How to see your competitors' ads on Facebook and Google

You can see the ads your competitors are running right now, for free. On Facebook and Instagram the tool is the Meta Ad Library, often still called the Facebook Ad Library. For Google there is the Ads Transparency Center, and TikTok has a Top Ads page for inspiration. Below is how to use each one in a few minutes, what you will see, and the numbers none of them will show you.

The Meta Ad Library, step by step

Meta says the Ad Library holds all active ads running across its apps, and that anyone can view and search it. Here is the quickest way in:

1. Go to facebook.com/ads/library.
2. Set the country to United States. Meta uses the country selector to decide which ads you see.
3. Type a competitor's business name, or a word your customers would use, like "roof repair" or "lash extensions". Meta shows ads that contain the word and ads from Pages whose name contains it.
4. Click a business to see all of its active ads in one place.
5. Click See ad details on any ad for more, such as details from the advertiser's About section or the questions in a lead form.

When you open a Page in the library, Meta also shows when the Page was created and whether it has changed its name. That is handy when a "new" competitor looks oddly established.

What you can and cannot see

For an ordinary ad in the US, one that is not about politics or a social issue, Meta's help page lists exactly what the library shows:

So the library tells you what a competitor is saying, not what it costs them or whether it works. Ads about social issues, elections or politics are the exception: for those, Meta shows ranges for spend and impressions and keeps them for 7 years.

That missing spend figure is the most common surprise. If you are trying to work out your own budget instead, our guide How much should a small business spend on Facebook ads? starts from your numbers, not a rival's.

Google's Ads Transparency Center

Google launched the Ads Transparency Center in March 2023 as a searchable hub of ads from verified advertisers. It lives at adstransparency.google.com and covers ads on Google Search, YouTube and Google's display network.

1. Type the competitor's business name or their website address.
2. Pick the region, so you see the ads shown in the United States.
3. Filter by date if you want a specific season, like last spring's push.
4. Open an ad to see its format and the last date it ran.

Google also shows whether the advertiser is verified. That is a useful check when an ad uses a well-known name: the verified name behind it should match the business you expect.

If you already run Google Search ads

Inside your own Google Ads account there is a report that names the advertisers who compete with you for the same searches. It is called Auction insights, and for Search campaigns it gives six statistics, among them impression share, overlap rate and how often another advertiser appeared above you. It does not show anyone's ads, only how often you meet them in the same auctions. If you do not run Search ads, skip this one.

TikTok's Top Ads, for ideas rather than rivals

TikTok's Creative Center has a Top Ads dashboard: a collection of high-performing ads you can filter by region, industry and campaign objective. For each ad TikTok shows performance details, including a second-by-second graph of where viewers engaged.

It will rarely show your competitor down the street, because it is a showcase of what works across TikTok, not a search by business. Use it to see how strong short ads open, how fast they get to the point, and how they end.

What to note in ten minutes

Open a notes app and look at three competitors. For each one, write down:

• The offer. A price, a discount, a free estimate, or nothing at all.
• The format. Photos, short video, a carousel. Phone footage or polished production.
• The first line. What they say before anyone taps "See more".
• The button. Book now, call, send a message, learn more.
• The start date. An ad that has been running for months is probably earning its keep, or the business would have switched it off. That is a fair guess, not a fact: the library does not show results.
• What is missing. If nobody in your area shows real photos of their work, that is your opening.

Use it as a map, not a template

The point is not to copy anyone. Their photos and words are theirs, and an ad that looks like a rival's mostly reminds people of the rival. The useful part is the gap: the question nobody answers, the service nobody shows, the neighborhood nobody targets. Your own photos of your own work are the one thing a competitor cannot copy back.

If you would rather have someone else turn your photos into ads and keep an eye on them, our Facebook & Instagram Ads service starts at $99 a month and includes a kickoff call to agree on the goal. Your ad budget stays separate and goes straight from your card to Meta. You can see what is included on our pricing page.