Radar reads the public ad libraries each platform publishes, and those libraries do not all cover the same countries. Several only publish ads shown in the EU. Here is what each source sees, so you know before you pick one.
| Source | Where it covers | What Radar records | What it cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta ads | Ads running anywhere in the world. Once an ad stops, Meta only keeps it public if it ran in the EU or the UK. | The creative, its copy, the day it started and the last day we saw it running. | No spend and no impressions. A stopped ad from outside the EU and UK leaves the library, so Radar only has it if it was recorded while it ran. |
| LinkedIn ads | Worldwide. | The creative and its copy. | LinkedIn publishes no launch date, so each ad is dated from the day Radar first recorded it. No spend. |
| TikTok ads | TikTok only publishes ads shown in the UK, the EU and the wider EEA. Radar records the UK view. | The video's cover frame, the advertiser and a range for how many people saw it. | TikTok's library carries no ad text, and nothing at all for the US. |
| Pinterest ads | Pinterest only publishes ads shown in the EU, Norway, Brazil and Türkiye. Radar records Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. | The creative, its copy, when it ran and its reach in each country. | Nothing from the UK or the US, because Pinterest publishes no ads shown there. |
| Amazon adsComing next, not recording yet. | Amazon only publishes ads shown on its EU stores: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland. | What each ad promoted, who paid for it, when it ran and a range for how many shoppers saw it. | No ad text, and no UK or US stores. Amazon does not always include the ad image. |
| Source | Where it covers | What Radar records | What it cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram posts | Anywhere. These are public pages, so there is no regional limit. | Each post, its images and when it went up. | Only what the page publishes publicly. |
| Blog and content | Anywhere. | Each new article on their site, with its title and when it was published. | Pages behind a login or a paywall are not recorded. |
Ad libraries exist because the law made them. The EU's Digital Services Act requires the largest platforms to publish the ads they show in the EU, which is why so many of them stop at the EU border and why the UK and the US are missing from several.
If your competitors advertise in the UK or the EU, the libraries above cover them, within the markets each row lists.
If they only advertise in the US, Radar sees their Meta ads while they run, their LinkedIn ads, and everything they publish organically. TikTok, Pinterest and Amazon publish nothing for the US, and no tool can record what a platform does not publish.
Not sure where your competitors run? Ask us and we will check before you start.
Add a competitor and Radar starts recording every source that covers them the same day.