Meta Ad Library Search by Domain: Three Workflows for Any Data Scale

TL;DR: Meta Ad Library has no native domain input. You search by advertiser name, grab the Advertiser ID from the URL, then browse that Page's ads. The real problems start when a brand runs five Pages under one domain, you need data older than 7 years, or you want to pull TikTok and LinkedIn ads in the same query. This guide walks three concrete workflows: native UI search, the Advertiser ID workaround, and the API path — both Meta's and adlibrary's — so you can match the method to the scale of your research.

You have a competitor's domain. You want every ad they're running. The instinct is correct — Meta Ad Library is the right first stop. It's the largest free ad transparency database for the Meta ecosystem. The problem is that searching it by domain is not as direct as the query implies, and the gaps in native search get expensive fast for serious competitor ad research.

This is a practical walkthrough. Agency competitive analysts, growth leads doing target-account research, and journalists investigating brand ad spend will find all three tiers here: a one-off manual lookup, a multi-Page workaround, and a programmatic path for teams that monitor multiple competitors continuously.

What "Search by Domain" Actually Means in Meta Ad Library

Meta's ad transparency tool — accessible at facebook.com/ads/library — is organized by advertiser (Facebook Page), not by domain or URL. When users search for "meta ad library search by domain," they almost always mean: I know the website, how do I find the Facebook Page and all its ads?

The answer involves a two-step translation: domain → brand name → Facebook Page → Advertiser ID → ads. Meta does not accept a URL in the search box. This matters because it introduces ambiguity the moment a brand operates more than one Page.

For context on why this tool exists, see Understanding Ad Transparency Libraries and Regulatory Standards and the ad intelligence glossary entry.

Workflow 1: Native UI Search (Best for One-Off Lookups)

This is where most people start. It works well for a single brand with one canonical Facebook Page.

Step 1 — Open Meta Ad Library and Set Filters

Navigate to facebook.com/ads/library. Set:

• Country: All (otherwise you'll miss ads that ran in other regions)
• Ad category: All ads (unless you specifically want political/social issue ads)

Leave the date filters open by default.

Step 2 — Search by Brand Name

Type the brand name derived from the domain into the search field. If the domain is brandname.com, search "Brand Name." The dropdown will suggest matching Pages — select the one whose Page name, profile photo, and category match your target.

If you're not sure which Page is the right one, open the Page itself on Facebook and confirm the URL slug matches the brand.

Step 3 — Read the Advertiser ID from the URL

Once you're viewing that advertiser's results, look at your browser's address bar. You'll see a URL like:

https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=all&country=ALL&id=123456789012345

The number after ?id= is the Advertiser ID — the unique Facebook Page ID. Copy and save this. It's stable, won't change, and is the key to every programmatic method below.

Step 4 — Filter, Browse, Export

From here you can:

• Filter by active/inactive status
• Filter by platform (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network)
• Filter by ad format (image, video, carousel)
• Use the date range slider (up to 7 years back)
• Click any ad to see its full creative, copy, CTA, impressions range, and spend range

You can't bulk-export from the UI. Single-ad downloads of creative assets are possible, but structured data export is not. That limitation matters at scale — see Workflow 3.

For more on what Meta's UI shows and doesn't show, see the full Ads Library Guide and the Facebook Ad Library API guide.

The Core Problem: One Domain, Many Pages

Native search breaks at the moment a brand runs more than one Facebook Page. This is more common than most people expect.

A mid-size DTC brand might operate:

• A main brand Page (Brand Name)
• A product-specific Page (Brand Name — [Product Line])
• Regional Pages (Brand Name UK, Brand Name DE)
• A performance-only Page used specifically for retargeting (often named generically)

All of these may share the same root domain in their About sections. Meta Ad Library search returns results for one Page at a time. There is no "show me all Pages linked to brandname.com" filter in the native UI.

This is the most significant real-world limitation for competitor analysis workflows. A brand with four Pages has effectively four separate advertisers in Meta's database, and you have to find and search each one manually.

See also: How to See Facebook Ads of Competitors: A Guide to Ad Intelligence and A Practical Guide to Competitor Ad Analysis.

Workflow 2: The Advertiser ID Method (Best for Multi-Page Brands)

Once you have the Advertiser IDs for all of a brand's Pages, you can track each one systematically. The workflow:

Find All Pages Linked to the Domain

1. Search the brand name in Meta Ad Library — collect every Page variation that appears
2. For each Page, visit the About section on Facebook directly to check if the website listed matches your target domain
3. Record all matching Advertiser IDs

A useful shortcut: search the brand name with country set to "All" and scroll through the full dropdown. Sub-brand and regional Pages often appear here that you'd miss searching a specific country.

Bookmark Advertiser ID URLs

Each Advertiser ID URL is a permanent, bookmarkable link to that Page's ad history:

https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=<ADVERTISER_ID>&ad_type=all&country=ALL

Create a tracking sheet with one row per Page, one column per domain you're monitoring. A team doing competitive intelligence on five competitors might manage 20-30 Advertiser ID URLs.

This approach is manual but complete for the UI layer. It doesn't solve bulk export or automation — for that, move to Workflow 3.

Check the Meta Ad Library Report

For verified advertisers running political or social issue ads, Meta publishes aggregated spend data in the Meta Ad Library Report. This is publicly downloadable as a CSV. It covers spend by Page for political categories in specific countries — useful for journalists and researchers, but limited to that ad category.

The Historical Archive Limit

Meta retains ad data for up to 7 years. Ads that stopped running more than 7 years ago are not available through the UI or the API. For most competitive research this isn't a constraint — but for brand history analysis or long-term pattern work, it matters.

A subtler limitation: if an ad is still running (never paused), its historical performance data shows as cumulative since launch but without granular date-range breakdowns. You see that it's been running, not how its spend changed over time.

For ad timeline analysis, use the date range slider in Meta Ad Library to isolate when specific creatives appeared. But you're limited to what Meta surfaces — there's no spend-by-week breakdown in the native interface.

See how far back competitor ad history goes and the ad-timeline-analysis feature page for what's possible with richer tooling.

Limits of Meta's Native Domain Search: A Concise Breakdown

Before moving to third-party tools and APIs, it's worth naming what Meta's native approach cannot do:

None of this makes Meta's tool bad — it's the authoritative source for its own platform and it's free. The constraints define the ceiling.

Third-Party Tools: adlibrary, BigSpy, Foreplay

For teams that hit those ceilings, three tools are worth knowing:

adlibrary

adlibrary's unified ad search accepts a domain and returns all linked advertisers and their ads across Meta, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Google — in one query. This directly solves the multi-Page discovery problem: instead of hunting Pages manually, you input the domain and the platform aggregates every ad account running ads linked to that URL.

The multi-platform ads coverage is the critical difference. A competitor's cross-platform ad strategy is invisible in Meta Ad Library alone. When you add TikTok and LinkedIn data into the same query, you see the full picture — which platform they're scaling, which they're testing, where their creative is freshest.

For teams running systematic competitor monitoring, the automate competitor ad monitoring use case and the API access feature on adlibrary's Business tier (€329/mo) handle the programmatic layer — domain in, structured ad data out, no manual Page hunting.

BigSpy

BigSpy is an ad spy tool with broad platform coverage and a search-by-domain feature. It indexes ads from its own crawlers rather than the official Meta API, which means data freshness can vary. It's useful for one-off research where cost-per-seat matters more than data completeness.

Foreplay

Foreplay focuses on creative inspiration and swipe file building. Its domain search is weighted toward surfacing ad creatives visually — better for creative teams than analysts. It doesn't offer structured data export or API access.

For a broader comparison of these tool categories, see Best Ad Spy Tools in 2026 and 9 Best Meta Ads Intelligence Platforms.

Workflow 3A: Meta Marketing API (Programmatic, Free Tier)

Meta's own Meta Marketing API provides programmatic access to the same ad archive data. This is free but requires setup.

Prerequisites

1. A Facebook developer account at developers.facebook.com
2. A Facebook App (type: Business)
3. The ads_read permission (requires app review for production use)
4. A User Access Token or System User Token with that permission

The /ads_archive Endpoint

The core endpoint:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/ads_archive

Key parameters:

• search_page_ids — comma-separated list of Advertiser IDs (Page IDs)
• ad_type — ALL, POLITICAL_AND_ISSUE_ADS, or HOUSING_ADS
• ad_reached_countries — filter by country
• ad_active_status — ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or ALL
• fields — what data you want: id,ad_creation_time,ad_creative_bodies,ad_creative_link_captions,ad_creative_link_descriptions,ad_snapshot_url,impressions,spend,page_name

Example call (using the Advertiser ID from Workflow 1):

curl -G \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/ads_archive" \
  --data-urlencode "search_page_ids=123456789012345" \
  --data-urlencode "ad_type=ALL" \
  --data-urlencode "ad_reached_countries=[\"US\"]" \
  --data-urlencode "fields=id,ad_creation_time,ad_creative_bodies,impressions,spend,page_name" \
  --data-urlencode "access_token=YOUR_TOKEN"

Limitations of the Meta Marketing API Path

• Requires app review for production access (days to weeks)
• Rate limits apply — typically 200 calls per hour per token
• impressions and spend fields return ranges (e.g., "1000-5000"), not exact figures
• No cross-platform data — Meta properties only
• The API does not accept a domain as input; you still need Advertiser IDs from manual research

For a deeper walkthrough of the API structure, see the Facebook Ad Library API guide and the full adlibrary API documentation.

Workflow 3B: adlibrary API (Paid, Multi-Platform)

Meta's free API is adequate for single-platform, single-Page research where you already have Advertiser IDs. The moment you need to cross platforms or eliminate the manual Page-discovery step, Meta's API stops being enough.

adlibrary's API access is the paid power-user upgrade. Three concrete advantages over Meta's native API:

1. Domain-first input. You pass the domain; adlibrary returns all linked advertisers automatically. No manual Advertiser ID hunting.

2. Multi-platform in one response. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapcpy, Pinterest, and Google Display — same query, same structured response. Meta's free API is fine for one platform. The moment you add TikTok or LinkedIn data into the same query, you need something else.

3. Richer creative fields and no app review. adlibrary returns creative metadata, performance signals, and AI ad enrichment data that Meta's API doesn't expose. And because it's a paid API built for this use case, there's no Facebook app review, no business verification, no rate-limit dance.

The Business tier (€329/mo, 1000+ credits) is the right fit for agency teams running competitor ad research on multiple accounts simultaneously, or for any workflow that requires programmatic ingestion into internal dashboards or AI pipelines.

For automation patterns, see Claude Code + adlibrary API: End-to-End Competitor Intelligence Workflows and the automate competitor ad monitoring use case page.

If you're building a scripted research stack, the API access feature page has endpoint specs and authentication details.

Decision Matrix: Which Workflow Fits Your Need

For ecommerce product research and market entry research, the right method depends on whether you're doing a one-off audit or ongoing monitoring. When estimating ad spend across identified competitors, the ad spend estimator and CPM calculator give useful benchmarks for triangulating budget ranges from impression data. One-off: Workflow 1 or 2. Ongoing: Workflow 3B.

What the Meta Ad Library Doesn't Show

A few things that trip up even experienced researchers:

Landing page URLs. Meta shows the destination URL in some ad formats, but not all. If the brand is A/B testing landing pages, you won't see the variant URLs in native search.

Ad set or campaign structure. The library shows individual ads, not how they're organized. You can't tell if an ad is part of a prospecting campaign or a retargeting sequence.

Audience targeting. Who the ad was shown to is not disclosed. You can infer from creative angle and copy, but targeting data is private.

Exact spend or impressions. Meta provides ranges (e.g., "$1,000–$5,000" in spend, "1,000–10,000" in impressions). Exact figures are not available for non-political ads.

Ads removed for policy violations. Ads pulled by Meta's enforcement systems may not appear. This is relevant when investigating ad fraud or compliance issues.

For ad compliance research and political transparency, the Google Ads Transparency Center and the Meta Ad Library Report are complementary public sources.

Practical Tips for Better Domain Searches

A few patterns that save time:

Reverse from the domain's About page. Visit the competitor's Facebook Page directly — search on Facebook.com, separate from the library. The About section lists their website. Confirm the domain matches before committing to research.

Use the "Ads" tab on Facebook Pages. Every public Facebook Page has an "Ads" tab visible to anyone, which links directly to that Page's library results. This is faster than searching the library separately.

Check for multiple brand presences using the library search dropdown. When you type a brand name, the dropdown may show 5-10 Pages. Scroll through them all — regional and sub-brand Pages are easy to miss when you click the first match.

Cross-reference with UTM parameters. If you can see the destination URL with UTMs in the ad creative, you can sometimes identify which Pages share the same campaign tracking structure — a signal that they're operated by the same team.

Save the ads you find. adlibrary's saved ads feature lets you build a structured archive of competitor creatives over time. The creative inspiration and swipe file use case has a full workflow for this.

For step-by-step competitor analysis frameworks, see A Strategic Guide to Competitor Ad Research and Structuring Competitor Ad Research: A Workflow for Creative Insights.

Meta Ad Library Search for Agencies: Scaling the Workflow

Agencies managing competitor ad research for multiple clients face a different problem than solo researchers: it's not one domain lookup — it's 40, repeated weekly, across 6 clients.

At that scale, the manual Advertiser ID method breaks. The time cost per domain lookup ranges from 10-30 minutes when you factor in multi-Page discovery, screenshot capture, and reporting. Across 40 domains per week, that's 6-20 hours of mechanical work.

The programmatic path — adlibrary API on the Business tier — compresses this to a script that runs overnight. Domain list in, structured JSON out, routed directly into a dashboard or client report. This is what ad intelligence at agency scale looks like in 2026.

For the implementation pattern, see Claude Code + adlibrary API Workflows and the ad data for AI agents use case.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you search Meta Ad Library by domain?

Yes, but indirectly. Meta Ad Library does not have a native domain input field. You search by advertiser name, then find the Facebook Page associated with the domain. For a more direct domain-to-ads lookup, use the Meta Marketing API's /ads_archive endpoint with a page ID, or a third-party tool like adlibrary that accepts a domain and returns all linked advertisers and ads.

How do I find all ads for a specific website on Meta?

Go to facebook.com/ads/library, search the brand name, select the matching Page, then browse all active and inactive ads. If the brand runs multiple Pages (regional, sub-brand), repeat for each. For bulk export or historical access, use the Meta Marketing API /ads_archive endpoint or adlibrary's domain search, which aggregates all linked Pages automatically.

What is the Advertiser ID in Meta Ad Library?

The Advertiser ID is the numeric Facebook Page ID that appears in the URL when you view an advertiser's results in Meta Ad Library (e.g., facebook.com/ads/library/?id=123456789). It uniquely identifies the Facebook Page running those ads. You can use this ID as the search_page_ids parameter in the Meta Marketing API's /ads_archive endpoint to retrieve ads programmatically.

Does Meta Ad Library show all ads a brand runs across platforms?

No. Meta Ad Library shows only ads running on Meta's own platforms — Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. It does not include ads the brand runs on TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google, Snapchat, or Pinterest. To see a brand's full cross-platform ad footprint from a single domain lookup, you need a multi-platform ads tool like adlibrary.

How far back does Meta Ad Library store ad history?

Meta Ad Library retains non-political ads for up to 7 years from the date they stopped running. Political and social issue ads (in countries with transparency requirements) are also stored for 7 years. Ads that were never paused or stopped may not have an end date listed. Beyond 7 years, the data is not available through Meta's interface or API.

The Right Method for Your Research Scale

Meta Ad Library's domain search — such as it is — works for the simplest case: one brand, one Page, a one-off lookup. That covers a lot of situations. For anything more complex — multi-Page brands, cross-platform analysis, or systematic monitoring — the native tool runs out of road quickly.

The three workflows here map to three real researcher profiles. Manual UI is where you start. Advertiser ID bookmarks are where most serious analysts live. The API path — Meta's or adlibrary's — is where teams that do this at scale end up.

If you're running competitive analysis across multiple domains and platforms, the adlibrary Business plan gives you the domain-to-ads path Meta never built: one query, all platforms, structured data ready for any downstream use.

Start with unified ad search to see what domain-first search looks like in practice.