Does the Meta Ad Library API return commercial ads?

Only for ads delivered in the EU and UK. Elsewhere it returns political and issue ads. Developers asking why pages with visible ads return nothing get that answer in Meta's own API script repository on GitHub.

What do I need to use the official API?

A Meta developer app and identity confirmation with an ID document. Users report waits from a few days to about 11 days, and access tokens that last 60 days. AdLib needs an email sign-up and an API key.

How long does Meta keep ads in the library?

Political and issue ads for seven years, ads shown in the EU for one year after they stop, and other ads only while they are active. AdLib keeps ads after they leave the library and marks them with removed_from_library_at.

Does the API give spend for commercial ads?

No. Meta publishes spend and impressions as ranges for political and issue ads only. For EU ads it publishes reach and breakdowns, which AdLib stores as a daily history.

Compare · checked 27 Oct 2026

AdLib vs the Meta Ad Library API: commercial ads, history and access

Meta's official API returns political ads plus EU and UK ads, behind ID checks and 60-day tokens. AdLib reads the public library for any ad, keeps ads after they leave it, and adds five platforms.

Meta runs an official Ad Library API (ads_archive in the Graph API). It is the source many tools start from, and it is the right tool for some research. For most commercial use it falls short in three ways: which ads it returns, how long they stay, and how hard it is to get and keep access. AdLib reads the public, logged-out Ad Library over plain HTTP, keeps what it sees, and puts Meta next to five other ad libraries in one schema.

At a glance

	AdLib	Meta Ad Library API
Ads returned	Ads shown in the public Ad Library	Political and issue ads worldwide; other ads only if delivered in the EU or UK
Other platforms	Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X, Snapchat in the same schema	Meta only
Access	Email sign-up and API key; free plan, no card	Developer app plus identity confirmation with an ID document
Tokens	One API key	Access tokens last 60 days
After an ad stops	Kept, with versions, run periods and `removed_from_library_at`	Gone unless political (7 years) or EU (1 year)
Media	Images and video stored on permanent AdLib URLs	`ad_snapshot_url` preview link; CDN media links expire
EU reach	Stored daily, total and per country	Current value per request
Change events	Watchlists: signed webhooks, Slack, Discord, email digests	None; poll and diff
Limits	Published credit costs; empty results free	Users report a cap near 40,000 results and undocumented limits
Domain to advertiser	Yes, across twelve platforms	Search terms or page ids; no domain lookup

Where AdLib is different

Commercial ads outside the EU. The official API won't return a shoe brand's US ads. AdLib reads the same public library page you see in a browser.
No identity checks or token renewals. Sign up, get a key, and call the API. There is no ID upload and no 60-day token to refresh.
Ads that survive. Meta drops most commercial ads from the library soon after they stop. AdLib keeps them, detects removals with direct lookups (two empty lookups 20 hours apart), and lets you search them with removed=true.
Media you can keep. Researchers and developers ask in Meta's own repository how to download creatives. AdLib stores them on its own URLs.
EU reach over time. The API gives today's number. AdLib keeps a daily history per country, so you can see when an ad was pushed.
From a domain, not a page id. GET /v1/domains/{domain}/check tells you whether a company advertises on Meta and five other platforms. Paste a library link into GET /v1/library-url to get the AdLib id for free.

When the Meta Ad Library API is the better pick

If you research political and issue ads, the official API is the primary source. It returns spend and impression ranges, funding entities and seven years of history for those ads, and it comes from Meta itself, which matters for academic and regulatory work. If you only need EU ads and have a verified developer account already, it gives you the EU transparency fields straight from Meta.

Sources

Meta's Ad Library API script repository on GitHub: commercial ads missing (#50), EU fields returned null (#61), issue list: ID requirement, result cap, limits, snapshot URLs, issue list page 2: political-only access, permission errors
Meta archived ad reference
Mozilla EU ad transparency methods (verification time, pagination)
dev.to: building a Facebook Ad Library scraper, admakeai on token lifetime
Buffer on Ad Library retention, klipio on why ads disappear, ppc.land on Ad Library data, Fivetran on expiring Meta media URLs

All checked 2026-10-27. Meta changes its API and access rules; check Meta's developer docs before deciding.

Questions

Does the Meta Ad Library API return commercial ads?: Only for ads delivered in the EU and UK. Elsewhere it returns political and issue ads. Developers asking why pages with visible ads return nothing get that answer in Meta's own API script repository on GitHub.
What do I need to use the official API?: A Meta developer app and identity confirmation with an ID document. Users report waits from a few days to about 11 days, and access tokens that last 60 days. AdLib needs an email sign-up and an API key.
How long does Meta keep ads in the library?: Political and issue ads for seven years, ads shown in the EU for one year after they stop, and other ads only while they are active. AdLib keeps ads after they leave the library and marks them with removed_from_library_at.
Does the API give spend for commercial ads?: No. Meta publishes spend and impressions as ranges for political and issue ads only. For EU ads it publishes reach and breakdowns, which AdLib stores as a daily history.