Ad research
The TikTok Ad Library: what it shows and how to search it
By Jackson Gathondu. Published 1 November 2026. Updated .
The TikTok Ad Library is TikTok's public record of paid Ads. It sits at library.tiktok.com as one half of the TikTok Commercial Content Library. The other half lists creator posts that carry a paid partnership or promotional label.
It covers Ads shown in Europe and Turkey only. For each of those Ads it shows the creative, the days it ran, the countries, ages and genders it was aimed at, and a band of how many people saw it. Below is what the library holds, where it stops, and how to have an Assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT search it for you.
What the TikTok Commercial Content Library is
TikTok runs the Commercial Content Library. It has two sections. The Ad Library holds paid Ads. The other section holds creator content tagged as commercial. Both are public and searchable on the web.
TikTok says an Ad stays in the library while it runs and for one year after it was last shown. TikTok also offers a Commercial Content API for the same data. You apply for it through a TikTok for Developers account.
ShortsIntel reads the Ad Library section, the paid Ads. Your Assistant gets each Ad as structured data it can sort, compare and summarise, without applying for TikTok's developer access.
Which countries the TikTok Ad Library covers
The library lists 33 countries. An Ad shown only outside them, in the US for example, is not in it.
| Group | Countries |
|---|---|
| European Union (27) | Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden |
| Rest of the EEA (3) | Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway |
| Other (3) | Switzerland, United Kingdom, Turkey |
What each Ad shows
A search returns a short card for each Ad. Opening one Ad returns the full record, including who it was aimed at.
| Field | In a search | When you open the Ad |
|---|---|---|
| Title and media | Yes | Yes |
| Advertiser name | When the library has one | Yes, with its TikTok account |
| First and last day shown | Yes | Yes |
| Audience size | A band, such as 0-1K | A band |
| Impressions | No | A band, per country, age and gender |
| Countries targeted | No | Yes |
| Ages and genders targeted | No | Yes |
| Call to action and objective | No | Yes |
| Spend | No | No |
How to search the TikTok Ad Library with your Assistant
You type requests in plain language. The Assistant calls search_ads with library tiktok to search, and get_ad to open an Ad or an Advertiser.
Connect your Assistant to ShortsIntel
Add the ShortsIntel MCP server once. The connect steps further down this page cover Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex and Cursor. No API key is needed.
Search by keyword or by Advertiser
Name a product category to see every Advertiser using those words, or name a brand to see its Ads. If several Advertisers share a name, the Assistant gets the candidates back at no charge so you can pick one. A library.tiktok.com Advertiser link avoids the question.
Search the TikTok Ad Library for mobile game Ads. List the Advertiser, title and first and last day shown for each.Open the Ads worth reading
Ask for the full record of the Ads that interest you. It adds the call to action, the campaign objective, the Advertiser's TikTok account and the targeting: countries, ages, genders and impressions per country.
Open the first three Ads and tell me which countries and age groups each one targeted.Look at the whole Advertiser
Ask for the Advertiser's profile to see how many Ads it is running and has run in total, and where it is registered.
Look up this TikTok Advertiser and tell me how many Ads they are running now: (paste a library.tiktok.com Advertiser link)Track the Advertiser
Set a Tracker on the Advertiser. Each day it checks for new and stopped Ads and writes a Change Report, so you see a new campaign without searching again.
Track this TikTok Advertiser and tell me when they launch new Ads.
Data limits
Data limits for the TikTok Ad Library
- The TikTok Ad Library covers Ads shown in the EU/EEA, the UK, Switzerland and Turkey only. A US-only campaign is not in it. Search the Meta Ad Library for Ads that ran in the US.
- A TikTok search takes a keyword or an Advertiser. The Meta filters (country, status, kind, media type) are refused, and so is Ad analysis.
- The library publishes no spend. Audience and impressions come as bands, such as 0-1K, not exact counts.
- An Ad drops out of the library one year after it was last shown.
- Many Ads carry no body text, and some carry no Advertiser name in a search.
- A search returns one page at a time, up to 30 Ads, often fewer. Ask for the next page to see more.
- Keyword matching is loose. In our mobile game search below, all 11 Ads came from one Advertiser.
- The library often does not say whether an Ad is still running. The field is then null.
What your Assistant gets back
Real responses from our own account, trimmed to the fields an Assistant reads. The search returned one page of 11 Ads for 3 Credits. Opening the first Ad cost 3 Credits.
TikTok Ad Library, via REST API
POST /v1/ads/search: library tiktok, query "mobile game"
{
"run": { "kind": "ads_search", "status": "completed", "charge_credits": 3 },
"result": {
"library": "tiktok",
"items": [
{
"id": "1873680751485154",
"url": "https://library.tiktok.com/ads/detail/?ad_id=1873680751485154",
"advertiser": { "id": null, "name": "VOODOO" },
"creative": { "title": "The best mobile game", "body": null, "cta": null },
"reach": { "audience": "0-1K", "spend": null, "impressions": null },
"first_shown": "2026-08-16T00:00:00.000Z",
"last_shown": "2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z",
"is_active": null
},
{
"id": "1873562136448258",
"advertiser": { "id": null, "name": "VOODOO" },
"creative": { "title": "The best mobile game", "body": null, "cta": null },
"reach": { "audience": "0-1K", "spend": null, "impressions": null },
"first_shown": "2026-08-15T00:00:00.000Z",
"last_shown": "2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z",
"is_active": null
},
...
],
"next_cursor": null
}
}
(11 Ads on this page, all from the same Advertiser; media URLs trimmed)TikTok Ad Library, via REST API
GET /v1/ads/tiktok/1873680751485154
{
"run": { "kind": "ad_lookup", "status": "completed", "charge_credits": 3 },
"result": {
"ad": {
"id": "1873680751485154",
"advertiser": { "id": "6876452343609557761", "name": "VOODOO" },
"advertiser_account": { "display_name": "Draft Showdown", "verified": true, "followers": "4.2K" },
"creative": { "title": "The best mobile game", "cta": "Go to App Store" },
"objective": "App promotion",
"reach": { "audience": "0-1K", "impressions": "0-1K", "spend": null },
"first_shown": "2026-08-16T00:00:00.000Z",
"last_shown": "2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z",
"targeting": {
"ages": ["18-24", "25-34", "35-44", "45-54", "55+"],
"genders": ["female", "male", "unknown"],
"countries": ["CZ", "CH", "GR", "AT", "FI", "PL", "FR", "RO", "TR", ...],
"by_country": [
{
"country": "CZ",
"impressions": "0-1K",
"breakdown": [
{ "age": "18-24", "gender": "male", "impressions": "0-1K" },
{ "age": "18-24", "gender": "female", "impressions": "0-1K" },
...
]
},
...
]
},
"removed_from_library": false
},
"as_of": "2026-11-01T18:48:45.755Z"
}
}
(27 countries targeted, each with 15 age and gender rows; media URLs and the rest trimmed)What it costs
A TikTok Ad Library search costs 3 credits per page. Opening one Ad costs 3 credits, and an Advertiser profile costs 15 credits. A daily Advertiser Tracker cycle costs 30 credits. Ask your Assistant for an estimate first and it quotes the price without charging.
Credits are prepaid at 1,000 credits per US dollar, with no subscription. New accounts get 1,000 credits free, valid for 90 days. A Run that fails costs nothing, and a partial one is charged only for what finished. Every price is on the pricing page.
Connect your Assistant
The server address is the same for every Assistant. You sign in to ShortsIntel and choose which organization pays.
Claude.ai
Web and desktop. No API key: Claude signs in to ShortsIntel for you.
- Open Claude's add connector page with ShortsIntel filled in, and choose Add. Or go to Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector, and paste the endpoint below.
https://www.shortsintel.com/api/mcp - Sign in to ShortsIntel, approve the connection and choose the organization whose Balance pays for Runs.
- In a chat, turn the ShortsIntel connector on and ask your question.
ChatGPT
Web and desktop, in Developer mode. No API key: ChatGPT signs in over OAuth.
- Open ChatGPT's connector settings and switch Developer mode on.
- Create a connector named ShortsIntel, paste the endpoint and choose OAuth.
https://www.shortsintel.com/api/mcp - Sign in to ShortsIntel and choose your organization.
- In a new chat, choose the + next to the message box, then Developer mode, and turn ShortsIntel on.
Claude Code
One command, then sign in from Claude Code.
- Add the server in your terminal.
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user shortsintel https://www.shortsintel.com/api/mcp - Run /mcp inside Claude Code, choose shortsintel and sign in.
Codex
One command; Codex signs in on first use.
- Add the server in your terminal.
codex mcp add shortsintel --url https://www.shortsintel.com/api/mcp - If no browser window opens to sign in, start it yourself.
codex mcp login shortsintel
Cursor and VS Code
One-click install links; each asks you to confirm.
- In Cursor, open the Cursor install link.
- In VS Code, open the VS Code install link.
- Sign in to ShortsIntel when the editor asks.
Prompts to try
Paste any of these once your Assistant is connected. Swap in your own category or brand. For the full method across Meta and TikTok, see the competitor ad research hub. For everything else the server reads on TikTok, see the TikTok MCP page.
- Search the TikTok Ad Library for skincare Ads and group them by Advertiser.
- Show me every TikTok Ad this brand has run in Europe: (paste the brand name or a library.tiktok.com link)
- Open these three TikTok Ads and compare the countries and age groups they targeted.
- Which of these Ads ran longest between the first and last day shown?
- Track this TikTok Advertiser and send me a Change Report when they add or stop Ads.
Related reading
Questions
- What is the TikTok Ad Library?
- It is TikTok's public, searchable record of paid Ads, at library.tiktok.com. For each Ad it shows the creative, the first and last day shown, the targeting by country, age and gender, and a band of how many people saw it.
- What is the TikTok Commercial Content Library?
- It is the full library at library.tiktok.com. It has two sections: the Ad Library for paid Ads, and a section for creator posts labelled as paid partnership or promotional. ShortsIntel reads the Ad Library section.
- Is there a TikTok Ad Library for the US?
- No. The library covers Ads shown in the EU/EEA, the UK, Switzerland and Turkey only, 33 countries in all. An Ad that ran only in the US is not in it.
- Does the TikTok Ad Library show ad spend?
- No. It shows audience size and impressions as bands, such as 0-1K, but no spend.
- How long do Ads stay in the TikTok Ad Library?
- TikTok keeps an Ad in the library while it runs and for one year after it was last shown.
- Can Claude or ChatGPT search the TikTok Ad Library?
- Yes, once connected to the ShortsIntel MCP server. The Assistant searches by keyword or Advertiser, opens single Ads for their targeting, and can track an Advertiser for new Ads.
- How much does it cost?
- A search costs 3 credits per page and opening one Ad costs 3 credits. New accounts get 1,000 credits free, valid for 90 days. A Run that fails costs nothing, and a partial one is charged only for what finished.
Try it in your Assistant
Connect ShortsIntel to the Assistant you already use and ask the question this guide answers, or try the calls in the Playground first.