Guide · ad libraries
How to see your competitors’ ads
Each major ad platform publishes a library of the ads that run on it. To see a competitor’s ads, search their name in Meta’s Ad Library, Google’s Ads Transparency Center, LinkedIn’s Ad Library and TikTok’s Commercial Content Library. Each shows the ads themselves; reach, targeting and spend appear only for some ads, mostly those shown in the EU or about politics.
The four ad libraries
| Library | Search it at | What it shows | Only for some ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Ad Library | facebook.com/ads/library | Every active ad across Meta’s apps | Ads about social issues, elections or politics: spend, reach and who funded them, kept 7 years. Ads shown in the EU: more detail, kept a year after their last impression. |
| Google Ads Transparency Center | adstransparency.google.com | An advertiser’s name, location and payer, and the ads it served on Search, Display, Gmail and YouTube over a period | Ads served in some regions, the EEA among them: targeting, how many people each reached, and a subject label. |
| LinkedIn Ad Library | linkedin.com/ad-library | Preview, format, advertiser, payer and whether an ad is restricted, for ads since June 1, 2023 | Ads targeted to the EU: impressions, targeting and the dates they ran. |
| TikTok Commercial Content Library | library.tiktok.com | Ads shown in the EU only: when each was published and last seen, its targeting, and how many people saw it | Every ad it holds is an EU ad. |
Source: Meta Transparency Center, Google Advertising Policies Help, LinkedIn Help, TikTok for Developers
How to research a competitor’s ads
- List your competitors by the names they advertise under. A Page or advertiser name can differ from the product name, and Google and LinkedIn also show who paid.
- Search each one in every library: each shows a different part of what they run.
- Note when each ad started. On Meta, an ad still live after months is one the advertiser keeps paying for.
- Group the ads by offer, message, format and call to action. What repeats is what they are investing in.
- Where a library shows reach or targeting, use it to see which ads got the most delivery and whom they were aimed at.
- Save each ad’s link with the date you read it, and look again in a few weeks to see what stopped and what is new.
What no ad library tells you
- Results: none of the four lists clicks, sales or conversion rates among what it shows.
- Spend on ordinary commercial ads: Meta publishes spend only for ads about social issues, elections or politics.
- Whether an ad is winning. An active ad is one someone is paying for, which is a signal, not proof.
Source: Meta Transparency Center
Doing it for many competitors
Searching four libraries by hand works for one or two competitors. For more, Oneirosea’s research agent reads Meta’s, Google’s, LinkedIn’s and TikTok’s libraries for you and returns a teardown of messaging, offers, hooks and what each competitor appears to be testing, every ad linked to its source.
Common questions
How do I find a competitor’s Facebook ads?
Search the brand or its Facebook Page name in Meta’s Ad Library. Its active ads across Meta’s apps appear with the date each one started.
Can I see how much a competitor spends on ads?
Rarely. Meta publishes spend only for ads about social issues, elections or politics, and LinkedIn’s library shows impressions for EU ads but not spend.
Is it allowed to look at competitors’ ads?
Yes. The platforms publish these libraries so anyone can see who is advertising and what they run.
Which ad library shows the most?
For ads shown in the EU, all four add delivery or targeting detail, and TikTok’s holds nothing else. Outside the EU, Google’s and LinkedIn’s name who paid for an ad, and Meta’s shows every active ad across its apps.
Sources
- Meta Ad Library toolsMeta Transparency Center, read October 1, 2026
- Ads transparencyGoogle Advertising Policies Help, read October 1, 2026
- LinkedIn’s Ad LibraryLinkedIn Help, read October 1, 2026
- Commercial Content APITikTok for Developers, read October 1, 2026