Meta Ad Library: How to Investigate Scam Ads Using Your Brand

If someone is running paid ads on Facebook or Instagram using your brand name, your logo, or your product imagery without permission, there is a good chance the evidence is sitting in plain sight. The Meta Ad Library is a public, searchable database of every active ad running across Meta's platforms. No login required. No cost. No special access.

Most brand teams know it exists. Far fewer use it systematically as an investigation tool.

This guide covers how to search it properly, what to look for when you find something suspicious, how to save evidence, and where the library falls short.

Worth noting: Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025, many using real brand names and logos to appear credible. If you haven't checked recently, there is a reasonable chance something is already there.

How to Search for Your Brand in the Meta Ad Library

The search function looks simple but behaves in ways that trip people up if they don't account for them.

Start with your exact brand name

Go to facebook.com/ads/library, set the country to "All" rather than a single market, and search your brand name. The default category is "All ads," which is what you want for a broad sweep.

What comes back is a list of every active ad currently running that contains your search term. Each result shows:

• The advertiser page name and page ID
• The ad creative (image, video, or carousel)
• The ad copy
• The date the ad started running
• The platforms it is running on (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network)

Expand your search terms

Your brand name is the obvious starting point, but scammers rarely use it verbatim. Run separate searches for:

• Common misspellings or abbreviations of your brand name
• Your hero product names
• Your taglines or campaign slogans
• Your website domain (e.g., "yourbrand.com")

Each search is its own query. There is no wildcard or Boolean search available in the library, so you need to run these individually.

Filter by advertiser to go deeper

If a search surfaces a suspicious advertiser, click through to their page to see all active ads. Fraudulent advertisers often run multiple variants simultaneously. A page with 30 branded ads created last month is a very different threat to a long-established reseller running one promotional ad.

Spotting Patterns Across Advertisers

A single suspicious ad might be a one-off. Multiple advertisers running similar creatives using your brand assets is a coordinated operation, and the Ad Library is one of the few places you can see that pattern without any specialist tools.

Signals that suggest coordinated fraud

When reviewing results, look for these patterns across different advertiser pages:

• Identical or near-identical creative: The same product image, the same headline, the same discount percentage, appearing under different page names. This suggests a single fraudulent operation running across multiple fake pages.
• Recently created pages: The Ad Library shows when a page was created. Pages less than a few months old running high volumes of branded ads are a strong indicator of fraud.
• Destination URLs that don't match your domain: Click "See ad details" on any result to see where the ad links. If the destination is a lookalike domain (e.g., yourbrand-sale.com or yourbrand-uk.shop) rather than your actual website, that is a clear red flag.
• No "About" information on the advertiser page: Legitimate businesses tend to have populated pages. Fraudulent pages are often thin, with no contact details, no history, and no organic posts.
• Unusual audience targeting signals: Some ad details will show the age and gender breakdown of who the ad is reaching. Scam ads targeting your customer demographic very precisely, using your own brand imagery, are almost certainly designed to intercept your audience.

Key point: Outside the EU, the Ad Library only shows ads while they are active. Ads delivered in the EU are different: under the Digital Services Act, Meta keeps them in the library for a year after they stop running, with targeting and reach data. Filter by an EU country to see them. 

Saving Evidence Before It Disappears

The Ad Library only shows active ads. The moment an advertiser pauses or deletes a campaign, the evidence is gone. Saving what you find, as soon as you find it, is not optional.

What to capture for each suspicious ad

For every ad you identify as potentially infringing, document the following before doing anything else:

• Full-page screenshots of the ad as it appears in the library, including the advertiser page name and page ID
• The ad start date, which appears in the library results
• The destination URL shown in the ad details, copied in full
• Screenshots of the advertiser's page including the page creation date and any "About" information
• The ad ID, which appears in the URL of the individual ad detail page
• Screenshots of the linked landing page, including any product listings, checkout flows, or contact details

If the ad is video-based, screen-record the full video rather than relying on a static screenshot.

Store everything in a dated folder, organised by advertiser. A clear evidence file with timestamps is significantly more useful than unorganised screenshots if you escalate.

Worth noting: Downloadable reports cover political ads only, but EU-delivered ads of every kind are available through the Ad Library API. For most brand teams, manual documentation is still the practical option. 

What the Meta Ad Library Misses

The Ad Library is genuinely useful, but it has real limitations that matter for brand protection. Understanding what it cannot show you is as important as knowing how to use it.

It only shows active ads

Outside the EU, ads that have been paused, ended, or deleted are not visible in a standard search. Fraudulent advertisers often run short, high-intensity bursts and then pause before complaints catch up with them. By the time you search, the campaign may already be gone. For EU-delivered ads, Meta shows estimated reach and targeting, though not spend.

It does not cover all placements

The Ad Library shows ads running across Meta's owned platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network. It does not cover ads running on TikTok, Google, YouTube, or any other ad network. A scammer using your brand across multiple platforms will only be partially visible here.

Search is limited to text in the ad copy

The library searches ad copy text, not image content. An ad that uses your logo or product photography without mentioning your brand name in the text will not appear in a keyword search. Image-based brand abuse is invisible to the library's search function.

It does not show spend or reach data

Outside the EU, you can see that an ad exists and when it started, but not how much has been spent or how many people have seen it. Assessing the scale of the problem from the library alone is not possible. For EU-delivered ads, Meta shows estimated reach and targeting, though not spend. 

It does not alert you

The Ad Library is a search tool, not a monitoring system. It will not notify you when a new ad using your brand terms appears. Anything that runs and is removed between your manual checks goes entirely undetected.

This is the core limitation: the Ad Library tells you what is visible right now, not what ran yesterday, what is running elsewhere, or what is using your visual assets without mentioning your name.

The Ad Library Is a Starting Point, Not a Solution

A regular manual sweep of the Ad Library is a sensible first step. It costs nothing and can surface active infringements that are sitting in plain sight. But the gaps it leaves, deleted ads, image-only abuse, and activity on other platforms, are exactly where coordinated brand fraud tends to operate.

For teams that need continuous visibility across Meta, TikTok, Google, and beyond, Remove.tech's brand protection platform monitors for fake ads using your intellectual property around the clock, using bot-powered search and advanced image recognition to catch what a keyword search cannot.

If you have found something in the Ad Library and want to understand what to do next, our guide on how to remove fake Meta and TikTok ads using your brand covers the enforcement process in detail.

FAQ

Is the Meta Ad Library free to use?

Yes. It is publicly accessible at facebook.com/ads/library with no account required. Any brand can search it at any time.

Can I search across all countries at once?

Yes. Set the country filter to "All" before searching. Leaving it on a single market means you will miss ads running in other regions, which is a common oversight.

Can I see ads that have already been removed?

Only for ads delivered in the EU, which stay in the library for a year after they stop running. Elsewhere, paused or deleted ads disappear, so document anything suspicious the moment you find it.

The scam ad uses my logo but never mentions my brand name. Will it show up in a search?

No. The library searches ad copy text only. Ads that use your logo, product images, or visual identity without naming your brand in the text are invisible to keyword searches. This is one of the most significant gaps in the tool.

How often should I be checking the Ad Library?

At minimum, weekly. Fraudulent campaigns can launch, run, and be paused within days. If your brand has been targeted before, more frequent checks are warranted. Automated monitoring removes the dependency on manual sweeps entirely.

I have found a scam ad. What do I do next?

Save the evidence first: screenshots, ad IDs, destination URLs, and the advertiser page details. Then read our guide on removing fake Meta and TikTok ads for the full enforcement process.

Can Remove.tech monitor Meta ads for me?

Yes. Remove.tech monitors for fake ads using your brand around the clock, including image-only abuse a keyword search misses, and removes them alongside the fake sites and accounts they link to.

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