YouTube ads library: how to find a rival's video ads
There is no separate YouTube ads library. How to find a rival's YouTube ads in Google's Transparency Center, why they hide from their channel, and what to read.
There is no separate YouTube ads library. YouTube ads are listed in the Google Ads Transparency Center, alongside Google's search, Shopping, Maps and Play ads. Search a competitor, set the platform filter to YouTube and the format to Video, and you have their YouTube ads library: every video ad they have shown in the past year, when it was last shown, and in which countries.
Two other official sources fill in what the Transparency Center leaves out. YouTube has a search page just for paid product placements and sponsorships, and every ad you meet on YouTube carries a link to the advertiser's details. Both are below.
Using the Transparency Center as a YouTube ads library
- Open the Transparency Center at adstransparency.google.com. No account needed.
- Search the competitor by name or website. Pick the advertiser account rather than the website result, and check for a second account with a similar name.
- Set the region to the country you compete in, or leave it on Anywhere.
- Set Platform to YouTube and Format to Video. The address bar now ends in
platform=YOUTUBE&format=VIDEO, so bookmark it. - Choose a date range. Last 30 days shows what is running now. Any time shows the year.
One limit matters here. Google shows a note on screen that the platform filter only covers ads shown from 4 September 2023, and older ads vanish from the results when it is on. You lose nothing within the one-year window, but turn the filter off if you are reading political ads, which are kept for longer.
For everything else the Transparency Center does, including region quirks and the European extras, see our Google Ads Transparency Center guide.
Why their ads are not on their channel
You may find a competitor running a dozen video ads that appear nowhere on their YouTube channel. That is by design.
Google's ad specifications say a video ad must be a video uploaded to YouTube and set as public or unlisted. YouTube's help says unlisted videos do not appear on the channel's Videos tab or in YouTube search, though anyone with the link can watch them. That is how a channel can look quiet while its owner runs a dozen ads.
Google's help for skippable in-stream ads adds a detail that is useful for spotting them: unlisted videos used as ads do not display the channel logo, name or information. So a YouTube ad you see with no channel attached is very likely an unlisted upload, and the Transparency Center is the only place to find the full set.
The reverse is useful too. The same help page says views from these ads only count towards a video's public view count when the video is longer than 10 seconds. So a public video on a competitor's channel with ten times the views of everything around it, and few comments, may be one they have been running as an ad.
How to read a video ad
The first five seconds. Viewers can skip an in-stream ad after five seconds. Whatever the competitor shows before then is their hook, and the part they will have tested hardest. Note it in a line: a face, a claim, a problem, a product shot.
The variations. An ad page shows "1 of 5 variations" when there are several. Google says variations can combine different text, images and links, so flick through them all. Several headlines on one video mean they are still looking for the winning message.
The length. Google sets no minimum or maximum length for skippable ads, so length is a choice. A 15-second spot is built for reach. A three-minute demo is built for people already close to buying, and is often aimed at people who already know the brand.
The headline text. The preview card shows a line of text with the video. Search it on YouTube. If the video is public you will find it with its view count and comments. If nothing turns up, it is unlisted.
Last shown. A video ad last shown today and first seen months ago in your log is a keeper. Brief your own creative team on that one first.
What European ads add
For ads shown in the EEA, the ad page adds a range for the number of times the ad was shown in the selected country, published after a 90 day delay. Where Google has the data, an information icon next to that range splits it by platform, including YouTube. That is the only free way to see whether a competitor's video ad mostly ran on YouTube or elsewhere.
The same pages show which kinds of targeting the advertiser used: demographic info, geographic locations, contextual signals and customer lists, each marked as included or excluded. A YouTube ad with customer lists included is retargeting people who already know them.
Sponsorships and paid promotions
Ads are only half of what brands pay for on YouTube. The other half is creators.
The Transparency Center's home page links to Explore paid promotions on YouTube, which opens a YouTube search page that only returns videos with declared paid product placements, sponsorships and endorsements. Type a competitor's brand name and you see which creators have declared a paid promotion with them, when, and how many views those videos got. YouTube's instructions on the page point to filters beside the search bar for narrowing the results.
This only covers promotions the creator declared. It is still the cleanest free list of a competitor's YouTube sponsorships, and it is worth checking each quarter.
Spotting an ad in the wild
When a competitor's ad plays in front of you, use the info or three-dot icon on the ad. Google says this opens My Ad Center, with details about the advertiser. Note the exact advertiser name it shows and search that in the Transparency Center. It is often a legal entity name you would not have guessed.
What you cannot see
- The ad's performance. No view rate, click rate or conversions.
- Spend or bids. Anything you read elsewhere is modelled. Our ad spy tools roundup explains how those estimates are built and how far to trust them.
- Targeting outside the EEA. Beyond the European categories above, nothing.
- Their organic strategy. For uploads, Shorts and topics, use our YouTube competitor analysis guide.
Where Figo fits
Figo does not do YouTube-specific tracking. It checks each competitor's Google Ads in the Transparency Center once a week, alongside their Meta and TikTok ads, but it does not watch YouTube channels, sponsorships or video performance. If YouTube video is the channel you need to follow closely, the bookmark and log method above is the right tool. The ad libraries hub lists every other platform's library, and how to see every ad a competitor is running puts Google, Meta and TikTok side by side.
Questions people ask
How long do YouTube ads stay in the Transparency Center?
Google keeps ads from verified advertisers for one year from the date the ad was last shown. Election ads are kept for up to seven years.
Can I see which channels or videos a competitor's ad ran on?
No. Placement reports exist only inside the advertiser's own Google Ads account. The Transparency Center tells you the platform, not the videos the ad appeared before.
Can I see how many people watched a competitor's YouTube ad?
Not outside Europe. For ads shown in the EEA, Google publishes a range for the number of times the ad was shown, and where the data exists it splits that range by platform, YouTube included.
See it on your own competitors
Figo checks their ads, pages, rankings and reviews every week, then tells you what to do in plain words. Set up in two minutes.
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