How Long Do Facebook Ads Run? Meta Ad Statistics 2026
We ran 11 searches of the Meta Ad Library for US Ads in 11 categories and read the days running of every Ad they returned. This page covers the 546 unique Ads: how long the stopped ones ran, how long the running ones have lasted so far, and how much that varies by category and Advertiser.
51 days
Median days running of the 315 US Meta Ads that had already stopped, from first shown to last shown
Source: ShortsIntel Meta Ad Library searches, November 2026
Last updated: 2026-11-01
By Jackson Gathondu. Published 1 November 2026. Updated .
How long do Facebook ads run?
In 546 US Meta Ads we read from the Meta Ad Library on 1 November 2026, Ads that had already stopped ran a median of 51 days. Ads still running had been live a median of 97 days so far, and across all 546 the median was 72 days. 41.6% had run 90 days or more and 6.8% a year or more.
Median days running, 546 US Meta Ads
| # | Ads | Median days running |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stopped Ads | 51 days |
| 2 | Running Ads | 97 days |
| 3 | All Ads | 72 days |
Share of Ads by days running
| # | Days running | Share of 546 Ads |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ran 90 days or more | 41.6% |
| 2 | Ran a year or more | 6.8% |
Source: ShortsIntel Meta Ad Library searches, 1 November 2026 (2026)
ShortsIntel data
How we measured it
- Sample
- 546 unique Meta Ads (550 returned, 4 appeared in two searches): 315 stopped, 231 running
- Dates
- 28 January 2021 to 1 November 2026
- Platforms
- Meta Ad Library (Facebook and Instagram)
- Runs
- 11
- Each Run was one Meta Ad Library search on the ShortsIntel house account: country US, commercial Ads, running and stopped, 50 Ads per search. The keywords were skincare, protein powder, meal kit, budgeting app, project management software, fitness app, dog food, mattress, mobile game, coffee subscription and athleisure. The searches cost 550 Credits, 1 per Ad, which is 3.5% of the 15,740 Credits spent on the data behind these pages. This page made no new calls.
- All 11 Runs were captured on 1 November 2026 between 17:54 and 17:57 UTC. The dates above are when the Ads were first shown: the oldest started on 28 January 2021, and 410 of the 546 started in 2026.
- For a stopped Ad, days running is first shown to last shown, a finished run. For a running Ad it is the age so far. Those Ads keep counting, so their 97 day median is a lower bound on how long they will run.
- Every stopped Ad in these searches was last shown between 4 November 2025 and 1 November 2026. Ads that stopped before that do not show up, and an Ad that runs long is more likely to still be listed. Both push the figures toward Ads that last, so they describe what a search of the library shows today. They do not describe every Ad ever launched.
- Each search returns the library's first 50 Ads for the keyword. Sorting by winner Score only reorders that page, so it does not pick the longest runners. Matching is loose: the skincare search also returned Ads from a video app and a B2B marketplace.
- Meta publishes no spend or reach for US commercial Ads. All 550 came back with spend and impressions empty, so this page measures time only.
- 531 of the 546 Ads had a single Snapshot, so their winner Score rests on days running alone and is marked low confidence. This page uses days running and leaves the winner Score out.
- TikTok Ads are not included. The TikTok Ad Library covers only Ads shown in the EU/EEA, the UK, Switzerland and Turkey, so it has no US Ads to compare.
Meta Ad Statistics at a Glance
546 US Meta Ads from 11 Ad Library searches, captured 1 November 2026.
34.9%
of stopped Ads ran less than 30 days (110 of 315). A month is a common point for an Advertiser to switch an Ad off.
53.7%
of running Ads had already run 90 days or more (124 of 231), against 32.7% of stopped Ads.
28 to 153 days
the middle half of all 546 Ads by days running. A quarter had run less than 28 days and a quarter more than 153.
37
Ads had run a year or more (6.8%). 25 of them were still running.
2,103 days
the longest runner, a skincare image Ad first shown on 28 January 2021 and still running at capture.
75.1%
of the Ads were first shown in 2026 (410 of 546). Most of what the library shows for a keyword is recent.
Days Running for Stopped and Running Meta Ads
Stopped Ads show finished runs. Running Ads show their age so far, which is still growing.
| Metric | Ads | Median days running | Ran under 30 days | Ran 90 days or more | Ran a year or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stopped Ads | 315 | 51 days | 34.9% | 32.7% | 3.8% |
| Running Ads | 231 | 97 days | 16.0% | 53.7% | 10.8% |
| All Ads | 546 | 72 days | 26.9% | 41.6% | 6.8% |
How Long Meta Ads Ran, by Days Running Band
Share of stopped Ads (315) and running Ads (231) in each band. Stopped Ads cluster under 90 days; running Ads lean longer.
Meta Ads by Days Running Band
Counts of the 546 unique Ads in each band.
| Metric | All Ads | Stopped Ads | Running Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 7 days | 24 | 20 | 4 |
| 7 to 29 days | 123 | 90 | 33 |
| 30 to 89 days | 172 | 102 | 70 |
| 90 to 179 days | 116 | 57 | 59 |
| 180 to 364 days | 74 | 34 | 40 |
| 365 days or more | 37 | 12 | 25 |
Median Days Running by Category
One search per category, 50 Ads each as returned. A few Advertisers can carry a category: one brand placed 18 of the 50 dog food Ads. Treat the gaps between categories as rough.
| Metric | Median days running | Ran 90 days or more | Still running | Advertisers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skincare | 132 days | 30 | 14 | 35 |
| Fitness apps | 116.5 days | 35 | 12 | 27 |
| Dog food | 115 days | 27 | 34 | 20 |
| Mattresses | 102.5 days | 29 | 33 | 23 |
| Coffee subscriptions | 86 days | 21 | 16 | 36 |
| Protein powder | 76 days | 22 | 25 | 32 |
| Athleisure | 72 days | 19 | 38 | 24 |
| Meal kits | 48.5 days | 16 | 22 | 28 |
| Budgeting apps | 40.5 days | 11 | 31 | 32 |
| Mobile games | 33.5 days | 10 | 2 | 23 |
| Project management software | 31.5 days | 10 | 6 | 30 |
Days Running by Ad Format
Video and image Ads ran about as long as each other. Carousels rest on 18 Ads, too few to compare. 8 Ads had no format on record and are left out.
| Metric | Ads | Median days running | Stopped Ads, median | Running Ads, median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | 228 | 82 days | 53.5 days | 94 days |
| Video | 292 | 68 days | 54 days | 112 days |
| Carousel (small sample) | 18 | 26.5 days | n/a | n/a |
Days Running Inside One Advertiser
The 546 Ads came from 296 Advertisers. 194 of them had a single Ad in the sample, so this section uses the 49 Advertisers with 3 or more.
2.9x
how much longer an Advertiser's longest Ad had run than its shortest, at the median, across the 49 Advertisers with 3 or more Ads.
14 of 49
Advertisers had both stopped and running Ads in the sample, so they had switched some versions off while others kept running.
51 to 363 days
the range across one pet food Advertiser's 18 Ads in the dog food search, 16 of them still running.
Sample Output: One Meta Ad Library Search
The first 6 Ads of the protein powder search as returned on 1 November 2026 (POST /v1/ads/search, library meta, query "protein powder", country US, status all, order_by winner, limit 50; Run cmvy4qjcb0001kz097zoet2og, 50 Credits). Fields trimmed to dates, running state and format.
| Metric | Format | First shown | Last shown | Running | Days running |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellcore - Wellversed Brand | video | 2023-12-14 | 2026-02-03 | no | 782 |
| REDCON1 | video | 2025-08-05 | 2026-04-15 | no | 253 |
| Clean Simple Eats | carousel | 2026-06-03 | 2026-06-17 | no | 14 |
| Based Supplies | image | 2026-04-27 | 2026-10-11 | no | 167 |
| Orgain | image | 2026-05-14 | none | yes | 171 |
| PROMIX Nutrition | image | 2026-07-28 | none | yes | 96 |
231 of 546
Ads were still running at capture, so their days running is an age so far, not a finished run.
Days running tells you how long an Advertiser kept paying for an Ad, which is the main public sign that it is paying back. It does not tell you how well it worked, because Meta shows no spend or results for these Ads. The sample also leans toward Ads that last: stopped Ads only show up if they stopped in the last 12 months, and long runners are more likely to still be listed. To see how an Ad's run ends, track its Advertiser and read the Change Reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do Facebook ads run?
How long should I run a Facebook ad before turning it off?
How long do winning Facebook ads run?
What does days running mean in the Meta Ad Library?
Do video ads run longer than image ads?
How was this data collected?
Sources
Guides that use this data
- Find winning AdsHow to tell a winning Ad from a test using days running, variants added, placements, Snapshots and the winner Score.
- Meta Ad Library searchHow to search Meta's Ad Library by keyword, Advertiser and country, by hand and through an Assistant, with real sample output.
- Competitor ad researchHow to pull a competitor's Meta and TikTok Ads into your Assistant, read which ones last, and turn them into a brief.
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