Advertising library: How to view competitors' ads on social media

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How to Use Ad Libraries to Spy on Competitors

Advertising library: How to view competitors' ads on social media

The Advertising Library is a collection of ready-to-use ad materials for campaigns, including images, videos, and texts. Ad libraries are crucial in modern marketing, providing access to a variety of solutions for effective campaigns. In this blog, we will tell about the most popular ones and explain how to work with them.

What is the Use of an Ad Library?

  1. Transparency: Ad libraries enhance transparency by allowing users to view and analyze all active ads, improving advertiser accountability.
  2. Competitive Analysis: They enable the study of competitors' strategies, offering new ideas for your own campaigns.
  3. Inspiration: Ad library helps users find creative and effective ads for inspiration.

📌 The main goals of ad libraries are transparency, competitive analysis, and idea generation.

Meta Ad Library

The Facebook Ads Library is a large online database containing all active ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network, accessible to everyone without login.

The illustration of Meta Ads Library
The illustration of Meta Ads Library

Main Features and Functions

  1. Allows users to view and study all advertisements.
  2. Generates reports providing insights into ad campaign effectiveness.
  3. Facilitates the study of competitors' strategies and creative elements for audits.

Advantages and Limitations of Meta Ad Library

Advantages:

  1. You can view all ads launched in Meta.
  2. Check ad status.
  3. See display time.
  4. Access library ID.
  5. Identify placements.

Limitations:

  1. Does not support deep analysis of competitors' ad campaigns.

When to Use Meta Ad Library?

Searching Ads:

  1. Search ads by keywords.
  2. Filters by country, ad type, and other parameters.
  3. Search competitors' ads or specific topics.

Viewing Ad Details:

  1. Detailed information about ads is available.

Downloading Creatives:

  1. Download images and videos used in ads for inspiration.

How to Use Meta Ad Library?

  1. Rank all offers using filters to find relevant ads.
    Search for advertisement by filters in Meta Library
    Search for advertisement by filters in Meta Library
    You can choose all ads available in the Facebook Ads Library or ads related to social issues, elections, or politics.
    Search for an advertisement by format in Meta Ads Library
    Search for an advertisement by format in Meta Ads Library
  2. Don’t forget to specify a keyword or advertiser to search for ads. 
  3. After filling out all fields and starting the search, the number of results for the query will be displayed:
    The results of searchif advertisement in Meta Library
    The results of searchif advertisement in Meta Library
  4. Additionally, a field with more filters appears where you can choose:
The illustration of filters in Meta Ads Library
The illustration of filters in Meta Ads Library
  1. The language of the ad.
  2. Various advertisers running campaigns relevant to the query.
  3. The platform where the ad creative is displayed (Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network, Messenger).
  4. The type of a media file (images, memes, images and memes, video, without images or video).
  5. Ad activity.
  6. The display period of the ad creative.
  7. When viewing ad creatives, you can track when they were launched.
    View the launch date of creatives in Meta Ads Library
    View the launch date of creatives in Meta Ads Library
    You can learn the Library ID, the status of the ad campaign, when exactly the specific creative started running, and on which specific Meta platform it was shown. You can also learn about the advertiser and view the ad creative with the accompanying text.
  8. Using the ad library report, you can track the total number of ads on social issues, elections, or politics in the country of interest, as well as the total spending.
    The report in Meta Ad Library
    The report in Meta Ad Library
  9. You can also consider each political advertiser by the number of ads, spending during the specified period, and review all ads.

📌 Overall, Facebook Ads Library is an intuitive service where you can find ads based on the necessary criteria and queries.

Google Ads Library

Google Ads Library is a free online tool provided by Google that allows you to view, research, and analyze ad campaigns launched through the Google Ads platform.

The illustration of Google Ads Library
The illustration of Google Ads Library

Main Features and Functions

  1. Search and view all ad campaigns created in Google Ads.
  2. Analyze keywords and ad messages.
  3. Track changes in ad campaigns and competitor strategies.

Advantages and limitations of Google Ads Library

Advantages:

  1. Study and adapt practices from other companies to improve your own campaigns.
  2. Gain insights about competitors and make informed decisions for marketing strategies.
  3. Ensure transparency and openness in advertising activities for all users.

Limitations:

  1. Data may be limited by time frames, making it difficult to analyze long-term marketing strategies. Currently, you can view ads up to 2018.
  2. Not all early campaigns and ads are available for viewing.

When to Use Google Ad Library?

  1. Study competitors' ad campaigns, keywords, creatives, and strategies to better understand their marketing tactics and develop measures to stay ahead.
  2. Analyzing various ads and creatives can inspire new ideas for creating effective campaigns and attracting an audience.
  3. Track changes in ad campaigns and trends with Google Ads Library.
  4. Viewing ads and budget data allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns and make necessary adjustments to improve results.

How to Use Google Ads Library

  1. To find suitable ads in the Google Ads Library, you can also rank ads by date:
Sorting the advertisement by date in Google Ads Library
Sorting the advertisement by date in Google Ads Library


You can sort by the country where the ad will be shown:

Sorting the advertisement by country in Google Ads Library
Sorting the advertisement by country in Google Ads Library


Additionally, you can choose the required format:

Sorting the advertisement by format in Google Ads Library
Sorting the advertisement by format in Google Ads Library
  1. Don't forget to specify the advertiser or app name for the search.
  2. When you find the desired company or website, you can first get information about the company:
    1. The legal name under which it is registered.
    2. The country where the company is registered.
    3. Advertiser confirmation on the Google platform.
      Search for creatives by advertiser in Google Ads Library
      Search for creatives by advertiser in Google Ads Library
  3. Next, you can review the number of ads by the advertiser. Creatives are sorted by upload date.
    View creatives by upload date in Google Ads Library
    View creatives by upload date in Google Ads Library
  4. When opening an ad, you can find out the date of the last display of the ad and its format.
View creatives by last show date and format in Google Ads Library
View creatives by last show date and format in Google Ads Library

📌 Overall, the Google Ads Library provides all the necessary information about the company and the ads provided. However, compared to the Meta Ad Library, Google has significantly less functionality.

TikTok Creative Center

TikTok Creative Center is a platform by TikTok that provides information about advertising campaigns launched on TikTok. This helps users track various ads and learn about companies' marketing strategies on this popular social network.

The work in TikTok Ads Library
The work in TikTok Ads Library

📌 TikTok Creative Center offers detailed information about each advertising activity in the library, although not all creatives are included—only those approved for publication by the advertiser.

Creatives in the TikTok advertising library
Creatives in the TikTok advertising library

If an advertiser refuses to add their video to TikTok Creative Center, they simply do not check the publication box for the ad library.

Main Features and Functions of Tiktok Creative Center

  1. View ads to learn about the creatives and strategies of companies advertising on TikTok.
  2. Search for ads using filters, keywords, brands, industries, and other parameters.
  3. TikTok Ads Library helps track current advertising trends on TikTok and understand which marketing strategies are effective.

Advantages and Limitations of TikTok Creative Center

Advantages:

  1. Study creatives used by advertisers.
  2. Track the number of likes, comments, and shares.
  3. Analyze CTR, CVR, clicks, conversions, and the number of users who watched the ad till the end.

Limitations:

  1. Not all information about ad campaigns is available.
  2. Privacy policies may restrict the search for specific ads.

When to Use TikTok Creative Center

  1. Search for creatives by keywords, brands, or industries.
  2. Use filters to refine searches by various parameters such as country, ad type, industry, etc.
  3. View ads, study creatives, and campaign strategies.
  4. Analyze TikTok advertising trends, study competitor strategies, and gain ideas for your own campaigns.

How to Use TikTok Creative Center

  1. Upon opening the TikTok Ads Library, you're directed to the main page, where various videos on different topics are displayed. Without setting the appropriate filters, finding the needed creatives can take a while.
Search for creatives by filter in TikTok Ads Library
Search for creatives by filter in TikTok Ads Library

To locate the desired video, you can use filters or enter keywords.
Available Filters:

  1. Country where the video was uploaded.
  2. Product sector being advertised.
  3. Specific product being advertised.
  4. Time frame during which the ad was shown.
  5. Language of the ad creative.
  6. Format of the ad creative.

You can also sort videos by:

  1. Country where the video was uploaded.
  2. Personal recommendations.
  3. Number of views.
  4. Click-through rate (CTR).
  5. Number of likes.
  6. Conversion rate (CVR).
  7. Keyword search is more precise, especially if you want to view your competitor’s creatives.