You do not need a paid "spy" tool to see what your competitors advertise. Meta and Google both publish the ads that run on their platforms, and anyone can search them. You will not learn what a rival spends. You will learn what they say, which pictures they use and which ads they have kept running, and that is most of what a small business needs.
Meta's Ad Library, for Facebook and Instagram#
Go to facebook.com/ads/library. Meta says the Ad Library contains all active ads shown across its apps, and that anyone can view and search it.
- Choose your country.
- Search for the competitor by name and pick their Page.
- Scroll through what is running now.
For each ordinary business ad, the library shows:
- the ad itself, with its picture or video and its words,
- the Page it runs from,
- the date it started running.
It does not show the amount spent, how many times the ad was seen or who it was aimed at. Meta shows spend only for ads about social issues, elections or politics, and for each ad only as a range.
Ads shown in the EU and the UK carry more. For ads delivered there, Meta's library also shows total reach, reach by location with age and gender, and the location, age and gender the advertiser selected. These ads stay in the library for a year after they last ran. So a UK business can see roughly who a UK rival is aiming at.
Google's Ads Transparency Center#
Go to adstransparency.google.com. Google says the centre lets you see the ads an advertiser has run, which ads were shown in a certain region, and the last date an ad ran and its format.
- Search for the competitor by name.
- Narrow the results by region and by date.
- Open an ad to see its format and when it last ran.
Google's description of the centre does not include what an advertiser spends.
What to note in ten minutes#
Look at three to five competitors and write down the same things for each.
| What to note | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| How many ads are running | One or two suggests a small test. Dozens suggests a serious budget |
| The oldest ad still running | An ad kept for months is probably paying its way. This is the most useful clue you get |
| The offer | A price, a discount, a free quote, a guarantee. Is yours as clear? |
| The first line | The words they chose to stop people scrolling |
| The picture | Real photos or stock? People or products? |
| Where the ad leads | Tap through. A form, a product page, a booking page? |
| What nobody says | A gap is an opening. If no rival mentions same-day service and you offer it, lead with that |
What you cannot learn this way#
- Spend. Meta's library does not show it for ordinary business ads, and Google's description of its centre does not mention it.
- Results. You cannot see clicks, leads or sales. A long-running ad is a hint, and it is not proof.
- Everything outside the EU and UK on Meta. Reach and audience details are shown only for ads delivered there.
- Ads that have stopped, outside the EU and UK, where the library keeps only active ads for ordinary businesses.
Be careful with any tool or article that claims to know a competitor's ad budget. Outside political ads, Meta does not publish it.
How to use what you find#
Do not copy an ad. Copying gets you an ad made for someone else's business, and their customers will recognise it. Use what you find to answer three questions.
- What does everyone in my trade promise? You need to match that.
- What does nobody promise that I can? Lead with that.
- Which kind of picture do the long-running ads use? Start there with your own photos.
Then check your own numbers before you spend. See How much should you spend on Facebook ads? and What you need before your first Facebook ad.
What Madder does with competitor ads#
Madder is an AI agent that sets up and looks after Facebook and Instagram ads for a small business. Its competitor research is being switched on in early access, so here is exactly where it stands on 6 October 2026.
You name a competitor for one of your products.
- Working today: Madder reads their landing page, for the offer, the price and the headline.
- Built, and not connected yet: their ads from Meta's Ad Library, covering ads delivered in the EU and the UK, with the words, the start date and how many days each has run.
- Built, and not connected yet: their ads from Google's ad transparency data, which covers ads shown in the EEA and Turkey. Ads shown only in the UK are not in that data.
- Not possible yet: keyword price ranges from Google, which need a connected Google Ads account.
These sources are connected on Madder's side, not yours. Until one is connected, Madder says so in place of showing an empty result.
Its limits will be the same as the public tools, and a few more. Madder cannot see what a competitor spends or what results they get. It does not analyse what happens inside a video ad. A competitor whose ads run only outside the EU and the UK will show few or none. Until the ad sources are connected, the two free tools above are the way to do this.
Madder is in early access with a waitlist. See How Madder works and Which AI ads tool fits a small business?.
Questions people ask#
How can I see my competitors' Facebook ads for free?
Open Meta's Ad Library at facebook.com/ads/library, choose your country, and search for the business by name. It shows every ad that Page is running now on Facebook and Instagram.
Can I see how much a competitor spends on Facebook ads?
No. Meta's Ad Library does not show spend for ordinary business ads. It shows a spend range only for ads about social issues, elections or politics.
How do I see a competitor's Google ads?
Use Google's Ads Transparency Center at adstransparency.google.com. Search by the advertiser's name or website to see the ads they have run, by format and region.
How do I know if a competitor's ad is working?
You cannot know for certain. The best clue is how long an ad has been running. A business rarely keeps paying for an ad for months if it brings nothing.