Is That Meta Ad Still Running? Check an Ad Library ID

You saved a competitor's ad last week. Today the link opens an empty page. Did the brand stop running it, did Meta stop showing it in that view, or did your lookup fail?

Those possibilities need different follow-ups. An empty result alone cannot tell you which happened.

Here is a practical way to check a known Facebook or Instagram ad and keep enough evidence to explain the result later.

Start with the right identifier

Open the saved ad in the Meta Ad Library. Its direct link usually includes a numeric Library ID:

https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=1191898553123641

That number identifies the library entry. A Facebook Page ID identifies an advertiser; a post ID identifies a post. Neither replaces the Library ID in a single-ad lookup.

If you only know the brand name, begin with Meta Brand Search & Page ID Finder, verify the advertiser, and discover its ads with the Meta Ad Library Scraper. Save the Library IDs you want to revisit.

Look up one saved ad

My Single Ad Lookup actor accepts a Library ID or a direct Library URL. This input illustrates the format; the example ad may no longer be available:

{
  "adId": "1191898553123641",
  "country": "ALL"
}

Run it in Apify, open the dataset, and inspect the activity flag together with any error. Available creative fields can help you confirm that the returned record belongs to the ad you saved.

The actor processes one ad per run. For a spreadsheet of IDs, have your automation call it once for each row. Existing integrations using the old meta-ad-status-checker actor name should use the current name above.

Keep three outcomes in your own tracker

Use this interpretation table when turning the returned record into an alert:

These are tracking decisions you implement around the result. Preserve the original response rather than replacing it with only your label.

In particular, avoid code that converts a missing activity field into false. That turns extraction failures into false reports that competitors stopped advertising.

Build a history instead of overwriting yesterday

Store one observation per lookup. Keep the Library ID, observation time, country context, raw activity value, error information, and any dates supplied by the source. Add your interpreted status in a separate field.

This fictional history shows why that matters:

The defensible statement is that you observed a change between two successful checks. The exact shutdown time remains unknown.

Use Apify schedules for repeated checks, and store historical results in your own table or database. Scheduling a lookup does not create a historical comparison by itself.

Handle media separately

Creative image and video links are references to source-hosted files. They can expire. Retain the ad ID, copy, and source URL even if a creative URL later stops working. If your use permits saving media, archive it separately and keep the capture date.

For manual browsing and local exports, the Meta Ads Exporter workflow is a useful starting point. A focused lookup is more convenient once you already have the ID.

Can a removed ad be identified with certainty?

A missing record is insufficient evidence. Record it as unknown unless the source supplies clear removal evidence. Availability can depend on the requested view, and retrieval can fail.

Does a long-running ad prove that it performs well?

No. Public visibility does not reveal the advertiser's conversions, margin, or return on ad spend. Longevity gives you a reason to investigate the creative, then form a hypothesis for your own test.

Start with one saved Library ID in Single Ad Lookup. Confirm that you can separate explicit status from lookup failure before connecting an alert to a larger watchlist.