Guides
Guides to advertising on Meta
Plain-language explanations of how Meta advertising works: finding competitors' ads in the Meta Ad Library, publishing your own in Ads Manager, and how Meta decides which ad is shown. Written for people who run their own ads.
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Meta Ad Library guide
How to use the Meta Ad Library (Facebook Ad Library) to search ads by advertiser or keyword, what each listing tells you, and what it leaves out.
Read the guide →How to publish Meta ads
A step-by-step guide to publishing an ad on Facebook and Instagram in Meta Ads Manager: what you need first, campaign, ad set, ad, review and launch.
Read the guide →How Meta ranks ads
How the Meta ad auction decides which ad is shown, what quality, engagement and conversion rankings mean, and what to change when an ad ranks below average.
Read the guide →Find competitor ads on Instagram
See any brand's Instagram ads for free: search the Meta Ad Library, filter the platform to Instagram, or use the Active ads link on their profile.
Read the guide →Spy on competitor ads
The free public ad libraries on Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn, what each one shows, and where the legal line sits between research and copying.
Read the guide →Meta ad sizes and specs
Current Meta ad sizes: 1440 x 1800 for feed, 1440 x 2560 for Stories and Reels, safe zones, text lengths and file limits. Checked against Meta's Ads Guide.
Read the guide →How to test ad creative
How to test Facebook and Instagram ad creative: A/B tests versus several ads in one ad set, what to test first, and which metrics decide the winner.
Read the guide →
Meta changes its tools often. Each guide shows the date it was last checked; where the detail matters, confirm it against Meta's own help pages.
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Mockingbird is an independent product from Onwards Analytics and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Meta. Meta, Facebook, Instagram, Meta Ads Manager and the Meta Ad Library are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. Meta changes its tools often; check Meta's own help pages for the current detail before you rely on it.