The goal of metatargetr is to parse targeting information from the Meta Ad Targeting dataset and retrieve data from the Audience tab in the Meta Ad Library. It also includes helper functions for Meta ad library data and integrates data from the Google Transparency Report.
💡 Support Open-Source Development
If metatargetr has been helpful to you, consider supporting the project! Every contribution keeps the maintenance work going and helps me develop new features 😊
Table of Contents
- 🚀 Installation
- 📦 Load in Package
- 🎯 Get Targeting Criteria
- ⏳ Last 30 Days
- 🗓️ Last 7 Days
- ⏳ Last 30 Days
- 🕰️ Retrieve Historical Targeting Data
- 🗂️ Retrieve Historical Report Data
- ℹ️ Get Page Info
- 🔍 Retrieve Targeting Metadata
- 🖼️ Get Images and Videos
- 📊 Google Transparency Report
- ✍️ Citing metatargetr
Installation
You can install the development version of metatargetr like so:
remotes::install_github("favstats/metatargetr")Get Targeting Criteria (Last 30 Days)
The following code retrieves the targeting criteria used by the main page of the VVD (Dutch party) in the last 30 days of available data.
Just put in the right Page ID. These can be found in the Meta Ad Library or the Meta Ad Library Report. You can also retrieve historical report data from the maintained database.
last30 <- get_targeting(id = "121264564551002",
timeframe = "LAST_30_DAYS")
head(last30, 5)
#> value num_ads total_spend_pct type location_type
#> 1 All 44 1.0000000 gender <NA>
#> 2 Women 0 0.0000000 gender <NA>
#> 3 Men 0 0.0000000 gender <NA>
#> 4 5931, Netherlands 7 0.1598496 location zips
#> 5 9461, Netherlands 7 0.1598496 location zips
#> num_obfuscated is_exclusion custom_audience_type ds main_currency
#> 1 NA NA <NA> 2024-12-26 EUR
#> 2 NA NA <NA> 2024-12-26 EUR
#> 3 NA NA <NA> 2024-12-26 EUR
#> 4 0 FALSE <NA> 2024-12-26 EUR
#> 5 0 FALSE <NA> 2024-12-26 EUR
#> total_num_ads total_spend_formatted is_30_day_available is_90_day_available
#> 1 44 €7,606 TRUE TRUE
#> 2 44 €7,606 TRUE TRUE
#> 3 44 €7,606 TRUE TRUE
#> 4 44 €7,606 TRUE TRUE
#> 5 44 €7,606 TRUE TRUE
#> page_id
#> 1 121264564551002
#> 2 121264564551002
#> 3 121264564551002
#> 4 121264564551002
#> 5 121264564551002Get Targeting Criteria (Last 7 Days)
The following code retrieves the targeting criteria used by the main page of the VVD (Dutch party) in the last 7 days. Just put in the right Page ID.
last7 <- get_targeting(id = "121264564551002",
timeframe = "LAST_7_DAYS")
head(last7, 5)
#> # A tibble: 0 × 7
#> # ℹ 7 variables: ds <chr>, main_currency <chr>, total_num_ads <int>,
#> # total_spend_formatted <chr>, is_30_day_available <lgl>,
#> # is_90_day_available <lgl>, page_id <chr>Retrieve Historical Targeting Data from Database
Unfortunately, using get_targeting you can only get the targeting criteria in the last 7, 30, and 90 days windows. However, I have set up scrapers that retrieve the daily targeting data for every single page in the world that runs advertisements in order to archive this data. You can use the function below to retrieve it.
Be aware: sometimes the scrapers do not work so it is possible that some pages are missing. You can use
retrieve_targeting_metadatafunction to check which data for which country and day is present.
# # set some parameters
the_cntry <- "DE"
tf <- 30
ds <- "2024-10-25"
# # Call the function
latest_data <- get_targeting_db(the_cntry, tf, ds)
# # Inspect the data
head(latest_data)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 37
#> internal_id no_data tstamp page_id cntry page_name partyfacts_id
#> <chr> <lgl> <dttm> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 <NA> NA 2024-10-27 19:12:35 7440553… DE CDU-Frak… 1375
#> 2 <NA> NA 2024-10-27 19:12:35 7440553… DE CDU-Frak… 1375
#> 3 <NA> NA 2024-10-27 19:12:35 7440553… DE CDU-Frak… 1375
#> 4 <NA> NA 2024-10-27 19:12:35 7440553… DE CDU-Frak… 1375
#> 5 <NA> NA 2024-10-27 19:12:35 7440553… DE CDU-Frak… 1375
#> 6 <NA> NA 2024-10-27 19:12:35 7440553… DE CDU-Frak… 1375
#> # ℹ 30 more variables: sources <chr>, country <chr>, party <chr>,
#> # left_right <dbl>, tags <glue>, tags_ideology <chr>, disclaimer <chr>,
#> # amount_spent_eur <chr>, number_of_ads_in_library <chr>, date <chr>,
#> # path <chr>, tf <chr>, remove_em <lgl>, total_n <int>, amount_spent <dbl>,
#> # value <chr>, num_ads <int>, total_spend_pct <dbl>, type <chr>,
#> # location_type <chr>, num_obfuscated <int>, is_exclusion <lgl>, ds <chr>,
#> # main_currency <chr>, total_num_ads <int>, total_spend_formatted <dbl>, …Retrieve Historical Report Data from the Database
Using get_report_db, you can retrieve archived advertising reports for specific pages, countries, and timeframes. Reports are stored in a repository and can be downloaded and read directly into R.
Note: While we strive to keep the archive complete, occasional scraper failures may lead to missing data for certain days.
# # set some parameters
the_cntry <- "DE"
tf <- 30
ds <- "2024-10-25"
# # Call the function
latest_data <- get_report_db(the_cntry, tf, ds)
# # Inspect the data
head(latest_data)
#> # A tibble: 6 × 9
#> page_id page_name disclaimer amount_spent_eur number_of_ads_in_lib…¹ date
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 2781178155… EU Justi… EU Justic… 296508 28 2024…
#> 2 1706886445… UNICEF D… UNICEF De… 78283 79 2024…
#> 3 1891313609… LIQID In… LIQID Inv… 76300 88 2024…
#> 4 1918513976… VETO – T… VETO - Ti… 71581 218 2024…
#> 5 23216224900 Plan Int… Plan Inte… 62605 62 2024…
#> 6 1612732458… Save the… Save the … 59891 195 2024…
#> # ℹ abbreviated name: ¹number_of_ads_in_library
#> # ℹ 3 more variables: path <chr>, tf <chr>, cntry <chr>Get Page Info
You can also retrieve some page info of the page that you are interested in.
page_info <- get_page_insights("121264564551002", include_info = "page_info")
str(page_info)
#> 'data.frame': 1 obs. of 20 variables:
#> $ page_name : chr "VVD"
#> $ is_profile_page : chr "FALSE"
#> $ page_is_deleted : chr "FALSE"
#> $ page_is_restricted : chr "FALSE"
#> $ has_blank_ads : chr "FALSE"
#> $ hidden_ads : chr "0"
#> $ page_profile_uri : chr "https://facebook.com/VVD"
#> $ page_id : chr "121264564551002"
#> $ page_verification : chr "BLUE_VERIFIED"
#> $ entity_type : chr "PERSON_PROFILE"
#> $ page_alias : chr "VVD"
#> $ likes : chr "108137"
#> $ page_category : chr "Political party"
#> $ ig_verification : chr "TRUE"
#> $ ig_username : chr "vvd"
#> $ ig_followers : chr "42137"
#> $ shared_disclaimer_info: chr "[]"
#> $ about : chr "Doe mee en word lid van de VVD! 💙🧡 "
#> $ event : chr "CREATION: 2010-04-23 21:05:02"
#> $ no_address : logi TRUE
retrieve_targeting_metadata()
The retrieve_targeting_metadata function is designed to retrieve metadata about targeting data releases from a GitHub repository to see which data is present (or not). It extracts and organizes information such as file names, sizes, timestamps, and tags for a specified country and timeframe. This metadata provides an overview of the available targeting data without downloading the actual files.
country_code(Character):
The ISO country code (e.g.,"DE"for Germany,"US"for the United States).-
timeframe(Character):
The timeframe for the targeting data. Acceptable values are:-
"7": Last 7 days. -
"30": Last 30 days. -
"90": Last 90 days.
-
base_url(Character, default:"https://github.com/favstats/meta_ad_targeting/releases/expanded_assets/"):
The base URL for the GitHub repository hosting the targeting data.
# Retrieve metadata for Germany for the last 30 days
metadata <- retrieve_targeting_metadata("DE", "30")
print(metadata)
#> # A tibble: 314 × 3
#> cntry ds tframe
#> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 DE 2024-12-26 last_30_days
#> 2 DE 2024-12-25 last_30_days
#> 3 DE 2024-12-24 last_30_days
#> 4 DE 2024-12-23 last_30_days
#> 5 DE 2024-12-22 last_30_days
#> 6 DE 2024-12-21 last_30_days
#> 7 DE 2024-12-20 last_30_days
#> 8 DE 2024-12-19 last_30_days
#> 9 DE 2024-12-18 last_30_days
#> 10 DE 2024-12-17 last_30_days
#> # ℹ 304 more rowsGet Images and Videos
The following code downloads the images and videos of a Meta ad. It also retrieves additional info not present in the Meta Ad Library API (e.g. page_like_count cta_type i.e. call to action button). Just put in the right Ad Archive ID.
It automatically handles duplicate images and videos (of which there are many) by hashing the images and videos and making sure they are not saved twice.
This piece of code was created in collaboration with Philipp Mendoza.
get_ad_snapshots("561403598962843", download = T, hashing = T, mediadir = "data/media")
#> # A tibble: 1 × 52
#> name ad_creative_id cards body_translations byline caption cta_text
#> <chr> <dbl> <list> <lgl> <lgl> <chr> <lgl>
#> 1 f 6269946734162 <df [2 × 16]> NA NA worldmil… NA
#> # ℹ 45 more variables: dynamic_item_flags <lgl>, dynamic_versions <lgl>,
#> # edited_snapshots <lgl>, effective_authorization_category <chr>,
#> # event <lgl>, extra_images <lgl>, extra_links <lgl>, extra_texts <lgl>,
#> # extra_videos <lgl>, instagram_shopping_products <lgl>,
#> # display_format <chr>, title <chr>, link_description <chr>, link_url <chr>,
#> # page_welcome_message <lgl>, images <lgl>, videos <lgl>,
#> # creation_time <int>, page_id <dbl>, page_name <chr>, …Google Transparency Report
ggl_get_spending is a function in R that queries the Google Transparency Report to retrieve information about advertising spending for a specified advertiser. It supports a range of countries and can provide either aggregated data or time-based spending data.
To use ggl_get_spending, you need the advertiser’s unique identifier, the desired date range, and the country code. The function also has an option to retrieve time-based spending data.
Retrieve Aggregated Spending Data
Retrieve aggregated spending data for a specific advertiser in the Netherlands. It returns details like currency, number of ads, ad type breakdown, advertiser details, and other metrics.
ggl_get_spending(advertiser_id = "AR18091944865565769729",
start_date = "2023-10-24",
end_date = "2023-11-22",
cntry = "NL")
#> # A tibble: 1 × 18
#> currency spend number_of_ads text_ad_perc text_ad_spend text_type vid_ad_perc
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <int> <dbl>
#> 1 EUR 56050 160 0.319 0.521 3 0.681
#> # ℹ 11 more variables: vid_ad_spend <dbl>, vid_type <int>, metric <int>,
#> # advertiser_id <chr>, advertiser_name <chr>, cntry <chr>, unk1 <int>,
#> # unk2 <int>, unk3 <int>, unk4 <chr>, unk5 <chr>Retrieve Time-Based Spending Data
Retrieve time-based spending data for the same advertiser and country. If get_times is set to TRUE, it returns a tibble with date-wise spending data.
# Retrieve time-based spending data for the same advertiser and country
timeseries_dat <- ggl_get_spending(advertiser_id = "AR18091944865565769729",
start_date = "2023-10-24",
end_date = "2023-11-22",
cntry = "NL",
get_times = T)
# Plotting the time-series data
timeseries_dat %>%
ggplot2::ggplot(ggplot2::aes(date, spend)) +
ggplot2::geom_col() +
ggplot2::theme_minimal()
Citing metatargetr
If you use the metatargetr package or data from its database in your research, publications, or other outputs, please ensure you provide proper attribution. This helps recognize the effort and resources required to maintain and provide access to these data.
Citation Format
Votta, Fabio, & Mendoza, Philipp. (2024).
metatargetr: A package for parsing and analyzing ad library and targeting data. GitHub. Available at: https://github.com/favstats/metatargetr
Additional Notes
If you use data from the metatargetr database, please include the following acknowledgement in your work:
Data were retrieved from the
metatargetrdatabase, maintained by Fabio Votta. The database archives targeting data from the Meta Ad Library and Google Transparency Report. For more information, visit https://github.com/favstats/metatargetr.
By including these citations and acknowledgements, you help support the continued development of metatargetr and its associated resources. Thank you for your collaboration!