Updated , 6 min read, by the Probably team
Key takeaways
- The Commercial Content Library archives every TikTok ad targeted to the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, whether it worked or not.
- Creative Center Top Ads holds real ads that met performance thresholds, with their performance metrics and a second-by-second engagement graph.
- The Other commercial content library lists creator posts disclosed as commercial, which is where brand partnerships with creators show up.
- For each ad you study, write down the hook, the structure, when the product appears, the call to action and the sound.
- Study ads to learn patterns, then write your own; don't copy another brand's ad.
What is the TikTok ad library, and is it the same as Top Ads?
No. "The TikTok ad library" usually means one of two different tools, and they answer different questions. The Commercial Content Library is an archive of ads and other commercial posts on TikTok; Creative Center Top Ads is a selection of ads that performed well.
| Commercial Content Library | Creative Center Top Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | library.tiktok.com | Creative Center, under Inspiration, then Top Ads |
| What's in it | Every ad with at least one view targeted to the EEA, Switzerland or the UK | Real ads that met performance thresholds and advertiser authorization |
| Filtered by performance | No | Yes |
| What it shows | Advertiser, who paid, first and last shown, reach range, targeting | Likes, CTR, all-time performance metrics, second-by-second engagement |
| Regions | EEA, Switzerland and the UK | Filterable by region |
| Account needed | No | No, though TikTok recommends logging in |
Use Top Ads to learn what tends to work, and the Commercial Content Library to see what a particular brand is running right now and who it's aimed at.
Many guides treat the two as one tool. Use them together: the archive has no performance data, and Top Ads has no complete record of any one advertiser.
What does the Commercial Content Library show?
The Commercial Content Library shows each ad's advertiser, who paid for it, when it ran, roughly how many people saw it and who it was meant for. It is a repository, not a showcase: ads stay in it whether they performed or not.
It has two parts:
- Ad library: ads TikTok is paid to show, including inactive and paused ones.
- Other commercial content: posts that promote a brand, product or service that TikTok isn't paid to show, such as disclosed creator partnerships.
For each ad, the details page lists:
- The advertiser, and who paid for the ad if that's someone else, such as an agency.
- The advertiser's registered location.
- The dates the ad was first and last shown.
- An estimated range of unique users who saw it.
- A targeting summary: the audience size and the criteria used, such as age, gender, location or interest.
- The countries it was shown in, with unique users per country.
- How long an ad stays in the library after its last view
- 1 year
- How long a new or changed ad can take to appear
- 24 hours
Coverage is the main limit. The library currently includes ads available to users in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, so a brand that only advertises in the US won't appear in it. Ads removed for breaking TikTok's terms are labeled; you can't watch them, but some of their details stay listed.
How do you search the TikTok ad library?
Go to library.tiktok.com, open the Ad Library, choose a country, ad type and date range, then search by advertiser name or keyword.
- Open the library
Go to library.tiktok.com and click Ad Library at the top.
- Set the filters
Choose the ad target country, the ad type and the published date range. Pick a country where your competitors advertise.
- Search
Type an advertiser's name to see everything one brand runs, or a keyword, such as a product category, to see what a whole market runs. Click Search.
- Sort and open
Sort by audience size, last shown date or published date. Open an ad to see its reach range, dates and targeting summary.
Sort by last shown date to see what a brand ran most recently. An ad that has run for weeks with a large reach range is one the advertiser kept paying for, which is a hint, not proof, that it works for them.
Make your first ad free
Tell the crew what you’re selling. Get a 480p draft with a script, actor, voice and edit, checked before you see it.
First draft free, no credit card
How do you use Top Ads to see which ads perform?
Open Creative Center, go to Inspiration, then Top Ads, and filter by region, industry and objective to see ads that met TikTok's performance thresholds. You can also filter by ad language and format, and sort by reach or click-through rate (CTR).
Each Top Ad has a See analytics view with:
- Background on the ad and its all-time performance metrics.
- A second-by-second, frame-by-frame graph of engagement through the video, indexed from 0 (the lowest point for the chosen metric) to 100 (the peak).
- A way to share the ad with a link or save it to your profile with the star.
The engagement graph is the most useful part of Top Ads for UGC: it shows the second where engagement peaked, so you can check what was on screen at that moment, such as the hook, the product shot or the offer.
Top Ads Spotlight is a shorter list of standout ads that TikTok's creative experts pick each month. Each one shows its likes, its CTR benchmark percentile, its budget level, and the top keywords used in its voiceover, text overlay and caption. The keywords show which words the ad leaned on in speech, on screen and in the caption.
Where do you find creator UGC posts on TikTok?
Creator partnership posts are in the Other commercial content part of the Commercial Content Library. It lists posts that creators disclosed as commercial with TikTok's content disclosure setting when they posted, so it's where brand partnerships with creators show up.
To search it, click Other commercial content at the top of the library, choose a creator country and posted date, and optionally enter a creator's username. Results sort by video views or posted date. Each post shows the creator's username, the brand they tagged as the sponsor, the posted date and the views.
There's no keyword search here, so filter by creator country and posted date, sort by views, and scan the tagged brands for ones in your category, or look up the creators those brands work with by username. It only includes posts the creator disclosed, so it isn't a complete record.
What should you write down from each ad you study?
Write down the same five things for every ad, so you can compare them later: the hook, the structure, when the product appears, the call to action and the sound. TikTok's own creative guidance points at each of these.
| Note | What to record | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | The first line and first shot, word for word | TikTok says 90% of ad recall impact is captured in the first six seconds. |
| Structure | How it moves through hook, body and close, with rough timings | TikTok describes ads in those three parts. |
| Product on screen | When the product first appears and how it's shown | TikTok reports a 65% increase in brand affinity when the product is on screen. |
| Call to action | What it asks for and how, spoken, on screen or a CTA card | TikTok reports CTA cards lift recall by 45%. |
| Sound | Voice, music, trending audio or none | 88% of TikTok users say sound is vital to the experience. |
Add the format too, such as selfie vlog, POV hands or unboxing, so you can see which UGC styles your category leans on. After ten or twenty ads, patterns show up: one hook type that keeps returning, or a product that always appears within two seconds. For ways to turn those patterns into lines of your own, see UGC ad hooks and the UGC script template.
How do you turn ad research into a brief and a first ad?
Pick the one pattern your notes point to most clearly, write a brief that names it, and make two or three versions that test it. A good brief says what you're selling, who it's for, the hook type you're borrowing and the format.
Try this brief
“Make a 20-second POV hands ad for our reusable silicone food bags. Open with a 'stop throwing these away' hook, show the bag in use within the first two seconds, and end by asking viewers to try the starter pack.”
Make this ad freeProbably is an AI video studio that makes UGC-style ads, and it can start from an ad you found. If the ad is on TikTok, paste its link and the crew watches it once and borrows what you ask for: the hook, the pacing, the look, the script shape or the music mood. A reference video is learned from, not used in your ad; see reference videos. The studio's Browse panel also searches TikTok, Reels and Pinterest for references.
- Ask for alternate hooks as variants, so you can test the pattern you found against your current opening; see review and revisions.
- Once the ads run, judge them by hook rate and cost per result, as in how to test UGC ad creatives.
- The first draft is free with a new account: 480p, up to 30 seconds, no credit card, within 30 days of sign-up.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an ad library for TikTok?
Yes, two. The Commercial Content Library archives every ad targeted to the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, whether it worked or not, and Creative Center Top Ads shows a selection of ads that met performance thresholds, with their data.
How do I get to the TikTok ad library?
Open library.tiktok.com in a browser and click Ad Library at the top. For Top Ads, open TikTok Creative Center and go to Inspiration, then Top Ads.
How do I find an ad I saw on TikTok?
Note the advertiser's name on the ad, then search it in the Commercial Content Library and sort by last shown date. That works for ads targeted to the EEA, Switzerland or the UK; elsewhere, try Top Ads filtered by region and industry, though it only holds ads that met its performance thresholds.
Is the TikTok ad library free, and do I need an account?
Yes, it's free. TikTok says you don't need a TikTok account to access, search or use the Commercial Content Library, and Creative Center doesn't require a login either, though TikTok recommends logging in to see all of its data.
Can I see ads shown in the US in the TikTok ad library?
The Commercial Content Library currently covers ads available to users in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK. For other markets, use Creative Center Top Ads, which you can filter by region.
How long do ads stay in the TikTok ad library?
An ad with at least one view stays in the Commercial Content Library for one year after its last view. A new ad can take up to 24 hours to appear.
Is it OK to copy an ad I find in the library?
Study it rather than copy it. Note the type of hook, the structure and the pacing, then write your own script for your own product.
