Free · More leads

Find businesses already paying for ads.

Every Facebook and Instagram ad running right now is public in Meta's Ad Library. This is the search from the video, step by step, with a sheet to copy what you find into.

If you sell to local businesses, it shows you which ones already pay to reach customers. If you run ads yourself, the same search shows you what your competitors keep paying for.

Get the filesStart the steps

5 steps

from the Ad Library's front page to a list of businesses, sorted oldest first, with each one's website

30+ days

of running tells you a business keeps paying for that ad. It doesn't prove the ad works.

1 sheet

with the page name, start date, days running, website and what the ad offers. It works out the days for you.

What’s inside

  • The Ad Library search in five steps, from the front page to a list sorted oldest first, with each business's website
  • What an ad's start date tells you, and what it doesn't
  • The sheet, with days running and keep worked out for you
  • How to run the same search on your own competitors

The search, step by step

The menu and button names in bold are the ones on Meta's help page for the Ad Library. Anything not in bold is in plain words, because Meta's help pages don't name it. If your screen words something differently, go by your screen.

0 of 5 done

  1. Open the Ad Library

    • Type into your browser.
    • Select a country: the one you sell in.
    • In the Ad category dropdown, select All ads. The other categories are for special ads, such as ads about issues, elections or politics, and housing ads.

  2. Search a trade and a city

    • Type a trade and a city into the search bar, for example .
    • Run a few versions, the way a customer would say it: , , and the towns around you.
    • Write down every search you run, so you can run the same ones again next month.

  3. Keep the ads still running, and read the start date

    • Meta's help page says a search of all ads covers the ads that are currently active. If your screen offers a filter for active and inactive ads, keep only the active ones.
    • At the top of each ad is the date it first appeared. That's the day it started running.
    • To keep a link to an ad, click Options, then Copy Ad Link.

  4. Copy each one into your sheet, then sort oldest first

    • One row per business, not per ad. If a business is running several ads, use the start date of its oldest one.
    • Fill in the page name, the city, the search you used and the start date. The sheet works out the days running.
    • Sort the sheet by start date, oldest first.

  5. Add each business's website

    • Click See ad details at the bottom of the ad. It shows information from the About section of the business's Facebook Page. Look for the website there.
    • If it isn't there, search the page name and the city, and check the site belongs to the same business.

What the date tells you

30 days or more: they keep paying

An ad that has run for 30 days or more tells you the business keeps paying for it. It doesn't prove the ad works. Treat it as a sign the business has a budget for ads, not as a sign the ad is good.

Under 30 days: look again later

A new ad may be a test. Keep the row, and check again in a few weeks whether it's still running.

The sheet

Open ads-template.csv in Google Sheets or Excel. It has one example row; type over it. Copy the two formulas down as you add rows.

page_name

What goes in it
The name of the Facebook Page running the ad.

city

What goes in it
The city you searched, or the one on their page.

search_used

What goes in it
The words you typed, such as .

start_date

What goes in it
The date at the top of their oldest ad that's still running.

days_running, worked out for you

What goes in it
Today minus the start date:

website

What goes in it
From See ad details, or a search of the page name and city.

what_the_ad_offers

What goes in it
One line in your own words: the service, and what the ad offers.

ad_link

What goes in it
From Options, then Copy Ad Link.

date_checked

What goes in it
The day you looked. Ads stop and start, so check again before you use the row.

keep, worked out for you

What goes in it
TRUE at 30 days or more:

If you run ads yourself

Run the same search for your own trade and your own city. Open the ads that have run longest and note three things: what they offer, the first line of the text, and what the button asks people to do. That's what your competitors keep paying for, which isn't the same as what works.

Before you contact anyone

If you use this list to reach these businesses by email or phone, read the email and calling rules first. They're under Before you contact anyone on that page. These are notes, not legal advice.

Take the files

The checklist

ads-checklist.txt

The five steps, what the date tells you and the sheet's columns, in one plain file.

Download

The sheet

ads-template.csv

With days running and keep already worked out. Open it in Google Sheets or Excel.

Download

Open a .csv in Google Sheets (File, then Import) or Excel.

The businesses, dates and searches on this page and in the video are examples to adapt. Nothing here is a result; it is a checklist.

Seeing who pays for ads is one step. What you build around your own ads is the system.

Lead Generation Group is a program that teaches you to generate your own leads and sets up the Lead Generation OS with you. The first 90 days focus on paid acquisition: Meta ads, the offer, the funnel, tracking, CRM and follow-up.

See If You Qualify