. ## `advertiserIdsOrUrls` (type: `array`): Precise page IDs, advertiser IDs (e.g. Google AR... ids), or ad-library profile URLs, used when searchMode is 'advertiserId'. ## `domains` (type: `array`): Website domains to resolve to advertisers (e.g. nike.com). Best for Google, which is advertiser/domain-centric. ## `countries` (type: `array`): ISO-3166 alpha-2 country codes to search within, also used to geo-target the proxy. TikTok and EU-commercial coverage require EEA/UK codes. ## `adStatus` (type: `string`): Return active ads, inactive/stopped ads, or all. ## `adCategory` (type: `string`): 'political' unlocks spend and impression ranges where the platform publishes them (varies by region and law). 'commercial' restricts to commercial ads. ## `dateFrom` (type: `string`): Only ads first shown on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for no lower bound. ## `dateTo` (type: `string`): Only ads first shown on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for no upper bound. ## `mediaTypes` (type: `array`): Restrict to certain creative formats. ## `maxResultsPerPlatform` (type: `integer`): Hard cap on ads returned per platform. This limit is strictly enforced, the run will never exceed it or charge you beyond it. ## `downloadMedia` (type: `boolean`): Host each ad's image/video/carousel as a downloadable file in the run's key-value store, instead of only expiring URLs. Billed as a separate media-download event. ## `includeTransparency` (type: `boolean`): Pull EU/DSA reach and targeting, and political spend/impression ranges, where the platform exposes them. Billed as a separate enrichment event only when extra requests are made. ## `monitoringEnabled` (type: `boolean`): Return only ads not seen in previous runs of this monitoring set. Ideal for scheduled competitor tracking. ## `monitoringStateStore` (type: `string`): Named key-value store that persists seen ad IDs across scheduled runs. Reuse the same name to keep a continuous watch. ## `estimateOnly` (type: `boolean`): Return an estimated ad count and price for these inputs without running a paid scrape. Use this to preview cost before committing. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Ad libraries block datacenter IPs. Residential proxies, geo-matched to your countries, are strongly recommended. ## Actor input object example ```json { "platforms": [ "meta" ], "searchMode": "advertiser", "searchTerms": [ "nike", "gymshark" ], "domains": [ "nike.com" ], "countries": [ "US", "GB", "FR" ], "adStatus": "all", "adCategory": "all", "mediaTypes": [ "image", "video", "carousel", "text" ], "maxResultsPerPlatform": 1000, "downloadMedia": false, "includeTransparency": true, "monitoringEnabled": false, "monitoringStateStore": "ads-intel-seen", "estimateOnly": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "platforms": [ "meta" ], "searchMode": "advertiser", "searchTerms": [ "nike" ], "countries": [ "US" ], "adStatus": "all", "adCategory": "all", "maxResultsPerPlatform": 1000, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("top_mythos/ad-library-scraper").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "platforms": ["meta"], "searchMode": "advertiser", "searchTerms": ["nike"], "countries": ["US"], "adStatus": "all", "adCategory": "all", "maxResultsPerPlatform": 1000, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("top_mythos/ad-library-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "platforms": [ "meta" ], "searchMode": "advertiser", "searchTerms": [ "nike" ], "countries": [ "US" ], "adStatus": "all", "adCategory": "all", "maxResultsPerPlatform": 1000, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call top_mythos/ad-library-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=top_mythos/ad-library-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Facebook Ad Library Scraper - Meta Ads Intelligence", "description": "Scrape the Facebook & Instagram Ad Library for any advertiser or keyword. Creatives, spend, dates, reach. Pay only for ads delivered, never over your cap.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "cHw4zfKPf3OWZdRSk" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/top_mythos~ad-library-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-top_mythos-ad-library-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/top_mythos~ad-library-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-top_mythos-ad-library-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/top_mythos~ad-library-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-top_mythos-ad-library-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "platforms" ], "properties": { "platforms": { "title": "Ad libraries to search", "type": "array", "description": "Which ad libraries to query. Currently Meta (Facebook and Instagram). Google Ads and TikTok support is coming soon.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "meta" ], "enumTitles": [ "Meta (Facebook / Instagram)" ] }, "default": [ "meta" ] }, "searchMode": { "title": "Search mode", "enum": [ "keyword", "advertiser", "domain", "advertiserId" ], "type": "string", "description": "How to find ads. 'keyword' searches ad text (Meta and TikTok only, Google has no free-text search). 'advertiser' searches by brand/page name. 'domain' finds a brand by website (best for Google). 'advertiserId' uses exact platform IDs or profile URLs.", "default": "advertiser" }, "searchTerms": { "title": "Search terms", "type": "array", "description": "Keywords, advertiser names, or brands to search for. One run can cover several.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "advertiserIdsOrUrls": { "title": "Advertiser IDs or profile URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Precise page IDs, advertiser IDs (e.g. Google AR... ids), or ad-library profile URLs, used when searchMode is 'advertiserId'.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "domains": { "title": "Advertiser domains", "type": "array", "description": "Website domains to resolve to advertisers (e.g. nike.com). Best for Google, which is advertiser/domain-centric.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "countries": { "title": "Countries", "type": "array", "description": "ISO-3166 alpha-2 country codes to search within, also used to geo-target the proxy. TikTok and EU-commercial coverage require EEA/UK codes.", "default": [ "US" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "adStatus": { "title": "Ad status", "enum": [ "active", "inactive", "all" ], "type": "string", "description": "Return active ads, inactive/stopped ads, or all.", "default": "all" }, "adCategory": { "title": "Ad category", "enum": [ "all", "commercial", "political" ], "type": "string", "description": "'political' unlocks spend and impression ranges where the platform publishes them (varies by region and law). 'commercial' restricts to commercial ads.", "default": "all" }, "dateFrom": { "title": "Date from", "type": "string", "description": "Only ads first shown on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for no lower bound." }, "dateTo": { "title": "Date to", "type": "string", "description": "Only ads first shown on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for no upper bound." }, "mediaTypes": { "title": "Media types", "type": "array", "description": "Restrict to certain creative formats.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "image", "video", "carousel", "text" ], "enumTitles": [ "Image", "Video", "Carousel", "Text" ] }, "default": [ "image", "video", "carousel", "text" ] }, "maxResultsPerPlatform": { "title": "Max results per platform", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 500000, "type": "integer", "description": "Hard cap on ads returned per platform. This limit is strictly enforced, the run will never exceed it or charge you beyond it.", "default": 1000 }, "downloadMedia": { "title": "Download creatives to storage", "type": "boolean", "description": "Host each ad's image/video/carousel as a downloadable file in the run's key-value store, instead of only expiring URLs. Billed as a separate media-download event.", "default": false }, "includeTransparency": { "title": "Include transparency data", "type": "boolean", "description": "Pull EU/DSA reach and targeting, and political spend/impression ranges, where the platform exposes them. Billed as a separate enrichment event only when extra requests are made.", "default": true }, "monitoringEnabled": { "title": "Monitoring mode (only new ads)", "type": "boolean", "description": "Return only ads not seen in previous runs of this monitoring set. Ideal for scheduled competitor tracking.", "default": false }, "monitoringStateStore": { "title": "Monitoring state store name", "type": "string", "description": "Named key-value store that persists seen ad IDs across scheduled runs. Reuse the same name to keep a continuous watch.", "default": "ads-intel-seen" }, "estimateOnly": { "title": "Cost preview only (no paid scrape)", "type": "boolean", "description": "Return an estimated ad count and price for these inputs without running a paid scrape. Use this to preview cost before committing.", "default": false }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Ad libraries block datacenter IPs. Residential proxies, geo-matched to your countries, are strongly recommended.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```