# Facebook ad run time: how long this ad has been running > Paste an Ad Library link or ad id to see when the ad started and how many days we saw it running. - Page title: Facebook ad run time: find when any ad started | Spytrend - Page description: Free Facebook ad run time checker: paste an Ad Library link or ad id and see when the ad started and how long it has been running. Your first lookup is free. - Tool: https://spytrend.com/facebook-ad-run-time - Embeddable version: https://spytrend.com/facebook-ad-run-time/embed - All free tools: https://spytrend.com/tools - The product behind it: https://spytrend.com/?utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=facebook-ad-run-time To check how long a Facebook ad has been running, paste its Ad Library link or ad id and press Check run time. You get the start date, how long ago that was, and the days we saw the ad active in our library. Where we can match its image, you see at least how many other ads reuse it. This page reads one ad from the ads we have collected. It does not query Meta live. ## A start date, the days we saw it in rotation, and how often the image is reused You get three facts about one ad: when it started, how many days we saw it running, and how many other ads carry its image. Meta Ad Library shows the start date and leaves the arithmetic to you; this page does the arithmetic. What comes out: - **The start date.** When the ad started and how long ago that was, plus the date it entered our library. The two dates differ when the ad was running before we reached it. - **Days we saw it in rotation.** How many days the ad was active in our library, with a badge saying whether it was still active the last time we checked. Where there is no count, the card says so instead of showing a zero. - **Image reuse, as a floor.** How many other ads carry the same image, and on how many pages. Only ads whose image we could match are counted, so the line says “at least”. Run time is not a performance figure. It shows that the advertiser kept the ad on, which is not proof that it works: an ad bought on a cost cap can stay on by itself. ## Facebook ad run time checker: three steps 1. **Copy the ad link** In Meta Ad Library, find the ad and copy its link, or just the number after “Library ID:” on its card. 2. **Press Check run time** Paste it and press Check run time. Your first lookup is free, no sign-up; after that, your email unlocks one more. 3. **Read the dates** You get the start date, the days we saw the ad running and, where the image matches, the reuse line. An ad that ran before it reached our library is older than its day count; the start date shows its real age. ## Free version limits Your first lookup is free, no sign-up. Leave your email for one more, then create a free Spytrend account: it opens this search in the full ad library, and paid plans add fresh ads and every filter. One lookup reads one ad from our library, and the result stays on this page. ## Tell a long-running ad from a fresh test — before you build on either Every creative in a competitor’s library looks equally confident. Run time separates them: an ad still up months after launch is one the advertiser keeps paying for, and one that appeared last week is still a test. Build on the test and you inherit an experiment instead of a result. A media buyer about to rework a competitor’s angle checks the run time first, because the safest creative to learn from is the one that has lasted longest. An affiliate reads the reuse line instead. The same image on several pages usually means a network pushing one offer, not a single advertiser. One ad is one data point; the read you want is every creative an advertiser runs, sorted by how long it lasted. In Spytrend run time sits on every ad, so that sort is one click. ## Every creative an advertiser runs, sorted by how long it lasted This tool reads one ad at a time. Spytrend is an ad intelligence platform for Facebook and TikTok advertising: a full five-year archive of ads, AI-classified into 33 business categories, with every advertiser assembled into a single card — all ads, pages, domains and countries in one place. Run time sits on every ad in it. ### Two jobs where one ad is not enough - **Picking which creative to build on.** Sorted by run time, an advertiser’s ads rank themselves: the ones at the top lasted months, the ones at the bottom were switched off early. One lookup cannot show you that order. - **Seeing how far one image travels.** On the card, the pages running the same image sit together with their domains and countries, so a network reads as one shape instead of a string of lookups. ### What you can see next to a creative - **The whole library by run time.** Every ad the advertiser runs, lined up by days running, longest first. - **Re-uploads, not just age.** How often the same creative was uploaded again as a new ad. Each re-upload is the advertiser choosing to pay for it again, a harder signal than a start date. ### From one ad to the whole library, in three steps 1. **Open the page behind the ad.** Its card lists every ad the page runs, not just the one you pasted. 2. **Sort by run time.** Ads that ran for months rise to the top; the ones switched off within a week drop to the bottom. 3. **Hold this ad up against the top five.** If it is among them, the advertiser keeps paying for it. If not, the ones above it are the stronger bet. ### Why the advertiser, not the ad One ad is one data point. The read you want is the spread: how many of an advertiser’s creatives run for months, which angles they share and in which countries. Spytrend records how long every ad ran, so that spread is a sort order, not a day of pasting links. ### How to start [Create a free account](https://spytrend.com/register?source=tools&returnTo=%2Fads%3Ffrom%3Dtools&utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=facebook-ad-run-time), search a brand or a domain you already know and sort its ads by run time. The free account opens the ad library; paid plans add fresh ads and every filter. ## FAQ - **How long has this Facebook ad been running?** Paste the Ad Library link or ad id and press Check run time. You get the start date and how long ago it was, plus the days we saw the ad active in our library. - **Is the Facebook ad run time checker free?** Yes, to start. Your first lookup is free, no sign-up, and your email unlocks one more. After that, a free Spytrend account opens this search in the full ad library; paid plans add fresh ads and every filter. - **What does “active” mean here?** It means the ad was still running the last time we checked. It is not a claim that the ad is live on Meta right now. - **Why does the reuse line say “at least”?** Because we count only the ads whose image we could match, so the number is a floor, not a total. When we cannot match an ad’s image at all, the card says so instead of showing a zero. - **Does the day count stop when the ad stops?** Yes. It counts the days we saw the ad active in our library, so it stops growing when the ad is switched off. It also leaves out days before the ad reached us; the start date shows the full age. - **Why is the start date different from the date the ad entered our library?** Because the ad was already running before we reached it. The start date is when it began; the other date is when it entered our library. ## Start from one ad. See every creative behind it. One ad tells you how long it has run. Spytrend gives you the advertiser: every ad, page, domain and country they run, with the dates attached. [Open Spytrend](https://spytrend.com/register?source=tools&returnTo=%2Fads%3Ffrom%3Dtools&utm_source=tools&utm_medium=free_tool&utm_campaign=facebook-ad-run-time) ## Related tools - [Creative reuse](https://spytrend.com/creative-reuse): Paste an ad link and see how many ads and Facebook pages use the same image. - [Winning ads](https://spytrend.com/winning-ads): Pick a niche and a country and see the Facebook ads still running after a month, with the page behind each one. - [Meta Ad Library search](https://spytrend.com/meta-ad-library-search): Paste a domain and see which Facebook pages advertise it, with the ad count for each and a link to its Ad Library page. - [Advertising countries](https://spytrend.com/ad-countries): Paste a brand’s website and see every country its ads run in, with the number of ads in each. - [Ad character counter](https://spytrend.com/ad-character-counter): Count Facebook, Instagram and TikTok ad copy, captions and bios against each field’s limit, emoji included, as you type. - [Video to text converter](https://spytrend.com/video-to-text-converter): Read what a video ad says. Upload an MP4 or paste a YouTube link and get the transcript as text or SRT. - [Audio to text](https://spytrend.com/audio-to-text): Upload an MP3, M4A or WAV file, or a voice memo, and get the spoken words back as text or an SRT file. [All free tools](https://spytrend.com/tools) ## Embed this tool on your site Add this lookup to your own page. Paste the code below into your HTML; it works on any site and needs no account. Embedded copies run the same free limits as this page. ```html ``` Run time is measured in the ads we have collected. Active means active in our library the last time we checked, not live on Meta right now.