Ad Library Search

What is an ad library and why does the EU version show more?

An ad library is a public archive of the ads a platform has shown. In the European Union it is no longer optional. Article 39 of the Digital Services Act (DSA) requires every very large platform to publish all ads it shows there. Specifically, very large means more than 45 million average monthly users in the EU. Each record stays online for one year after the ad last ran.

A record holds:

• Ad content: text, image or video and the promoted brand.
• Advertiser and payer: on whose behalf the ad ran and who paid for it.
• Run period: the first and last date of delivery.
• Targeting: main parameters such as age, gender and location, plus exclusions.
• Reach: total reach and the split by EU country.

That is why the EU libraries are the richest source. This holds even for a brand that sells mainly in the UK or the US but also advertises in Europe. You can read the full article in the DSA text on EUR-Lex.

How do you run a competitor ad analysis with an ad library?

When I analyse a competitor's ads, I look for four answers. Which channel do they use, what do they promise, where do they send visitors and which ad do they keep running? The tool then collects the data for all four in one search.

1. Channel: Enter the domain; the tool looks for Meta Pixel, Google Ads, TikTok and LinkedIn tags on the home page and marks those libraries as Priority. For a deeper tag scan, use the website technology checker.
2. Promise: The offer signals in the Analysis tab count discounts, free shipping and guarantee claims.
3. Landing page: The most frequent paths show which categories get the traffic.
4. Staying power: Ads that stay live for months are usually the profitable ones.

Library data completes the search side of competitor research. For the organic side, see my guide to SEO competitor analysis. Read together, they reveal both the ad and the content strategy of a rival.

What does the Microsoft Ads data tell you?

Microsoft Advertising opens its ad library through an API without a key or an account. So the tool can pull the data for you. Meta and TikTok, on the other hand, require authentication for their APIs, which is why the tool opens them as links. According to Microsoft's API documentation, the data covers EU and EEA impressions only and runs 1 to 3 days behind.

• Advertiser accounts: The tool merges accounts with the same legal name into one row. This matters because large brands often run one account per country or category.
• Ad copy: headline, description, display URL and landing page.
• Details: total impression range (for example 10K - 50K), country shares, targeting types and payer.

There is also a limit. The API caps the total count at 1,000, so the tool writes 1,000+. I review up to 72 ads per search, because three pages of 24 records show the core messages of a brand.

Why does a long running ad matter?

Libraries do not show spend, but they do show how long an ad stayed live. In my view that is the most useful signal in competitor research, because advertisers do not keep a losing ad running for months. So the tool calculates the run time of every ad you open. Ads of 90 days or more get a likely winner badge.

Still, treat it as a hint, not a rule. Run time can mislead in three cases:

• Brand protection ads stay on all the time; the reason is defence against rivals, not profit.
• A record stores only the first and last delivery date; you cannot see the weeks in between when the ad paused.
• A long ad in a low impression range (for example 1K - 5K) may simply be a forgotten ad with a tiny budget.

In short, read run time together with the impression range. An ad that is both long running and high volume is the message a competitor scales. Then build your own tests against it.

Can an ad library show UK, Swiss or US ads?

Partly. The DSA covers ads shown in the EU only, so each platform applies its own rules elsewhere:

• Meta: For a country outside the EU, such as the UK, you see only ads that are active right now, without reach or targeting data.
• Google: The Ads Transparency Center covers most regions. Search by domain and you see a brand's search and YouTube ads in the US or the UK too.
• TikTok: The library includes the UK and Switzerland alongside the EEA.
• Pinterest, Snapchat, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft: These focus on Europe; the Microsoft data in this tool covers EU and EEA impressions only.

Therefore, for a brand that sells in several markets, the richest record appears on the EU side. For example, if a British retailer also advertises in Ireland or Germany, you see the copy, country share and run time of those ads. For the domestic UK campaign, open the Meta, Google and TikTok links separately.

Are others bidding on your brand name?

The Search ads that mention the brand button looks at the ad copy, not at the advertiser name. As a result, you often see ads from other companies. For example, I searched for a well known meal kit brand. The library then showed ads from middlemen who promise to cancel that brand's subscription.

• Competitors: they use your brand as a keyword and push their own offer.
• Coupon and comparison sites: they promise discount codes under your name.
• Middlemen: they use your brand with cancellation, setup or support promises.

When you see this, check your own brand campaign first. If you do not appear on your brand searches, someone else takes that traffic. For campaign structure and bidding, take a look at my Google Ads management service. If you suspect a trademark violation, use the platform's trademark complaint form; the library record then serves as evidence.

How do you turn library data into your own campaign?

Copying a competitor's ad does not work; finding the promise they leave open does. I read the Analysis tab in this order:

1. Offer signals: If every competitor talks about discounts, stand out with speed, a guarantee or setup help instead.
2. Headline parts: The parts that repeat most are messages a competitor has tested and kept. Score your own headlines with the headline analyzer.
3. Landing pages: Check whether a competitor sends traffic to categories or to products, then plan your structure.
4. Test: Run the new message against your current ad and check whether the difference is significant in the A/B test calculator.

Finally, do not forget the budget. A library does not reveal spend. To work out your own budget from a target cost per conversion, read my guide to setting a Google Ads budget.

Why are political ads disappearing from EU libraries?

Since October 2025, new political ads have become rare in EU libraries. The reason is Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising. Its main rules apply from 10 October 2025 and set strict terms for targeting and labelling. Google stopped serving political ads in the EU from that date, and Meta paused political, electoral and social issue ads as well.

Commercial ads, however, did not change. So if you research a brand, an online shop or a service company, the libraries are as rich as before. X is a different story: in December 2025 the European Commission fined X, partly because its ad repository was not transparent or accessible enough. That is why you have to download X records as a report and review them in a spreadsheet.