Facebook Ad Library API: company in, their live ads out
Give it a company name and get back whether they are running ads right now, how many, and the ads themselves with text, status and start dates, pulled live from the public ad libraries of Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and Google. 10 credits, only charged when we find something.
10
Credits per hit
~$0.035-0.05 per lookup
0
Credits when nothing found
no advertiser, no charge
4
Ad libraries, one endpoint
Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Google
Seconds
First live fetch
instant repeats for 7 days
What Ad Library Lookup gives you
Four ad libraries, one endpoint
The Facebook/Meta Ad Library, the TikTok Ad Library, the LinkedIn Ad Library and the Google Ads Transparency Center behind one request and one response shape. Send platform plus a company name, or a query for keyword search; platform defaults to facebook, and meta works as an alias.
- Facebook/Meta Ad Library
- TikTok Ad Library
- LinkedIn Ad Library
- Google Ads Transparency Center
The yes/no, plus how much
running_ads answers the binary question: is this company advertising on this platform right now. total_available tells you how big the effort is. Ten active ads versus one abandoned ad from last year are very different signals, and both fit in one glance at the response.
- running_ads true/false
- Total ads in the library
- Up to 10 ads returned
- One glance answers it
The ads themselves, not just a count
Each returned ad carries its text, an active flag, the date it started running, and a link to it in the public library. You read the actual creative copy, see when the angle went live, and click through to the source when you need the full ad.
- Ad text you can read
- Active flag per ad
- Start date per ad
- Link into the public library
Only charged on a hit
If the lookup finds no advertiser and no ads, or the upstream library errors, you pay nothing. Prospect lists are full of companies that do not advertise, and with success billing those answers, often the ones that shape the pitch, are free.
- Zero credits when nothing found
- Zero credits on upstream errors
- Misses still answer the question
- Predictable cost on long lists
About a nickel per answer
10 credits per hit works out to roughly $0.05 on the Starter plan and $0.035 on Growth. Mapping one brand across all four libraries is 40 credits, about $0.14 to $0.20. Screening a 100-company prospect list on one platform costs at most $3.50 to $5, and only the lookups that find something bill.
- 10 credits per hit
- ~$0.035 per lookup on Growth
- ~$0.05 per lookup on Starter
- ~$0.14-0.20 for all four platforms
Fresh at lookup time
Each first lookup pulls the public library live, typically in a few seconds, up to a few minutes when a library responds slowly. Campaigns start and stop daily; you see what is running now, not last month. Repeat lookups of the same input within 7 days return instantly from cache.
- Fetched live, in seconds
- Today's campaigns, not stale data
- Repeat lookups instant for 7 days
- Start dates show when angles changed
Company in, live ads out
Send a company or keyword
POST a platform plus a company name, or a query for keyword search. Platform defaults to facebook, and meta is accepted as an alias. One request shape covers all four libraries.
$ POST /v1/ad-library-lookup
"platform": "facebook"
"company": "Fernwick Outdoor"
> or "query" for keyword search
We pull the library live
First lookups fetch the public ad library live, typically a few seconds, up to a few minutes worst case. Repeats on the same input within 7 days return instantly from cache.
Advertiser matched in Meta Ad Library
Live ads fetched
Text, status and start dates read
Counting total ads, seconds fresh
Read the answer
running_ads, the total ad count and up to 10 ads with their text and start dates land in one JSON payload. Finding the advertiser bills 10 credits; finding nothing bills zero.
running_adstrue
total_available46
newest started2026-07-18
One endpoint. A company name or keyword, plus a platform in, structured data out.
Same authentication, same credit balance, and the same response envelope as every other 1Lookup product. If you have already integrated one endpoint, this one is a URL change.
curl -X POST https://app.1lookup.io/api/v1/ad-library-lookup \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"platform": "facebook",
"company": "Fernwick Outdoor"
}'{
"classification": {
"matched": true,
"running_ads": true,
"platform": "facebook",
"query": "Fernwick Outdoor",
"ad_count": 10,
"total_available": 46
},
"insights": {
"ad_library_lookup_result": {
"platform": "facebook",
"query": "Fernwick Outdoor",
"running_ads": true,
"ad_count": 10,
"total_available": 46,
"ads": [
{
"id": "1287345512094431",
"advertiser": "Fernwick Outdoor",
"text": "Winter trail jackets. 30% off through Sunday.",
"active": true,
"started_at": "2026-07-18",
"url": "https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=1287345512094431"
},
{
"id": "1287001284467205",
"advertiser": "Fernwick Outdoor",
"text": "Free returns on every trail boot, all season.",
"active": true,
"started_at": "2026-06-30",
"url": "https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=1287001284467205"
}
]
}
},
"metadata": { "credits_used": 10, "cache_hit": false }
}Running ads or dark, one card settles it
Before the sales call or the pitch, the question is simple: is this company spending, and what are they saying. Fernwick Outdoor is running 46 ads on Meta right now, the newest live since July 18, and you can read the copy. A company with nothing in the library is a different conversation, and finding that out costs zero credits.
- PlatformFacebook
- QueryFernwick Outdoor
- Running adstrue
- Ads in library46
- Ads returned10
- Newest ad started2026-07-18
- Newest ad textWinter trail jackets. 30% off through Sunday.
- Newest ad statusactive
{
"classification": {
"matched": true,
"running_ads": true,
"platform": "facebook",
"query": "Fernwick Outdoor",
"ad_count": 10,
"total_available": 46
},
"insights": {
"ad_library_lookup_result": {
"ads": [
{
"id": "1287345512094431",
"advertiser": "Fernwick Outdoor",
"text": "Winter trail jackets. 30% off through Sunday.",
"active": true,
"started_at": "2026-07-18"
}
]
}
},
"metadata": { "credits_used": 10 }
}Every field you get back
No hidden tiers. Every field below is returned on a successful lookup at the price shown above.
Lookup
- platform
- query
- running_ads
Volume
- ad_count
- total_available
Each ad
- id
- advertiser
- text
- active
- started_at
- url
Who uses Ad Library Lookup
Sales teams qualifying leads
Before the call, run the prospect through the library. A company running 40 ads is spending on growth and has budget; a company running none is a different pitch. The check costs about a nickel and takes seconds, so it fits inside lead scoring.
Agencies building pitches
The strongest opening slide is a gap: they spend on Meta but run zero LinkedIn ads. Four lookups per prospect, about $0.14 to $0.20, map the whole ad footprint and hand you the pitch before the first meeting.
Competitive intelligence tools
Re-run a competitor weekly and diff the results. New ad text is a messaging change, a jump in total_available is a budget push, and start dates show exactly when the new angle went live.
Compliance teams watching partners
Affiliates and partners agree to run approved creatives, then edit them. Look up the partner, or keyword-search your brand name, read the live ad text, and catch the unapproved claim while the ad is still running.
Frequently asked questions
What does Ad Library Lookup return?
Give it a company name and a platform and it returns whether that company is running ads right now (a running_ads boolean), how many ads exist in the library (total_available), and up to 10 of the ads themselves. Each ad carries its text, an active flag, the date it started running, and a link to it in the public library. One call answers whether a company advertises on that platform and what its current creatives say.
Which ad libraries does it cover?
Four: the public Facebook/Meta Ad Library, the TikTok Ad Library (TikTok's commercial content library), the LinkedIn Ad Library, and the Google Ads Transparency Center. Pass platform as facebook, tiktok, linkedin or google; meta is accepted as an alias for facebook, and if you omit the platform it defaults to facebook. All four return the same response shape, so one integration covers all of them.
Am I charged when nothing is found?
No. Ad Library Lookup is success-billed: if the lookup finds no advertiser and no ads, or the upstream library errors, zero credits are deducted. You pay 10 credits only when we find the advertiser or their ads. That matters for prospecting, where a real share of the companies you check are not advertising at all. A nothing-found result answers the question and costs nothing.
How long does a lookup take?
A first lookup fetches the ad library live, so expect a few seconds, and up to a few minutes in the worst case when a library responds slowly. This is not a sub-second database read; it is a fresh pull of what is running right now. Repeat lookups of the same input within 7 days return instantly from cache.
What does it cost in dollars?
10 credits per successful lookup: about $0.05 on the Starter plan ($99 for 20,000 credits) and $0.035 on Growth ($299 for 85,000). Mapping one brand across all four libraries is four lookups, 40 credits, roughly $0.14 to $0.20. Screening a 100-company prospect list on one platform costs at most $3.50 to $5, and companies with nothing found cost nothing.
Can I search by keyword instead of a company name?
Yes. Send query instead of company and the lookup runs a keyword search against the library, returning the same response shape: matching ads with their advertiser, text, status and start date. Keyword search is how compliance teams find affiliate ads that mention their brand or product terms, and how competitive tools spot who is running a particular claim or offer in ad copy.
Can I check a list of companies in one call?
No. Ad Library Lookup is not bulk-enabled: one lookup covers one advertiser or keyword on one platform. To screen a list, loop over it with one API call per company. Because billing is success-based, only the lookups that find an advertiser or ads cost credits, so a 100-company list bills at most 1,000 credits and usually less.
How do I see which platforms a brand actually invests in?
Run the same company name against all four platforms and compare running_ads and total_available. A brand with 46 active ads on Meta and nothing in the LinkedIn library has told you exactly where its budget goes, which is the kind of concrete gap agencies open pitches with. Four lookups cost 40 credits, roughly $0.14 to $0.20 per brand.