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How to Scrape the Facebook Ads Library for Competitor Research (2026)

Three ways to extract competitor ads from the Facebook Ads Library — manual, Chrome extension, and API — with their limits, costs, and what data you actually get.

The Facebook Ads Library shows every ad currently running on Meta platforms — for any advertiser, in any country. It's the single best free source of competitor intelligence in paid social. The problem: Meta gives you no export button.

Here are the three practical ways to get ads out of the Library, from slowest to fastest.

Option 1: Manual research (free, slow)

Search the Library by advertiser Page or keyword, filter by country and platform, and screenshot what you find. This works for checking 2-3 competitors occasionally, but it doesn't scale:

Option 2: Chrome extension (free, fast)

A scraper extension works inside the Ads Library page you're already browsing and captures what you see into structured data:

The workflow: open the Ads Library, search a competitor or keyword, and export the results in one click. Our Facebook Ads Library Scraper does exactly this — it's free on the Chrome Web Store.

Practical tips for extension-based research:

  1. Sort by longevity. An ad running 30+ days is paying for itself. Filter out everything younger than a week to skip untested creatives.
  2. Count creative variations. When an advertiser runs 15 variations of one angle, that angle works. One-off ads are usually tests.
  3. Grab the landing page immediately. Landing pages change faster than ads. Save the URL and a copy of the page while the ad is live.

Option 3: The official Ad Library API (free, limited)

Meta offers an Ad Library API, but it's built for political-ad transparency:

For commercial competitor research, the API is a dead end — which is why browser-based capture remains the standard approach.

From research to launch

Scraped ads are inputs, not outputs. The full loop for media buyers:

  1. Scrape competitor ads in your vertical (extension)
  2. Shortlist by longevity and variation count
  3. Produce your own creatives on the proven angles
  4. Bulk-launch them as test campaigns — this is what ScaleForge's ScaleMachine automates

The buyers who win aren't the ones who see competitor ads — everyone can. They're the ones who go from "saw the angle" to "50 test campaigns live" the same day.

Usein kysytyt kysymykset

Is scraping the Facebook Ads Library legal?
The Ads Library is a public transparency tool that Meta publishes deliberately. Viewing and saving public ads for competitive research is standard industry practice; the EU DSA even mandates this transparency. Automated bulk scraping at high volume may violate Meta's terms of service, so keep volumes reasonable.
Can I see how much a competitor spends on an ad?
Only for political/social-issue ads. For regular commercial ads the Library shows the creative, copy, start date, platforms, and active status — but not spend or performance. Longevity is the best proxy: an ad running 30+ days is almost certainly profitable.
How far back does the Facebook Ads Library go?
For most commercial ads outside the EU/UK, only currently active ads are visible — history disappears once the ad stops. EU/UK ads are retained for one year under the DSA. If you want history, you have to capture ads while they run.
Does the Ads Library show the landing page?
Yes — the ad's outbound link is part of the public data. Following the link chain to the final landing page is one of the most valuable parts of competitor research.
Is there a free tool to export ads from the Ads Library?
Yes — the Facebook Ads Library Scraper Chrome extension exports ads with creatives, copy, and links directly from the Library interface for free.

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