How to search the Meta Ad Library by image

The Meta Ad Library has no image search. Here is how to search the Ad Library by image and find the Facebook and Instagram ads that use a picture.

Published November 8, 20262 min readLire en français

The Meta Ad Library can't search by image. Its search box only takes words and advertiser names. To search the Ad Library by image, use Squinto: drop in a picture and get the active Facebook and Instagram ads that show the same product.

Search the Ad Library by image in 3 steps

Open Squinto.
Drop in a picture: a product photo, a screenshot of an ad, or a picture from a store page (JPEG, PNG or WebP).
Drag a box over the product and press Squint.

You get the matching ads from the Meta Ad Library, with:

the advertiser;
how many days each ad has been running;
a match score;
a link to the ad in the Ad Library.

The first search is free and needs no account.

Why the Ad Library has no image search

The Meta Ad Library was built for transparency: who is advertising, and what. You can search it by:

keyword (words in the ad text);
advertiser name;
Library ID.

There's no upload button, and the "media type" filter only says whether an ad has an image or a video, not what's in it. Google Lens doesn't search the Ad Library either.

Image search vs keyword search in the Ad Library

| | Keyword search (Meta) | Image search (Squinto) | |---|---|---| | You start from | Words in the ad | A picture of the product | | Ads in another language | Missed | Found | | Ads with no product name in the text | Missed | Found | | Advertisers you don't know | Only if you guess their words | Found |

Tips for better results

Box the product only. A tight box around the product beats a full screenshot.
One product per search. If the picture shows several, pick one.
Use a clear picture. Blurry or tiny pictures match less well.

Limits

Active ads only. Ads that stopped running aren't searched.
Meta's apps only. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network: the ads in the Meta Ad Library.
New ads can take up to a day to appear in the Library.

Questions

Can I search the Facebook Ad Library by image? Not on Meta's site. The Facebook Ad Library and the Meta Ad Library are the same thing, and neither has image search. Squinto adds it.

Can I search Instagram ads by image? Yes. Instagram ads are in the same Meta Ad Library, and Squinto searches them too.

Is it free? The first search is free, with no account.

Is Squinto affiliated with Meta? No. It reads the public Ad Library.