How to know what ads a website is using?

Understanding the types of ads a website is using can provide valuable insights for marketers, competitors, or anyone interested in digital advertising strategies. Whether you’re trying to learn from a competitor’s ad strategy or simply curious about what ads are running on a particular website, there are several ways to find out. In this article, we’ll explore the different tools and techniques you can use to know what ads a website is using.

1. Use the Facebook Ad Library

If you’re trying to figure out what ads a website is running on Facebook or Instagram, the best place to start is the Facebook Ad Library. This tool is available to anyone and allows you to search for all active ads that a business or website is running on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.

How to Use the Facebook Ad Library:

1. Go to the Facebook Ad Library.
2. Type in the name of the website or business you’re interested in.
3. Browse through the ads to see which ones are active and running.

This tool provides transparency into ads running on Meta’s platforms, including the ad creatives, targeting details (age, gender, location), and how long the ads have been running. It’s particularly useful for understanding a website’s social media advertising strategy.

2. Check Google Ads Transparency

If the website in question is running Google Ads, Google also provides tools to increase ad transparency. You can use the Google Ads Transparency Report or check the ads that appear in Google search results related to the website.

Steps to Check Google Ads:

1. Search for relevant keywords in Google that the website might be targeting. For example, if the website sells electronics, search for related keywords like “buy smartphone.”
2. Look for ads in the search results labeled with the “Ad” tag. These will show what Google Ads campaigns the website is running.
3. You can also use tools like SEMrush or SpyFu (both paid tools) to analyze the website’s ad campaigns, keywords, and budget estimates.

Google Ads transparency tools allow you to see which websites are bidding on specific keywords and how long their campaigns have been active.

3. Use Ad Spying Tools

If you want a more comprehensive view of the ads a website is running across different platforms, ad spying tools can help you get detailed insights. These tools provide a wealth of data on display ads, video ads, and even native advertising campaigns. Some of the top ad spying tools include:

• Adbeat: Offers insights into display ads running on websites and tracks competitors’ ad placements across the web.
• SimilarWeb: Provides insights into traffic sources, including paid advertising channels that drive traffic to a website.
• SEMrush Advertising Research: Tracks ads running on Google’s Display Network and provides keyword insights and ad copy analysis.
• SpyFu: Tracks competitors’ ad spend, keywords, and Google Ads performance, giving you a detailed breakdown of their PPC campaigns.

These tools typically come with subscription fees, but they provide valuable data on ad creatives, budgets, impressions, and more.

4. Analyze Display Ads with BuiltWith

BuiltWith is a popular tool for analyzing a website’s technology stack, and it also allows you to see what ad networks a website is using. This is particularly useful for understanding which display ad networks (like Google Display Network or Outbrain) a website is using to serve ads.

How to Use BuiltWith:

1. Go to BuiltWith.
2. Enter the website URL in the search bar and click “Lookup.”
3. Scroll down to the section labeled “Advertising” to see which ad networks the website is using.

This tool can give you a quick overview of whether a website is using ad networks like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or other display advertising platforms.

5. Inspect Website Elements for Ad Codes

If you want to get a more technical view of the ads a website is using, you can inspect the page source code or use your browser’s developer tools to see if there are ad scripts present. This method won’t show you all the ads running on the website, but it can give you a good sense of which ad networks are in use.

Steps to Inspect Ads:

1. Right-click anywhere on the website and select “Inspect” (in Google Chrome) or “Inspect Element” (in Firefox).
2. In the developer tools panel, look for scripts related to ads. Common ad networks like Google Ads, Taboola, and Outbrain will usually be referenced in the code.
3. Search for terms like “ads” or “gtag.js” (Google Ads tag) to identify which ad networks are being used.

This method is more manual and requires some technical knowledge, but it can help you uncover the ad networks that are serving ads on the website.

6. Use WhatRuns Extension

WhatRuns is a browser extension that allows you to see what technologies a website is using, including ad networks. This extension is a quick and easy way to discover what ad platforms are being used without needing to inspect the code manually.

How to Use WhatRuns:

1. Install the WhatRuns browser extension for Chrome or Firefox.
2. Navigate to the website you want to analyze.
3. Click the WhatRuns icon in your browser toolbar to view the technologies and ad platforms being used on the site.

This extension is perfect for getting a quick overview of the ad networks a website is using without having to rely on external tools.

Conclusion

How to know what ads a website is using? There are several methods to find out, from using built-in transparency tools like the Facebook Ad Library and Google Ads, to utilizing third-party ad spying tools like Adbeat and SpyFu. Additionally, tools like BuiltWith and browser extensions like WhatRuns can help you analyze the ad networks a website is using. Whether you’re looking to gain insights into a competitor’s ad strategy or just curious about the ads running on a particular site, these techniques provide a wealth of information that can guide your own advertising efforts.