Facebook Ads Library Scraper

Scrape ads from the Facebook / Meta Ad Library at scale. Search by keyword, advertiser Page URL, or a pasted Ads Library URL. Extract creatives, copy, CTAs, destination links, images, videos, platforms, and spend when Meta makes it available — in a flat, spreadsheet-ready format. No Facebook login, Meta app review, or Ad Library API token required.

What does Facebook Ads Library Scraper do?

This Actor reads the public Meta Ad Library (the same transparency archive anyone can open in a browser) and returns one structured row per ad. Use it as a Facebook Ads Library API alternative for competitor research, creative inspiration, brand monitoring, and agency audits across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network.

Provide at least one target. Each keyword, page URL, or Ads Library URL is a separate task (up to 20 total per run). Set maxAds to control how many matching ads to keep per task (cap: 500). Optional date bounds collect ads whose activity window overlaps an inclusive campaign period. Overlapping results are deduplicated by Ad Library ID before output and per-ad charging.

Who is it for?

• Digital marketers — Research competitor creatives, CTAs, and landing pages.
• Competitive intelligence teams — Monitor what rivals advertise, where, and for how long.
• Brand monitoring — Spot unauthorized or partner ads that mention your brand.
• Agencies — Audit client competitors across Meta placements.
• Researchers & analysts — Export Ad Library data for trends and reporting (commercial ads).

Why scrape the Meta Ad Library?

• No Meta API setup — Skip app creation, review, and token rotation.
• No login required — Works from the public Ad Library experience.
• Three search modes — Keyword, Facebook Page URL, or pasted facebook.com/ads/library/ results URL (mix freely).
• Structured export — Consistent field names ready for Google Sheets, Excel, Airtable, or a database.
• Rich creatives — Direct image URLs, video URLs, and video previews when present.
• Platform breakdown — See Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network flags.
• Apify platform — Schedule runs, call the API, connect Zapier/Make/n8n, and monitor from Console.

What data can you extract?

Field	Description
adArchiveId / adLibraryUrl	Unique Ad Library ID and deep link
pageId / pageName / pageUrl	Advertiser identity
pageProfilePictureUrl / pageCategories / pageLikeCount	Page metadata when present
isActive / startDate / endDate	Delivery status and activity dates
platforms	Where the ad ran (Facebook, Instagram, …)
bodyText / title / ctaText / ctaType	Primary creative copy and CTA
linkUrl / linkCaption / linkDescription	Destination link fields
displayFormat	Format reported by Meta (image, video, carousel, …)
imageUrls / videoUrls / videoPreviewUrls	Media URLs
categories / containsAiMedia	Category and AI-media flags
impressions / spend / currency	Estimates when Meta exposes them (often null for commercial ads)
gatedType / collationCount / cardsCount	Gating, collation size, carousel card count

The full dataset uses a stable 31-field contract (same key order every row). See the Output and Dataset tabs for the complete schema.

How to scrape Facebook Ads Library

1. Open Facebook Ads Library Scraper on Apify Store and click Try for free.
2. Enter at least one of: search keywords (e.g. running shoes), advertiser Page URLs (e.g. https://www.facebook.com/nike), or Ads Library URLs copied from your browser.
3. Optionally set country (default US), active status, media type, and date bounds.
4. Set maxAds (default 100 per target).
5. Click Start and wait for the run to finish.
6. Download JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or send results to an integration.

No coding required for Console runs. Developers can use the API tab or apify call.

How much does it cost to scrape Facebook ads?

Pricing is pay-per-event: you pay for runs you start and ads you actually receive — no monthly minimum from this Actor.

Event	Free / no discount	Description
Actor start	$0.005	Once per Actor run
Ad scraped	$0.0004 / ad ($0.40 / 1,000)	Per unique delivered ad

Volume discounts on higher Apify plans:

Plan	Per-ad price	Per 1,000 ads
No discount (Free)	$0.0004	$0.40
Bronze	$0.00035	$0.35
Silver	$0.00028	$0.28
Gold	$0.00022	$0.22

Example (Free plan): 50 ads from one search ≈ $0.005 + (50 × $0.0004) = $0.025.

Filtered-out, duplicate, and undelivered ads are not charged. Platform compute/proxy usage is billed by Apify separately from these event prices.

Configure the same numbers in Console Publishing → Monetization before you publish. If you change tiers later, update this table to match.

Input

See the Input tab for the full form. Summary:

Field	Default	Notes
searchQueries	—	Keyword searches (e.g. shopify)
pageUrls	—	Public Facebook Page URLs (e.g. https://www.facebook.com/nike)
adsLibraryUrls	—	Full results URLs from facebook.com/ads/library/
country	US	ISO code or ALL (applies to keywords and page URLs)
activeStatus	all	all / active / inactive
mediaType	all	all / image_and_meme / video
onlyAdsNewerThan / onlyAdsOlderThan	empty	YYYY-MM-DD or relative (30 days, 2 weeks, 3 months)
maxAds	100	Per target, after dedupe and date filtering (max 500)

Tips

• You must provide at least one target. You can mix all three source types in one run.
• Pasted Ads Library URLs keep their own country / active_status / media_type / keyword or page ID. Unsupported URL parameters (language, platform, region, sort, embedded dates, …) are rejected with a clear error rather than silently ignored.
• Single-ad URLs (?id=…) are not supported — use search or page targets.
• Page URLs are resolved inside the Ad Library (handle → numeric page ID). Pages with no discoverable Ad Library history under that handle fail clearly.

Output

You can download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or XML. Example row (trimmed media URLs):

{
  "adArchiveId": "1238141341576372",
  "adLibraryUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=1238141341576372",
  "pageId": "20409006880",
  "pageName": "Shopify",
  "pageUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/shopify/",
  "pageProfilePictureUrl": "https://…",
  "pageCategories": ["Software"],
  "pageLikeCount": 4538696,
  "isActive": false,
  "startDate": "2026-01-13",
  "endDate": "2026-08-09",
  "platforms": ["FACEBOOK", "INSTAGRAM", "MESSENGER"],
  "bodyText": "When it’s time to start your business, it’s time for Shopify.",
  "title": "Get going and keep growing",
  "ctaText": "Sign up",
  "ctaType": "SIGN_UP",
  "linkUrl": "https://www.shopify.com/free-trial",
  "linkCaption": "shopify.com",
  "linkDescription": "{{product.description}}",
  "displayFormat": "DCO",
  "imageUrls": ["https://…"],
  "videoUrls": [],
  "videoPreviewUrls": [],
  "categories": ["UNKNOWN"],
  "containsAiMedia": false,
  "impressions": null,
  "spend": null,
  "currency": null,
  "gatedType": "ELIGIBLE",
  "collationCount": 1,
  "cardsCount": 2
}

A RUN_SUMMARY record in the run’s key-value store reports delivered / filtered / duplicate counts, pages fetched, and timing.

Tips for better runs

• Start with maxAds: 20–50 while testing filters, then raise the limit.
• Prefer active + a tight date window when you only care about live campaigns.
• Split very large exports across multiple keywords or runs instead of one 500-ad task.
• For a specific advertiser, a Page URL is usually cleaner than a broad keyword.
• Schedule daily/weekly runs in Apify to build a monitoring feed.

Limitations

• Commercial Ad Library search (ad_type=all) is supported. Political / issue ads are not scraped yet and are rejected clearly if requested via URL.
• Spend and impression fields are often null for commercial ads — that is Meta’s public data, not a delivery bug.
• Page-URL resolution needs Ad Library ads discoverable under the page’s handle as a keyword within a bounded search; obscure pages may fail to resolve.
• This Actor does not log into Facebook or call the official Marketing / Ad Library Graph API.

FAQ

Is this a Facebook Ads Library API?

It is an API alternative: you get structured Ad Library data through Apify (Console, REST, or integrations) without Meta developer approval. It is not Meta’s official Ad Library API.

Do I need a Facebook account?

No. The scraper uses the public Ad Library.

Can I scrape Instagram ads?

Yes — Instagram placements appear in Meta Ad Library results and in the platforms field when Meta reports them.

Why are spend and impressions null?

Meta often omits spend/impression estimates for ordinary commercial ads. When present, they are included; when absent, the fields are null.

How do I scrape Facebook ads by Page URL?

Paste URLs like https://www.facebook.com/nike into pageUrls. The Actor resolves the page inside the Ad Library, then collects that advertiser’s ads with your filters.

What if my run finds zero ads?

Broaden the keyword, switch country to ALL, set status to all, clear date bounds, or open the same search in a browser to confirm Ad Library returns results.

Legal and ethics

This Actor only collects information that advertisers and Meta have made public in the Ad Library. It does not extract private user profile data such as personal emails, gender, or private location. Results may still include publicly shown business or page information. Personal data is protected by the GDPR in the EU and by other laws worldwide. Scrape and use data only when you have a legitimate purpose. If you are unsure, consult your lawyers. Respect Meta’s terms and applicable advertising/transparency rules.

Support

• Use the Issues tab on this Actor’s Store page for bugs and feature requests.
• Use the API tab for programmatic runs, webhooks, and dataset access.
• Built for reliable scheduled monitoring on the Apify platform.