Facebook & Instagram Ad Library Scraper

The only meta ad library scraper that covers all 6 Meta surfaces in one tool: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network, Threads, and Meta's partner network. Scrape facebook ads, instagram ads, and everything in between - no Meta Business Manager, no app review, no Marketing API credentials needed.

Why this scraper instead of Meta's official API?

	This Scraper	Meta Marketing API
Setup time	30 seconds	Days (app review + business verification)
Business Manager required	No	Yes
App review required	No	Yes
Surfaces covered	All 6 (FB, IG, Messenger, AN, Threads, Partners)	Ad Library API only
Competitor ads	Yes - any advertiser	Only your own accounts
Political ad spend/impressions	Yes (where Meta publishes it)	Limited
Rate limits	Managed for you	You manage tokens + rate limits
EU DSA transparency data	Yes	Manual compliance

What you can do with it

Use case	How
E-commerce competitor spy	Search by keyword or brand to see every ad your competitors run, with creative, copy, CTA, and landing URL
Agency creative briefs	Pull winning ad formats (single image, video, carousel, collection) as structured JSON for your creative team
Ad-format benchmarking	Compare display formats (IMAGE, VIDEO, DPA, DCO, MEME) across competitors at scale
Political ad research	Track political ad spending, impression ranges, and demographic breakdowns for journalism or academic research
EU DSA compliance	Access transparency data Meta publishes under the Digital Services Act
Brand-safety monitoring	Detect counterfeit or unauthorized ads using your brand name or trademarks
Influencer vetting	Verify if claimed brand partnerships actually have running ads
Swipe-file automation	Pipe ad creatives into Airtable, Google Sheets, or Notion via Apify integrations

Four modes

Mode	What you get
Find ads by keyword	Keyword search across every advertiser on Meta. Cursor-paginated. Returns ad copy, images, videos, CTA, landing URL.
Get all ads from a brand / page	Every active (or inactive) ad for a specific Facebook page. Supports brand-name auto-resolve.
Look up a brand's page ID	Company-to-page-ID lookup. Returns name, category, likes, verification status, Instagram handle + followers.
Get full details for a specific ad	Complete detail for one ad, including all creative variants (carousel cards), link URL, CTA, and optional video transcript.

How to use it

1. Pick a mode from the dropdown.
2. Paste your search terms - one per line (keywords, brand names, page IDs, or ad URLs depending on the mode).
3. Optionally select countries, status, or max items.
4. Click Start.

Everything else is in the collapsed Advanced section with sensible defaults.

Example inputs

Keyword search - find facebook ads by topic

{
    "searchMode": "search_ads",
    "searchTerms": ["running shoes", "trail runners"],
    "countries": ["US"],
    "maxItems": 500
}

Scrape all instagram ads from a brand

{
    "searchMode": "company_ads",
    "searchTerms": ["Nike"],
    "countries": ["US"]
}

Look up a company's Facebook page ID

{
    "searchMode": "search_companies",
    "searchTerms": ["nike", "lululemon", "on running"]
}

Get full ad details with video transcript

{
    "searchMode": "ad_details",
    "searchTerms": ["702369045530963"],
    "getTranscript": true
}

Output by ad format

The JSON structure varies by ad format. Here's what to expect:

Single image ad - snapshot.display_format: "IMAGE", creative in snapshot.images[]

Video ad - snapshot.display_format: "VIDEO", creative in snapshot.videos[] with HD/SD URLs + preview image. Optional transcript field when getTranscript: true.

Carousel ad - snapshot.display_format: "MULTI_IMAGES" or "DCO", each slide in snapshot.cards[] with its own body, title, image, link_url, and CTA.

Dynamic Product Ad (DPA) - snapshot.display_format: "DPA", product cards in snapshot.cards[] with individual product URLs, prices in link_description, and product images.

Collection ad - snapshot.display_format: "DCO", mix of video + image cards in snapshot.cards[].

Every item includes a _meta field for traceability:

"_meta": {
    "searchMode": "search_ads",
    "query": "running shoes",
    "country": "US",
    "page": 2,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-05-07T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Null values, empty strings, and empty arrays are automatically stripped from output for clean, compact data.

FAQ

Q: Does this return EU spend and impression data? A: Yes. For ads targeting EU countries, Meta publishes spend ranges, impression ranges, and demographic breakdowns under DSA requirements. This data appears in the aaa_info field (ad-details mode) or the impressions_with_index / spend fields (list modes) when Meta makes it available.

Q: What data varies by country? A: Political ad transparency data (spend, impressions, audience demographics) is only available in countries where Meta is legally required to publish it (US, EU, UK, Canada, Australia, others). Non-political ads show creative + metadata everywhere but no spend/impression data.

Q: Does it flag AI-generated content? A: Yes. Meta's contains_digital_created_media boolean field indicates whether the ad was flagged as containing AI-generated or digitally manipulated content.

Q: Can I access the actual media files (images/videos)? A: The output includes direct CDN URLs to images (original_image_url, resized_image_url) and videos (video_hd_url, video_sd_url). These are temporary Meta CDN links - download them promptly or they may expire.

Q: What's the maximum number of results? A: The keyword search (GET) caps at ~1,500 results per query due to cursor size limits. For larger sweeps, narrow by country, date range, or more specific keywords and run multiple jobs.

Integration ideas

• Slack alerts - Use Apify's Slack integration to get notified when a competitor launches new ads
• Airtable swipe file - Pipe ad creatives directly into an Airtable base for your creative team to browse
• Make / n8n / Zapier - Trigger workflows when new ads match your keywords
• Google Sheets - Auto-export to a shared spreadsheet for weekly competitor reports
• Custom dashboards - Feed the Apify dataset API into your BI tool of choice

Cost & limits

• The actor itself is a thin wrapper - Apify compute usage is minimal.
• All data is billed by ScrapeCreators, not Apify. The API key is bundled with this actor, so you don't need to supply one.
• The search_ads GET endpoint caps at ~1,500 results per query. For wider sweeps, use narrower filters and run multiple jobs.
• Use maxItems and maxItemsPerTerm to keep costs predictable.

Related scrapers

Full cross-platform ad spy - track competitors everywhere they advertise:

• LinkedIn Ad Library Scraper - B2B ad intelligence
• Google Ads Transparency Scraper - Search, YouTube, Display, Shopping
• Reddit Scraper + Ads Library - Reddit content + ads

See all 16 scrapers by unseenuser

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Terms of Service

By running this Actor, you accept the Terms below.

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Apify Actor - Terms of Service

Version: 4.0 Effective Date: May 5, 2026

0. ACCEPTANCE BY USE - IMPORTANT

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding legal agreement between you ("User," "you," "your") and UnseenUser, the Publisher of this Apify actor ("UnseenUser," "the Publisher," "we," "us," "our").

0.1 How You Accept These Terms

You accept these Terms by any of the following actions:

(a) Running the Actor - Initiating any execution of the Actor on the Apify platform (b) Using any output returned by the Actor for any purpose (c) Continuing to access the Actor's listing or documentation after these Terms are visible

0.2 Continuing Acceptance

Each time you run the Actor or use its outputs, you reaffirm your acceptance of the then-current Terms. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Actor immediately.

0.3 No Anonymous Acceptance

You cannot disclaim acceptance by failing to read these Terms, running the Actor through automated systems, or sharing your Apify account with others. By running the Actor on Apify, you bind yourself, your organization, and any individuals or systems acting on your behalf.

0.4 If You Do Not Accept

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not run the Actor. No use is authorized without acceptance.

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PREAMBLE - UNDERSTANDING THE ARCHITECTURE

The Data Flow

You (User) -> Apify Platform -> Actor (software) -> Scrape Creators API -> Meta Ad Library
                                                          |
You (User) <- Apify Platform <- Actor (software) <- Scrape Creators API

What Each Party Does

• You (the User): Run the Actor on the Apify platform with input parameters you choose
• Apify: Operates the cloud infrastructure that hosts and executes Actors
• The Publisher (us): Publishes software code (the Actor) on Apify's platform. The Actor is a thin wrapper that translates your input into requests to a third-party API and returns the API's responses to you. The Publisher does not operate scraping infrastructure, store data, or see/log/process personal data in Actor outputs.
• Third-Party API Provider: Scrape Creators (https://scrapecreators.com). An independent third-party company that operates scraping infrastructure and returns data from source platforms.
• Source Platform: Meta (Facebook, Instagram). The platform whose publicly visible Ad Library data is accessed.

These Terms operate alongside but do not replace: Apify's Terms of Service, Scrape Creators Terms of Service, Meta's Terms of Service, and applicable law in your jurisdiction.

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1. NATURE OF THE SERVICE

1.1 What the Actor Is

The Actor is a software program that: (a) Accepts structured input from you; (b) Translates that input into HTTP requests to Scrape Creators' API; (c) Receives HTTP responses; (d) Returns the response data to you on the Apify platform.

1.2 What the Actor Is Not

The Actor is not: (a) A scraping tool - the Publisher does not operate scraping infrastructure; (b) A direct connection to Meta; (c) A data storage or retention service; (d) A licensed access channel to Meta/Facebook/Instagram; (e) Affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by Meta.

1.3 The Publisher's Limited Role

The Publisher is a software vendor - similar to a developer who publishes an app on an app store. The Publisher is not a data provider, data broker, data processor, or data controller for purposes of GDPR, CCPA, Israel's Privacy Protection Law, or equivalent.

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2. WHO MAY USE THE ACTOR

You may use the Actor only if: (a) You are at least 18 years old; (b) You have legal capacity to enter contracts; (c) You are not in a sanctioned country; (d) You are not on any prohibited persons list.

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3. PERMITTED USES

The Actor may be used for any lawful purpose, including: market research, competitive analysis, academic research, journalism, business intelligence, brand monitoring, and building products that further process publicly available information lawfully.

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4. PROHIBITED USES

4.1 Illegal Activity - Activity illegal under any applicable law.

4.2 Harassment, Stalking, and Personal Targeting - Compiling profiles for harassment, stalking, or doxxing. Tracking individuals without their knowledge. Building profiles of vulnerable populations for retaliatory purposes.

4.3 Discrimination - Using outputs for discriminatory decisions based on protected characteristics.

4.4 Spam and Unsolicited Commercial Communication - Sending unsolicited marketing in violation of CAN-SPAM, CASL, GDPR, PECR, Israeli Anti-Spam Law, or equivalent. Building "lead lists" without consent. Reselling contact data for spam.

4.5 Fraud and Deception - Identity theft, fake reviews, election interference, securities fraud.

4.6 Source Platform Abuse - Circumventing technical protections, creating fake accounts, engagement manipulation, building competitive substitutes for source platforms.

4.7 Reselling the Actor's Service - Reselling raw outputs as your own data product. Sharing credentials for third-party access. Building competing APIs.

4.8 AI Training Without Authorization - Using outputs as training data for commercial AI/ML models without licensing from the source platform.

4.9 Sensitive Targeting - Targeting or profiling based on health, sexual orientation, religion, politics, or other sensitive characteristics. Targeting children under 16.

4.10 Privacy Law Violations - Processing personal data without complying with applicable privacy law. Failing to honor data subject requests.

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5. SOURCE PLATFORM TERMS - YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

You are solely responsible for ensuring your downstream use complies with Meta's Terms of Service. The Publisher makes no representation that any specific use is permitted under Meta's terms. If you receive a cease-and-desist from Meta: (a) Cease immediately; (b) Notify UnseenUser within 48 hours via https://apify.com/UnseenUser; (c) Cooperate as needed.

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6. DATA PROTECTION

6.1 Roles Under Privacy Law

• You are the Data Controller of any personal data you obtain and process
• Scrape Creators bears responsibility for the data collection itself
• The Publisher acts solely as a software vendor (does not store, retain, or process personal data)

6.2 No Data Retention by the Publisher

The Publisher does not maintain a database of personal data, does not access your outputs, and does not view or analyze Actor results.

6.3 Your Obligations

Where your use involves personal data, you must: establish a lawful basis, provide notice, honor data subject rights, implement security measures, and comply with cross-border transfer requirements.

6.4 Israel's Amendment 13

If your use involves Israeli residents' personal data, comply with the Privacy Protection Law as amended (Amendment 13, effective August 14, 2025).

6.5 Sensitive Data Restrictions

Do not use the Actor to target or profile based on: health, religion, politics, sexual orientation, genetics/biometrics, criminal history, or children under 16.

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7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The Actor's source code, schemas, documentation, and branding are owned by the Publisher. You receive a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license. The Publisher claims no ownership over public data returned. You may not reverse engineer or reuse the Actor's code in a competing actor.

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8. PRICING AND PAYMENT

Pricing is administered through Apify. The Publisher may change pricing with at least 14 days' notice. No refunds for breach-related termination.

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9. SERVICE AVAILABILITY

The Actor depends on Apify, Scrape Creators, and Meta's continued accessibility. The Publisher makes no uptime guarantees and may discontinue the Actor at any time.

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10. DISCLAIMERS

THE ACTOR IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR ACCURACY OF DATA. The Publisher makes no representation that your use is lawful in your jurisdiction.

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11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

AGGREGATE LIABILITY SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (a) US $100, OR (b) AMOUNTS PAID IN THE 3 MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT. THE PUBLISHER IS NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES. Claims must be brought within 1 year.

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12. INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Publisher from claims arising from your use, violations of these Terms, violations of law, violations of Source Platform terms, or your processing of personal data.

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13. SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION

The Publisher may terminate access for material breach, illegal use, or credible legal demand. You may stop using the Actor at any time.

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14. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

14.1 Send disputes to https://apify.com/UnseenUser and wait 60 days before formal claims. 14.2 Governed by the laws of the State of Israel. 14.3 Exclusive jurisdiction: civil courts of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel. 14.4 Individual claims only (no class actions). 14.5 Prevailing party recovers attorneys' fees.

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15. MISCELLANEOUS

Entire agreement. Severability applies. No assignment without consent. Sections 0, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 survive termination. English controls. Publisher contact: https://apify.com/UnseenUser

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16. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

By using this Actor, you acknowledge that: (a) You have read these Terms; (b) You understand the architecture; (c) You accept responsibility for your use; (d) Indemnification covers third-party claims; (e) Disputes are resolved in Israeli courts; (f) Publisher identity is obtainable through valid legal process via Apify.

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Actor-Specific ToS Addendum - Facebook & Instagram Ad Library Scraper

This addendum supplements the Master Terms V4.0.

A. Architectural Disclosure - This Actor calls Scrape Creators API endpoints and returns the response. UnseenUser does not store, log, or process the data.

B. Nature of Data Returned - Ad creative (images, video, carousel), ad copy, CTAs, page identity, dates, platforms, demographic targeting (political ads), spend ranges (political ads). Where output includes personal data, you are the data controller.

C. Permitted Use Cases - DTC competitor research, creative inspiration, brand-safety monitoring, influencer-vetting, election integrity research, agency proof-of-spend.

D. Specifically Prohibited Uses - Republishing ad creative without licensing, building substitute Ad Library databases for resale, harassing advertisers, impersonation/trademark dilution, voter suppression, publishing targeting data for manipulation.

E. Platform Terms - Meta restricts commercial reuse of Ad Library data. If Meta issues a cease-and-desist, notify UnseenUser within 48 hours via https://apify.com/UnseenUser.

F. Ad Creative Copyright - Ad creative is copyrighted by the advertiser. Analysis is typically fair use; republishing requires licensing.

G. Political Ads - May be used for journalism, research, voter education, election monitoring. May NOT be used for voter suppression, microtargeting "swing voter" lists, disinformation, or election interference.

H. Page Identity - When a page name corresponds to an individual, treat as personal data in your downstream processing.

I. Cross-Platform Aggregation - Do not aggregate with other ad platforms + personal data to build cross-platform identity profiles. This creates GDPR/CCPA exposure.

J. Restricted Content - Do not target minors, do not promote regulated products in prohibited jurisdictions, comply with industry-specific advertising restrictions.

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Links

• Publisher contact: https://apify.com/UnseenUser
• ScrapeCreators API docs: https://docs.scrapecreators.com
• Meta Ad Library: https://www.facebook.com/ads/library