Instagram ad library: see any brand's Instagram ads

There is no separate Instagram ad library. Instagram ads live in the Meta Ad Library, alongside Facebook's, and you narrow them down with the Platform filter set to Instagram. Anyone can search it, with or without an account.

This page covers the Instagram-specific parts: getting there from a profile, filtering to Instagram only, spotting Reels and Stories ads, and finding the creator ads and paid partnerships that are easy to miss. For the basics of searching, countries and ad details, start with our Meta Ad Library guide.

Two ways into the Instagram ad library

From the Instagram app

Instagram links an account to its ads. Per Instagram's help centre:

1. Go to the brand's profile.
2. Tap the three-dot menu.
3. Tap About this account.
4. Under Active ads, tap through to the Meta Ad Library.

You need to be logged in to see About this account. The same screen shows when the account was created, the country it is run from, its former usernames and accounts with shared followers.

Former usernames are worth a glance. A rename often means a rebrand, a merger or a pivot, and it tells you which old name to search if the ad history looks thin.

From the web

1. Open the Ad Library and pick the country you sell in. Meta shows ads per country.
2. Set the category to All ads and type the brand name.
3. Open Filters, set Platform to Instagram and apply.

The filtered view lives in the address bar, so you can bookmark it or send it to a colleague. The platform part of the address reads publisher_platforms[0]=instagram.

What the Instagram filter really shows

The Platform filter returns ads that ran on Instagram. Most of them also ran on Facebook and Meta's other apps. Under each ad, the Platforms row shows an icon for every app it ran on.

The interesting ones are the ads where Instagram is the only icon. A brand that builds creative for Instagram alone is telling you something:

• The format is native to Instagram. Full-screen vertical video made for Reels is a different production job from a feed ad.
• The audience is different. The brand may be aiming at a group it reaches better on Instagram than on Facebook.
• A creator is involved. Partnership ads built around a creator's Instagram following can run on Instagram alone.

If a competitor runs the same ad everywhere, they are probably letting Meta decide where it goes. If they run Instagram-only creative, someone is deliberately making it, and you should study it more closely.

Finding Reels and Stories ads

The Ad Library has no placement filter. Its filters cover things like platform, media type and active status, but nothing tells you whether an ad ran in Feed, Stories, Reels or Explore.

You can still tell with fair confidence:

Start with video. Set media type to videos. Vertical video is the native format for both Reels and Stories.

Look at the shape. A full-height vertical frame was made for Stories or Reels. A square or horizontal frame was made for Feed and adapted, if it runs vertically at all.

Look at where the text sits. Creative built for Reels keeps captions and logos clear of the bottom and right edge of the frame, where Instagram's own buttons and caption sit.

Read the multiple versions note. When an ad says "This ad has multiple versions" or "4 ads use this creative and text", open it. The versions are sometimes the same idea in different shapes, which shows you which placements they built for.

Partnership ads and branded content

Some of a competitor's best Instagram ads do not run under their name alone. Partnership ads run through a creator's handle, and in the Ad Library they appear as the brand with the creator, for example "Brand with Creator name".

Search the brand and scroll for those "with" lines. They show which creators the brand is putting ad budget behind, which is a stronger signal than a one-off sponsored post.

For paid partnerships that were never turned into ads, use the Branded Content tab at the top of the Ad Library. According to Meta's help centre, it covers public posts with a paid partnership label created on or after 17 August 2023. You search by Page or Instagram profile, and you must pick Instagram or Facebook and a date range. Each result shows the creator, the brand partner, the post type (a Reel, for example), the date and a link.

That tab answers a question few free tools can: which creators a competitor is paying this quarter.

What to record for each competitor

Run that once a month and keep screenshots. Outside the EU and UK, Meta removes ads from the library when they stop running, so your screenshots become the only history.

What the library will not tell you

Spend. Only ads about social issues, elections or politics get amounts spent.

Placement. As above, you infer it from the creative.

Results. No likes, clicks or sales for ads.

Targeting outside Europe. You see who an ad reached only for ads shown in the EU or UK.

Past ads outside Europe. Instagram's help centre says ads that are no longer active, paused or cancelled will not show.

For a wider view of a rival's Instagram, including their organic posts and how often they publish, see how to run an Instagram competitor analysis.

Doing it every week

The manual check takes about ten minutes per competitor. That is fine monthly and tedious weekly.

Ours, so judge accordingly. Figo reads the Meta Ad Library for each competitor you track once a week, covering their Facebook and Instagram ads, and emails you when new ones start, with the creative and landing page. It also tracks their Instagram and Facebook posts. It does not read the Branded Content tab or tell you which creators a rival pays, so keep that part manual. If influencer work is your main interest, a dedicated influencer tool is the better buy. If you mainly want to know when a rival launches new ads, Figo starts at $49 a month for three competitors.