Facebook Ad Library Ad API
Returns one ad from the Facebook Ad Library: creative, CTA and link, run dates, display format, and the advertiser's page URL, likes and categories.
GET /v1/facebook/adlibrary/adLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Facebook Ad Library Ad API
Use it when you have an ad id or URL. Spend and reach are political-ads-only, and Facebook publishes no per-ad impression count.
From the API reference
Returns one ad from the Facebook Ad Library. Video creatives land in content.media_urls (playable URL) and content.thumbnail_url (preview frame); every ad signal rides the post.ext.ad envelope: CTA text and type, link_url, is_active, end_date_iso, display_format, title, publisher_platforms, categories, the video URLs, and the advertiser's own page_id, page_profile_uri (their Facebook page, so you can chain straight to /v1/facebook/profile), page_like_count and page_categories. **spend, reach_estimate and currency are populated by Facebook for POLITICAL and issue ads only** and read null or empty on a commercial ad; Facebook publishes no per-ad impression count outside that same political set, so there is no impressions figure to return. post.author.username is null by design: an Ad Library record carries the page NAME, not its handle, and a name is not a handle. An ad has no public view count, so engagement.views carries Facebook's audience REACH ESTIMATE where one exists (political and issue ads) and is null everywhere else; the same figure is on post.ext.ad.reach_estimate under its real name, and computed.engagement_rate is derived from it rather than from any real engagement. published_at is the ad's first-run DATE; the 07:00:00Z clock component on every row is an artefact of Facebook storing ad dates on a US Pacific day boundary and carries no sub-day meaning. On an ad that ran in the EU, Facebook publishes who saw it: post.ext.ad.eu_total_reach is the total EU reach, post.ext.ad.eu_reach_breakdown lists each EU country with that reach split into age bands (18-24 to 65+) by male, female and unknown, and post.ext.ad.targets_eu, target_ages, target_gender and target_locations are who the advertiser targeted. An ad that never ran in the EU carries none of these, and they read null. For ad video transcripts use /v1/facebook/adlibrary/ad/transcript (separate endpoint, premium tier).
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Ad Library Ad API?
The Ad Library Ad endpoint gives you structured Facebook data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/facebook/adlibrary/ad: 5 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 11: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 11 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/facebook/adlibrary/ad?id=1702938977100376&trim=true" && cat response.json# GET /v1/facebook/adlibrary/ad: 5 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 11 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/facebook/adlibrary/ad"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"id": "1702938977100376",
"trim": "true",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// GET /v1/facebook/adlibrary/ad: 5 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 11_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/facebook/adlibrary/ad");
url.searchParams.set("id", "1702938977100376");
url.searchParams.set("trim", "true");
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters worth sending
trim=trueSame price, lighter payload: drops the bulky raw fields.
Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| id | No | Facebook Ad Library ad ID. Ad ids rotate as campaigns end, so take a current one from `/v1/facebook/adlibrary/company/ads` or `/v1/facebook/adlibrary/search/ads` rather than reusing an old one. |
| url | No | Facebook Ad Library URL for the ad (`https://www.facebook.com/ads/library?id=...`). A page URL is rejected with a 400 at 0 credits. |
| trim | No | Set to true for a trimmed down version of the response |
What does the Facebook Ad Library Ad API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "facebook",
"endpoint": "/v1/facebook/adlibrary/ad",
"data": {
"post": {
"id": "1702938977100376",
"url": "https://www.facebook.com/ads/library?id=1702938977100376",
"content": {
"text": "Bring sports more fully into your day with the Nike App.",
"media_urls": [
"https://scontent-iad6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/431644642_737508601479774_8272309847273720820_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=vnzhHfbNDoYQ7kNvwFR_7Ce&_nc_oc=Adp0orT-UKwnBWQeVYkt3ZVfpMZ_QWC7uayKLPLi2C7fYfm7-_pPjRPeK7jx2Vo_BB4&_nc_zt=14&_nc_ht=scontent-iad6-1.xx&_nc_gid=WMMONsHbmrH7xgysxW6OEg&_nc_ss=78289&oh=00_AQOPCc6--nHygyqzA1g_YVTHCST1Ub1xT043ToQRUz6xEQ&oe=6AC5A203",
"https://scontent-iad6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/431679131_949214166636263_7090981238489979310_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=_PGRVKv7_wsQ7kNvwGK87vn&_nc_oc=AdpzUCNj1EcgYWMNGogrXditJxh6XCHupS-v560CLAqzZ8rEnEpjJTkpNLvYJLzUMbU&_nc_zt=14&_nc_ht=scontent-iad6-1.xx&_nc_gid=WMMONsHbmrH7xgysxW6OEg&_nc_ss=78289&oh=00_AQO8K6YfVO8X4rAfLtxqB0u3xWvZHLQ7lwG1xetxDIZNdQ&oe=6AC5B751"
],
"thumbnail_url": "https://scontent-iad6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/431644642_737508601479774_8272309847273720820_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=vnzhHfbNDoYQ7kNvwFR_7Ce&_nc_oc=Adp0orT-UKwnBWQeVYkt3ZVfpMZ_QWC7uayKLPLi2C7fYfm7-_pPjRPeK7jx2Vo_BB4&_nc_zt=14&_nc_ht=scontent-iad6-1.xx&_nc_gid=WMMONsHbmrH7xgysxW6OEg&_nc_ss=78289&oh=00_AQOPCc6--nHygyqzA1g_YVTHCST1Ub1xT043ToQRUz6xEQ&oe=6AC5A203",
"duration_seconds": null
},
"author": {
"username": null,
"display_name": "Nike",
"avatar_url": "https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/431756959_712871054375981_2401799800446082357_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60_tt6&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=QiJ8JxACRTsQ7kNvwGaIDNC&_nc_oc=AdrjFQ1sqGZEfMAu57gXkPUmUIyestjFvK8M7o8RPDAMVTMP4gqSS1ztxJarGK87wSg&_nc_zt=14&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&_nc_gid=WMMONsHbmrH7xgysxW6OEg&_nc_ss=78289&oh=00_AQNC3VdCMsPqVL45f5f3mW8P4lGrnsedmF_MEQAShKFFog&oe=6AC5A406",
"verified": null
},
"engagement": {
"views": null,
"likes": null,
"comments": null,
"shares": null,
"saves": null
},
"flags": {
"nsfw": null,
"spoiler": null,
"pinned": null,
"deleted": false
},
"published_at": "2025-04-07T07:00:00.000Z",
"ext": {
"ad": {
"page_id": "15087023444",
"currency": "",
"spend": null,
"reach_estimate": null,
"publisher_platforms": [
"facebook",
"instagram"
],
"categories": [
"UNKNOWN"
],
"cta_text": "Install now",
"cta_type": "INSTALL_MOBILE_APP",
"link_url": "http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1095459556",
"is_active": true,
"end_date_iso": "2026-10-02T07:00:00.000Z",
"display_format": "DPA",
"title": "Cosmic Unity 3 Basketball Shoes",
"page_profile_uri": "https://www.facebook.com/nike/",
"page_like_count": 39509712,
"page_categories": [
"Sportswear",
"Product/service"
],
"caption": "itunes.apple.com",
"video_hd_url": null,
"video_sd_url": null
}
}
},
"computed": {
"engagement_rate": null,
"language": "en",
"content_category": "other",
"estimated_reach": null
}
},
"credits_used": 5,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": false,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"source": "captured",
"captured_at": "2026-10-02T15:36:34.491Z",
"redacted": true
}Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.
How does the Facebook Ad Library Ad API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
See your data before you code
Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usHow do I fetch a Facebook Ad Library ad via API?
What data does the Ad Library endpoint return?
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