If your customers are business owners, decision-makers or professionals, there's a good chance your competitors are advertising to them on LinkedIn. And wouldn't it be helpful to see exactly what they're saying?
The good news is you can. The LinkedIn Ads Library is a free tool that lets anyone browse ads that have run on the platform, including your competitors'. For Vancouver businesses planning their online advertising, it's one of the easiest ways to understand what's already out there before spending a dollar.
In this guide, we'll walk through how to use it, what it shows, and how to turn what you find into smarter campaigns.
What Is the LinkedIn Ads Library?
LinkedIn officially calls it the Ad Library, but most people know it as the LinkedIn Ads Library. It's a free, searchable database of ads that have run on LinkedIn, and you can search by advertiser, payer, keyword, country and date range without signing in.
LinkedIn launched it in 2023 to meet the EU's Digital Services Act rules around ad transparency, though anyone can access it worldwide. It covers ads served from June 1, 2023 onward, and each ad stays visible for one year after its last impression, so you can see recently paused or finished campaigns too.
That makes it especially useful for B2B companies. Whether you're a Burnaby tech startup, a downtown accounting firm or a commercial contractor serving the Lower Mainland, you can see how others in your space are positioning themselves to the same professional audience you're trying to reach.
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How to Find Competitor Ads, Step by Step
There are two easy ways to get into the library.
Option 1: Go Straight to the Library
- Open the library. Head to the LinkedIn Ad Library in your browser.
- Search by company or advertiser. Type in your competitor's name exactly as it appears on their LinkedIn page.
- Add a country filter. Select Canada, or any market you want to check.
- Set a date range. Narrow results to a specific window if you want to see recent activity.
- Click into any ad. Open individual ads to see the full creative and details.
Option 2: Start From a Company Page
If you're already on LinkedIn, you can go to your competitor's company page, click Posts, and then select "View ad library" to jump straight to their ads.
Try a Keyword Search Too
Don't stop at competitor names. Searching by the terms your buyers use shows you every ad competing for that same audience's attention. A search for a broad term like "cybersecurity" or "AI software" may surface companies you've never heard of that are already investing seriously in LinkedIn ads.
For a Vancouver business, that might mean searching for "commercial real estate," "bookkeeping" or "HR software" to see who's competing for attention in your category.
What You Can (and Can't) See
The library is useful, but it's important to know its limits so you don't read too much into it.
What's Available for Every Ad
You'll see the ad itself, including the copy, image or video, headline and call to action. You'll also see the advertiser and payer, which are usually the same company but can differ. New ads usually show up in the library within 24 to 48 hours of receiving impressions.
Extra Details for Ads Shown in the EU
Here's a detail many guides skip. Run dates, an impressions range, the breakdown of impressions by country, and the targeting the advertiser chose are shown only for ads whose targeting includes the European Union.
For most Vancouver businesses competing locally, that means you'll mainly see the creative itself. But if a competitor also advertises in Europe, you may get a much clearer picture of who they're targeting.
What You'll Never See
The library doesn't show total spend or budget, clicks, click-through rates or conversions, precise audience targeting and exclusions, or which ads actually performed well. In other words, it shows you what competitors are saying, not whether it's working.
What to Look for in Competitor Ads
Browsing is easy. Learning something useful takes a bit more focus. Here's what to pay attention to as you scroll.
- Messaging and positioning: What problems are they promising to solve? Are they leading with price, speed, expertise or local trust?
- Offers: Are they promoting free consultations, downloadable guides, webinars or demos? This tells you what they think will get people to act.
- Ad formats: Are they using single images, videos, carousels or documents? A competitor leaning heavily on video may have found it works for your audience.
- Longevity: An ad that keeps running over time can be a soft sign that it's performing, since most businesses don't keep paying for ads that don't work.
- Landing pages: Click through to see where the ad leads. The page often says more about their strategy than the ad does.
- Gaps: Notice what nobody is saying. If every competitor talks about price, there may be room for you to stand out on service or expertise.
It helps to keep a simple spreadsheet as you go, noting the competitor, the message, the offer and the format. After a few searches, patterns start to appear quickly.
Turning Research Into Better Campaigns
The goal isn't to copy what competitors are doing. It's to understand the landscape so you can stand out in it.
If every Vancouver law firm on LinkedIn is running nearly identical "trusted experience" ads, a fresh angle like a helpful guide or a clear, plain-language offer can catch attention. If competitors are all pushing hard sales messages, a softer, educational approach may feel like a welcome change to busy professionals scrolling their feeds.
Competitor research can also shape your organic content. The questions and pain points your competitors focus on in their ads are often the same topics your audience wants to read about, which can inform your content marketing and blog topics.
And remember that your brand matters. When ads in your category start to look the same, a clear, consistent identity helps people remember you. If your visuals blend in with everyone else's, it may be worth revisiting your branding before investing heavily in ads.
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Other Places to Check Competitor Ads
LinkedIn is only one piece of the picture. Your competitors may be advertising in several places, and a few other free tools can help fill in the gaps.
The Meta Ad Library lets you see ads running on Facebook and Instagram, which is especially useful for consumer-facing businesses. Google's Ads Transparency Center is a public record of current and past ads that advertisers have run across Search, YouTube and Display.
Looking across all three gives you a fuller sense of where competitors are focusing their budget. A Vancouver home renovation company might lean on Google and Instagram, while a B2B software firm might put most of its budget into LinkedIn. Knowing where your audience actually spends time helps you decide which platforms deserve your investment, whether that's paid ads, social media content, or both.
Putting Your Research to Work
The LinkedIn Ads Library is a simple, free way to see how competitors are reaching professionals in your industry. Search by company name, explore keywords your buyers use, and look closely at messaging, offers and formats. Just remember that it shows what competitors are saying, not how well it's working, and that detailed targeting data is mostly limited to ads shown in Europe.
Used well, this research helps you spot gaps, sharpen your message and avoid blending in with everyone else.
If you've explored the LinkedIn Ads Library and aren't sure what to do with what you found, we're happy to help you make sense of it. Book a free 30-minute fireside chat with our team, and we'll talk through which platforms and messages make the most sense for your business, with no pressure and no pitch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the LinkedIn Ads Library free to use?
Yes. It's completely free, and you don't need a LinkedIn account to search it.
Can I see how much my competitors spend on LinkedIn ads?
No. Spend, clicks and conversions aren't shown. For ads shown in the EU, you can see an impressions range, which gives a rough sense of scale, but not actual budgets or results.
Why can't I find any ads from a competitor?
They may not be advertising on LinkedIn, or their ads may have stopped running more than a year ago. It's also worth double-checking the spelling of their company name and trying a keyword search instead.
Can I see who my competitors are targeting?
Only partly. Detailed targeting information is mainly available for ads shown in the European Union. For ads targeting Canada or the US, you'll usually see the creative but not the specific audience settings.
Will my own LinkedIn ads appear in the library?
Yes. Ads you run on LinkedIn will appear in the library too, which means your competitors can see your ads just as easily as you can see theirs.
