How to tell how long a Facebook ad has been running
Updated 10/27/2026
Short answer: open the ad in the Meta Ad Library (facebook.com/ads/library). Every ad shows a start date. Subtract that date from today and you get the number of days the ad has been running. Ads that are still running are marked Active.
Steps to do it by hand
- Go to the Meta Ad Library, choose a country (for example, the United States) and set the ad category to All ads.
- Type a product keyword or a Page name into the search box.
- Filter the status to Active so you only see ads that are still running.
- On each ad card, read the start date. Count the days from that date to today.
How to read this number correctly
- Running long means the shop keeps paying for it. Sellers rarely leave a losing ad running for weeks. An ad still running after 14 days is more interesting than one that started 2 days ago.
- The date belongs to that one ad. Sellers often turn off an old ad and repost the same video as a new ad. In that case the video has been running longer than the date on the new ad.
- Big brands run ads all year. A big brand's ad running for a few months doesn't mean the product is hot. Also check how many stores are running the same video.
- Meta doesn't show spend. For commercial ads running outside the EU, the Ad Library shows no spend or impressions. Run time is one of the few public signals left.
Do it faster with SpyWinAds
SpyWinAds reads the start date of every ad in the library and groups live ads by age: under 7 days, 7 to 14 days, over 14 days. A video re-posted many times still counts as one. SpyWinAds also reads the earliest day the video file was uploaded to Facebook, so you see how old the video really is, not just the date of its newest ad.
See also: How to tell how many stores are running the same video ad ›
Data from the SpyWinAds library
- 74.2% of videos start running as ads within 7 days of the file reaching Facebook.
- 12.8% of videos had their file on Facebook more than 30 days before the first ad: old videos brought back as ads.
Source: SpyWinAds Research, Video Reuse Index, figures as of 10/25/2026, based on 79,846 videos used in US Facebook ads with a known file date. Underlying data: Meta Ad Library.
Original data from the SpyWinAds library: how Facebook video ads get reused ›