Rival Ads
Start free

Add a competitor

Owners and admins can create monitors from Monitors. Each selected channel creates one monitor and uses one plan slot.

Before you begin

Decide:

  • Which project should contain the competitor.
  • Which countries matter to the research.
  • Which channels the competitor uses.
  • The correct Facebook page, domain or advertiser name if automatic detection cannot find it.

For LinkedIn, the workspace Owner should first complete Connect LinkedIn.

Step 1: open Track a competitor

  1. Open Monitors.
  2. Select Add competitor.
  3. In Track a competitor, enter Competitor website.
  4. Select Find their ads.

A root website such as example.com is the best starting point. A Facebook or Instagram URL also works when you only have a social profile.

Rival Ads checks the public homepage for likely Meta and Google details. If the site cannot be read, the next screen still lets you enter every channel manually.

Or search for the advertiser

Select Search brands in Track a competitor, or open Research in the sidebar, and type the brand. Every channel's ad library is searched at once.

This search matches advertiser names, not what their ads say, so use the brand on its own. Nike finds the Page where Nike running shoes may find nothing. TikTok often lists an advertiser under its registered company name, so try that too.

Meta's name search only shows the Pages it ranks highest, so a smaller Page with a common name may not appear. Paste one of these instead and the search goes straight to that advertiser:

  • A Facebook Page link, including facebook.com/profile.php?id=… links
  • A Facebook Page ID
  • A Meta Ad Library link to the Page, or to one of its ads
  • An Instagram profile link

Find ads by keyword

To see who is running ads about something, search any word or phrase in Research, then open Ads on Meta or Ads on TikTok. You get the ads each library lists for those words, with the advertiser and the creative, even if no advertiser is named that.

Ads on Meta shows live ads and when each one started. Ads on TikTok shows ads from about the last 30 days and when each was first and last shown, because TikTok does not say whether an ad is still running. It groups identical ads from the same advertiser into one card.

  • Pick a Location to see the ads running in one country.
  • On Meta ads, Track starts monitoring the advertiser and Save adds it to your shortlist. Neither happens automatically, and browsing uses no monitor slots.
  • On TikTok ads, Find advertiser looks the advertiser up first, because TikTok's list names them without the ID a monitor needs. Track and Save them from the result.
  • Each tab shows the top matches. See them all opens the full list at the source.
  • If a phrase finds nothing, try fewer words.

Keyword search covers Meta and TikTok. TikTok, Microsoft Ads and Pinterest only publish ads shown in some countries, and each channel's results say which.

Links and Page IDs search Meta only. Search the brand name to check Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, Microsoft Ads and Pinterest too. A Microsoft Ad Library advertiser URL searches Microsoft alone. A Pinterest Ads Repository ad link searches Pinterest alone.

Step 2: confirm the competitor and project

Review:

  • Competitor name — the name shown beside the channel icon.
  • Project — the client or brand grouping for access and reporting.

Use the same competitor name across channels. For example, “Acme” on Meta and “Acme” on Google creates two clear monitors with different icons.

Step 3: choose Locations to monitor

Choose up to five countries. The first pill is marked Default and becomes the starting Location filter on the monitor.

Select another location pill to make it the default. Remove a secondary location with its remove action. TikTok accepts only countries covered by its public Commercial Content Library; the form warns when another location is selected.

Example: an agency serving a UK client could use United Kingdom as default and add United States, Ireland and Canada for comparison.

Step 4: choose Channels to track

Under Channels to track, select one or more:

Meta · Facebook & Instagram

Enter a Facebook page URL or Meta Ad Library URL. Examples:

  • https://www.facebook.com/examplebrand
  • A Meta Ad Library URL opened on the correct advertiser

If only an Instagram handle was found, check the suggested Facebook page before starting.

Google · Search, Display & YouTube

Enter the root website domain, for example example.com. Do not include a product path or tracking parameters.

TikTok · Commercial Content Library

Enter the advertiser name as it appears publicly, for example Gymshark.

LinkedIn · Ad Library

Enter the company or advertiser name, for example Notion. The form reminds you that syncing uses Settings → Integrations.

Microsoft Ads

Search for the advertiser or paste their Microsoft Ad Library advertiser URL, such as https://adlibrary.ads.microsoft.com/advertiser/4295406264. Choose EU/EEA locations; Microsoft’s library does not cover other countries. No account connection is needed.

Pinterest

Search the advertiser name, or paste a Pinterest Ads Repository ad link into the website field. Pick the exact advertiser name and supported countries (EU countries, Brazil, Norway or Türkiye). No Pinterest connection is needed. Each Pinterest competitor uses one monitor slot.

Step 5: check plan usage and start

The dialog shows how many monitor slots the selection uses. If the selection exceeds the remaining allowance, choose fewer channels or follow Get more monitors to upgrade your plan or add extra monitors.

Select Start tracking for one channel or Start tracking all for several. Each successful monitor appears under its project and begins fetching. First results typically arrive within a minute or two.

Verify the first results

  1. Open each new monitor.
  2. Confirm the advertiser and Location are correct.
  3. Use Open in source library on a result to compare it with the public source.
  4. If a match is wrong, select Edit and correct the source before building history.

The first check creates a baseline and does not send Instant new-ad alerts. Later checks can identify Started, Stopped and Continued ads.

For channel limitations, see Supported channels. If results are empty or incorrect, follow Troubleshoot a sync.