LinkedIn Ads
Search LinkedIn's public Ad Library by keyword or advertiser, filter by country and dates, and study rivals' ads, formats and targeting after one admin connection.
The LinkedIn Ads page searches LinkedIn’s Ad Library, the public record of ads run on LinkedIn. Use it to see how a topic gets advertised, or what a given company is running and since when. Think of it as a research tool: you can’t create or manage LinkedIn campaigns from Intelligence. One LinkedIn connection, set up once by an admin, serves everyone.
Where to find it
Open Ads, then the LinkedIn Ads tab at the top. The page is called Ad Library.
It searches public data, so it isn’t tied to a brand. The same search works whatever brand is active. The tab still disappears for a brand whose LinkedIn Ads capability is switched off. See managing brands.
Connect LinkedIn
LinkedIn wants a sign-in before anyone can search. An admin does it once, for the whole team.
- Open the Ad Library page.
- Click Connect LinkedIn.
- Sign in to LinkedIn and approve the access.
- LinkedIn sends you back to the page, which now reads LinkedIn connected with the date it was connected.
It renews on its own. If it ever stops working, an admin can click Disconnect, confirm, and connect again. Searches stop working until it’s reconnected.
If the status line reads via server token, the BearingBridge team set the connection up for you. There’s no Disconnect button in that case.
Until LinkedIn is connected, the search form stays grayed out.
People who aren’t admins see Ask an administrator to connect it. If the page says LinkedIn isn’t configured yet., the feature isn’t open yet; contact the BearingBridge team.
Search the Ad Library
There are five fields:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Keyword | A topic or phrase, such as “cloud security” or “recruiting”. |
| Advertiser | A company name. |
| Country | Optional. Two-letter country codes separated by commas, such as US, FR, GB. Anything that isn’t a two-letter code is ignored. |
| From and To | Optional. A date range. |
Enter a keyword, an advertiser or both, then click Search ads. Results come 25 at a time. The line above them says how many you’re seeing, and out of how many when LinkedIn gives a total. Click Load more at the bottom for the next batch.
Reading an ad card
Each result shows:
- the advertiser’s name, linked when LinkedIn provides an address for it;
- chips for the ad format, the dates it ran (from its first to its last impression, or “present”, written in your own date format), an impression range, up to six countries it was shown in, and restricted when LinkedIn limits what it discloses;
- the headline and the start of the ad text;
- a Targeting block, when LinkedIn discloses it;
- View in LinkedIn Ad Library, which opens the ad on LinkedIn in a new tab.
LinkedIn discloses impression ranges and targeting for ads shown in the European Union. For other ads, those parts are often missing. There’s no spend figure: LinkedIn doesn’t publish what an advertiser paid.
Note: Everything on the cards comes from LinkedIn as is. If LinkedIn leaves a field out, Intelligence has nothing to show there.
Results aren’t saved. To see them again, run the search again.
Ways to use it
It’s competitive research. Before you advertise on a topic, search it and look at the angles rivals lead with. A competitor’s name, typed in Advertiser, shows the formats they favor and the countries they target. The dates help too. An ad that has run for months is usually one the advertiser is happy with.
Who can do this
Anyone whose role can open LinkedIn Ads can search, viewers included. The rights grid line is called LinkedIn Ads (see roles and rights). Connecting and disconnecting LinkedIn needs the admin role or higher.
What it costs
Nothing. Searching the Ad Library doesn’t use credits, however many searches you run.
Troubleshooting
- “Enter a keyword or an advertiser to search.” Country and dates are filters only; add a keyword or an advertiser.
- “No ads matched this search.” Try a broader keyword or drop the filters.
- “Ad search failed (HTTP …)” LinkedIn returned an error. Try again in a moment; if it keeps failing, contact the BearingBridge team.
- “LinkedIn is not connected.” An admin needs to connect it from this page.
- “This connect link expired or is invalid. Start again.” The connect step took too long. Click Connect LinkedIn again.
- “Could not connect: …” LinkedIn refused the sign-in, or it was declined. Try again, or check the message.
- A message asking to reconnect the integration. The LinkedIn session expired and couldn’t renew itself. An admin clicks Disconnect, then Connect LinkedIn.