Facebook Ad Library API
Every ad a page runs in the Ad Library, active or stopped: copy, headline, call to action, link, dates and platforms.
Guides · Facebook
The Facebook Ad Library API what it covers and who can use it.
Yes, Meta has an Ad Library API, but it is narrow. You need a Facebook account, an identity check and a developer app, and it returns ads about social issues, elections or politics anywhere in the past seven years, and ads of any type delivered to the EU or UK in the past year. Other commercial ads are not returned.
- Identity check
- Required
- Political ads
- Worldwide, 7 years
- All ad types
- EU and UK, 1 year
- Checked
- Oct 2026
Updated 21 October 2026
Official API or this one
Meta's side is from its Ad Library API page and Graph API reference, seen 21 October 2026.
| Meta Ad Library API | API for Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial ads shown outside the EU and UK | Not returned | Yes, as shown in the Ad Library, $0.0045 per record |
| Political and issue ads | Yes, with spend and impressions ranges | Yes |
| Fields on every ad | Page, delivery dates and where it ran; more for political, EU and UK ads | Copy, headline, call to action, landing page, dates and platforms |
| Look up by | Search terms or page IDs | Page URL or handle, active or stopped ads |
| Who can get access | Facebook account, identity confirmation, developer app | Anyone. An agent signs itself up in one call and starts on a $0.10 trial |
| Price model | No price published | Pay as you go, from $0.0022 per record |
| Setup | Confirm your ID, create a Meta app, get a token | One API key. No Facebook account or app review |
When Meta's API is the right tool
For research on political and issue advertising, Meta's API is the primary source: it carries spend and impression ranges and demographic reach that the public library page does not show for other ads. For EU and UK ads it adds estimated reach and, for the EU, advertiser and payer details.
For competitor research on ordinary commercial ads in other markets, those ads are not in the API. Reading the ads a page runs, the way the Ad Library shows them, is what this API does.
What you can get here
Facebook Page API
Followers, likes, category, contact details and whether the page is running ads.
Facebook Posts API
A page's recent posts with reactions, comments, shares and views.
Operation pages
Questions people ask.
Who can use the Meta Ad Library API?
Anyone with a Facebook account who completes Meta's identity and location confirmation and creates a Meta for Developers app, per Meta's Ad Library API page.
Does the Ad Library API return all ads?
No. It returns ads about social issues, elections or politics delivered anywhere in the past seven years, and ads of any type delivered to the EU or UK in the past year.
Does it show ad spend?
Only for political and issue ads, as a range. Commercial ads come without spend.
What does an ad cost here?
Priced per record, from $0.0022 per record. Quote first with estimateOnly, which is free.
Can I read other Facebook pages through Meta's API?
Reading public content of pages you do not manage needs the Page Public Content Access feature, which requires App Review and business verification.
Sources (4)
- Meta Ad Library API, seen 21 October 2026
- Graph API reference: ads_archive, seen 21 October 2026
- Graph API reference: Archived Ad, seen 21 October 2026
- Meta for Developers: Page Public Content Access, seen 21 October 2026
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