Which ad should she break down first?

Running 94 days with 6 versions. Nobody pays for a losing ad for months, and 6 versions hint that the brand is scaling a winner. That’s the strongest signal available.

Where can she see a rival’s search ads?

In Google Ads Transparency Center. Google search ads are shown in Google’s own library: you see the brand’s ads, the region, the format and when they ran.

Why can’t she see last year’s ads?

The library shows regular ads only while they’re active. For non-political ads, Meta Ad Library shows only what’s running now. That’s why you keep your own recon log and save finds right away.

What does an ad running 120 days prove?

It probably pays off, but it’s a signal, not a guarantee. People usually pay for months only for what makes money. But there are brand-image ads and forgotten ones too, so compare several long-runners.

Competitor ad libraries

Lesson 5 of 16 in the course “Marketing 2027”. Free, with animations and a quiz.

Recon is legal and free

A new level of the course: recon. Good news: you don’t need sketchy tools to peek at competitors’ ads. Big platforms publish ads openly so anyone can see who shows what to people. Meta has the Ad Library: every active ad on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Google has the Ads Transparency Center, launched on March 29, 2023: you see a brand’s ads, the region, the format and when they ran. TikTok has Top Ads in its Creative Center, and LinkedIn has its own library for B2B ads. All free, no ad account needed.

Meta Ad Library in 4 steps

Let’s start with the most useful library. Open Meta Ad Library, pick a country and the “All ads” type. Then search by brand name or a word, like “hoodie”. Add filters: active only, video only. Every ad has a “Started running on” line with a date and a note on how many versions it has. Key detail: the library shows regular, non-political ads only while they’re running. So check in regularly and save what’s interesting. And for ads shown in the EU, the library gives more data, like reach, because of European rules.

Long-runners: the key signal

Likes and views are mostly hidden in the library, but the start date is visible. And it’s the most honest metric. A business pays for every impression. If an ad has been running 90–120 days, it most likely pays off: nobody pays for a losing video for months. The second signal is lots of versions of one ad: that’s how brands usually scale a winner across formats and audiences. An ad launched yesterday might be a flop that just hasn’t been switched off yet. Caveat: it’s a signal, not proof. A big brand may keep image ads running for awareness, and a small one may just forget to turn one off. So look at several long-runners at once.

TikTok Top Ads: see where people lean in

TikTok makes recon even easier. Top Ads in Creative Center is a collection of high-performing ads that TikTok itself lets you filter by region, industry and campaign objective. The best feature is the second-by-second graph: it shows the moment in the video when viewers engaged the most. Look at three points. The start: do the first 2 seconds hold. The peak: what exactly was shown there, usually a result, a reaction or a price. The dip: where people leave, often a long intro or a logo at the start. That way you learn from real viewers’ behavior, not from “I like it or I don’t”.

Search ads = a ready-made offer

In the Google Transparency Center, search a rival by name and look at their search ads. They’re only a couple of lines, so every word has been chosen and tested with money. In the example, a made-up store writes “from $45”: that’s a price anchor that instantly filters out people who find it too pricey. “2-day delivery, 30-day exchange, 4.8 stars” removes fears: how long is the wait, what if it doesn’t fit, can I trust them. Write down phrases like these from 3–5 rivals. If everyone promises exchanges, that’s the market standard, and without it you lose. What nobody promises could become your edge.

Recon log: one table

Recon only works if you write it down. Otherwise a week later all you remember is “there was some cool video with a cat”. Set up a simple table: brand, how many days the ad has run, the hook in the first seconds, the offer and the format. 30 minutes once a week, and in a month you have a base of 40–50 broken-down ads. Then look not at single videos but at repeats: if three brands out of five open with a question about the cold, that’s not luck, that’s what works in the niche. The brands in the example are made up; yours will be real ones from your niche.

Do it yourself: 30-minute recon

Your first recon, right now. Take three direct rivals and two brands from a nearby niche: ideas often come from where you aren’t looking. Find 10 of their ads that have run longer than 30 days. For each, write down the hook, the offer and the format. Then mark what repeats across at least three brands: those are your candidate working patterns. And pick one idea you’ll test yourself. The idea, not the video itself: in the next lessons we’ll break ads into parts and build your own from them, not a copy.

Check yourself

Which ad should she break down first?
Correct answer: Running 94 days with 6 versions. Nobody pays for a losing ad for months, and 6 versions hint that the brand is scaling a winner. That’s the strongest signal available.
Where can she see a rival’s search ads?
Correct answer: In Google Ads Transparency Center. Google search ads are shown in Google’s own library: you see the brand’s ads, the region, the format and when they ran.
Why can’t she see last year’s ads?
Correct answer: The library shows regular ads only while they’re active. For non-political ads, Meta Ad Library shows only what’s running now. That’s why you keep your own recon log and save finds right away.
What does an ad running 120 days prove?
Correct answer: It probably pays off, but it’s a signal, not a guarantee. People usually pay for months only for what makes money. But there are brand-image ads and forgotten ones too, so compare several long-runners.

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