Facebook Ads Library API: pull a competitor's live ads and what they bid on in Google

One prompt runs the whole thing

set up olywork — https://olywork.com/llms.txt

Using olywork, count the active Meta ads for Notion (facebook.com/notionhq), then pull the 20 most recent. Show me the price first. Group them by format and call to action, and give me a CSV with ad_archive_id, started, format, cta, title and hook. Then list what the same company is running in the Google Ads Transparency Center.

works in

Why this prompt works

What ChatGPT calls, and what each call costs

Prices are the provider’s own rate, read from the catalog when this page loads, with $0.000 added by olywork.com. Success rates are olywork.com’s own served calls over the last 30 days.

#	Step	What the agent asks	Provider used	Price	Success rate
1	Count the ads firstonlyTotal:true returns the count as a single billed result. Read it before you decide how many ads to pull.	how many active ads the Page runs, as one cheap result row	Apify4 providers do this step	$0.005 per result	not yet measured
2	Pull the Meta adsReads the Ad Library web UI. Billed per ad returned, so cap it with resultsLimit and maxItems.	active ads for a Page from the Meta Ad Library, with creative text and format	Apify4 providers do this step	$0.005 per result	not yet measured
3	Pull the Google adsOne flat call per domain, with format and first-shown dates per creative. Failed and empty searches are free.	the same advertiser's ads in the Google Ads Transparency Center, by domain	SerpApi2 providers do this step	$0.015 per found	not yet measured

What it actually cost

Run on 2026-09-14, 20 ads in.

Ads counted

113 active ads on the Page, one result row

Meta ads pulled

20 active ads for Notion: 10 image, 6 dynamic creative, 4 video

Calls to action

Sign up (13), Get offer (5), Apply now (2)

Google ads pulled

17 creatives on notion.so: 9 text, 7 image, 1 video

Metered on olywork's shared key

$0.015 for the Google call

Not metered

the two Meta calls ran on this team's own Apify key, which olywork never meters; on the shared key they bill at the rate in the table, $0.105 for the probe and 20 ads

The count probe came back as one result row, then twenty ads came back in one Meta call and 17 in one Google call. The worst-case total above counts the count probe once per row because it shares the pull's endpoint; in practice it is one result. Every Meta ad opened with the same line and pointed at a sign-up; the variety is in format, not copy. The Google side is mostly text ads. The Meta calls went out on the team's own Apify key, and a team's own key is never metered, so the receipt shows the shared-key rate for them separately. A run on olywork's shared key bills them at the rate in the table.

Download the CSV of this run

Why go through olywork.com

Where it goes wrong

Advertiser not found

A wrong Page URL or an advertiser with no active ads returns zero results and costs nothing.

Keyword vs Page confusion

A keyword query returns everyone bidding on the phrase. A Page URL returns that advertiser's ads. This run used a Page URL (facebook.com/notionhq) and got 20 Notion ads, not 20 ads from assorted bidders.

Slow Meta pulls

The Meta route blocks until the scrape finishes and is cut at five minutes. Keep the limit small or use the asynchronous pair.

Google domain mismatch

The Google side keys on the advertiser's verified domain. A marketing subdomain returns nothing; use the root domain.

Count-before-pull billing

The count probe bills as one result; the full pull bills per ad. Notion's 113 active ads would cost $0.565 uncapped. The run capped at 20 ads ($0.105 on olywork.com's shared key).

Creative fields shift

Both routes read the public library pages. Field availability tracks whatever Meta and Google currently render. 5 of this run's 6 DCO ads returned template placeholders, not final copy.

Creative media URLs expire

Meta's public media links go stale within days. If you need a lasting creative pack, download the creative assets into your own storage on the same run, not later.

Official Library API is the wrong product for ecommerce spy

ads_archive is built around transparency rules and identity checks. It will not mirror the full commercial Ad Library UI. Use a public-library scrape route when you want active brand creatives.

Spy SaaS seat for a one-off pack

Paying a monthly ad-spy subscription only to export a competitor's current ads is a common overbuy. Cap the ad count and bill per ad returned.

Before you start

What does a competitor pull cost?

It depends on how many ads they run. Notion had 113 active ads; pulling all of them would cost $0.565 on olywork.com's shared key. This run capped at 20 ($0.105).

Is this Meta's official API?

No. It reads the public Ad Library. Meta's own ads_archive route is free but needs identity verification and returns less.

Why did 5 ads return template placeholders?

Those are DCO (dynamic creative) ads. The library shows the template, not the rendered variants. This run's CSV has 10 IMAGE, 4 VIDEO, and 6 DCO; 5 of the DCO rows show placeholders and the sixth carried real copy.

What about the landing pages?

18 of the 20 ads point at fb.me (a redirect); 2 point at notion.com. Ask the agent to scrape the final destinations as a follow-up step.

Why did the image or video link die overnight?

Meta rotates public CDN URLs. Save the file during the pull if you want a durable swipe file.

Each step on its own