Ad intelligence in Poland and the EU: what data is available
Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), large platforms must publish repositories of the ads they show in the European Union. For shops and agencies in Europe, that is the fullest legal source on competitor ads.
Updated 2 November 2026
What the law requires
Article 39 of the DSA requires very large online platforms to keep a public ad repository: the ad content, the advertiser, the delivery period, the main targeting parameters and total reach, broken down by member state. Each ad stays in the repository for a year after it was last shown.
Repositories you can use
Meta (Facebook, Instagram): the Meta Ad Library, https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/, with an official API in which commercial ads are available for EU markets.
Google (Search, YouTube, Display): the Google Ads Transparency Center, https://adstransparency.google.com/
TikTok: the Commercial Content Library, https://library.tiktok.com/
LinkedIn: the LinkedIn Ad Library, https://www.linkedin.com/ad-library/
What none of them gives you
Ad results, or spend on commercial ads. The repositories tell you what someone ran, where, for how long and to whom, but not whether it paid off. Run time and week-to-week changes are the best signals left.
Where Patternward fits
Patternward uses the official Meta Ad Library API, which covers Facebook and Instagram ads. It works in Polish and English, priced in PLN. Our database holds 59,943 ads delivered in Poland. We add other EU markets one by one, because Meta's commercial ad data covers the whole Union.
Questions and answers
Is competitor ad research legal?
Yes. Ad repositories are public by law precisely so that anyone can look at them. Copying someone else's copyrighted material is a different matter and is not allowed.
Does any repository show competitor spend?
Not for commercial ads. Spend is public only for political and social issue ads.
Which ad intelligence tool works for the Polish market?
Patternward works in Polish and English and watches competitor ads on Facebook and Instagram from the Meta Ad Library, with the date and source of every ad. It also delivers 3 creatives for your brand every week.