Articles on: Features Explained

🧠 Brand Spy

Brand Spy helps you monitor competitors’ ad activity, uncover winning creatives, and analyze ad trends — all in one place. Use it to spot what’s working in your niche and save the best ads to your Swipe File.


Before you start

  • Plan & Credits: Spying on a brand is a one-time cost of 8 credits, charged when you first add the brand. Toggling a brand off and back on does not use additional credits.
  • Permissions: Available for all paid plans.
  • Navigation: In the sidebar, go to Inspiration → Brand Spy.
  • Estimated time: 1–2 minutes to start tracking a brand.
  • Users can receive a weekly email digest with a personalized weekly summary of their spied brands that includes: Curated ads based on saved brands/preferences, “Brands like yours” competitor discovery, and a user-controlled toggle in the Settings.


Step-by-step


1. Access Brand Spy

  1. From the left sidebar, select Brand Spy.
  2. Click Spy new brand in the top-right corner.


2. Find and add a brand to track


Use the unified search bar at the top of the page to find any brand. Just start typing a brand name and results appear instantly in two sections:


  • Your Brands — brands you’re already tracking. Click to go straight to their dashboard.
  • Discover New Brands — brands from our library of 20,000+ pre-spied brands. Click Spy to start tracking.


If the brand you’re looking for isn’t in our library, you’ll see a direct link to the Meta Ads Library pre-filled with your search query — so you can always find what you need.


You can also add a brand in other ways:


Option 1: Manually

  1. Copy the brand’s Meta Ads Library URL.
  2. Paste it into the field under Spy a brand manually.
  3. Click Spy to start tracking.


Option 2: From the pre-spied list

  1. Browse or search among 20,000+ pre-spied brands.
  2. Click Spy next to any brand you want to track.
  3. (Optional) Choose a folder to organize it before confirming.



3. Spy directly from ads

  1. While browsing ads in Explore, click the three-dot menu on the ad card.
  2. Select Spy Brand — the brand is now automatically added to your Brand Spy dashboard.



4. View and analyze brand performance

After adding a brand, click its name to open its dashboard. You’ll see:


  • Ad Formats Breakdown – percentage split between videos, images, and carousels.
  • Trends Graph – visualizes the number of active ads over time.
  • Top-Performing Ads – preview ads with highest engagement and conversion potential.
  • Most Used Hooks – reveals recurring ad angles and emotional triggers.
  • Most Used Landing Pages – shows top pages where ads drive traffic.


5. Filter, sort, and explore all ads

  • Open the All Ads tab to browse every active creative.
  • Use filters for Country, Ad Format, Status, or Performance to narrow results.
  • Sort by impressions to find the brand’s best-performing ads first, or switch to Least impressions, Latest added, or Oldest added depending on what you’re looking for.
  • Click Details to inspect an ad or Save to add it to your Swipe File.


6. Organize brands in folders

  1. Navigate to the folder where you initially saved your Brand Spy
  2. Locate the Brand Spy within the folder tree
  3. Click on the three-dots menu on the right
  4. Click on "Edit" button
  5. A modal will appear, allowing you to switch the folder.
  6. Select the folder you'd like and click "Save.



7. Manage active and inactive brands

  • Each spied brand is active as long as you wish to spy it. 
  • If you toggle it off, the brand will deactivate — no additional credits are charged.
  • If you toggle it back on, it reactivates for free.
  • You can remove brands anytime, but note that re-adding a removed brand will cost 8 credits again.


Success check

  • The brand appears in your Brand Spy dashboard with Active Ads count visible.
  • You can open its overview and see ad breakdown data within seconds.



Troubleshooting

  • Brand not showing immediately: Wait a few minutes; data sync from Meta can have a short delay.
  • Ad counts differ from Meta Ads Library: Meta shows approximate (“~”) totals; GetHookd counts only confirmed active ads.
  • Credits not updating: Refresh the page; billing sync may take up to 30 seconds after toggling ON/OFF.
  • Search not finding a brand: If a brand isn’t in our library yet, use the Meta Ads Library link shown in the search results to find their page URL. Then paste it into “Spy a brand manually.”



FAQs

  • Q: How many credits does it cost to spy on a brand?

A: 8 credits per brand, charged once when you first add it. Toggling a brand off and on is free.


  • Q: Do I get credits back if I remove a brand?

A: No — credits are not refunded when you remove a brand. If you re-add it later, it will cost 8 credits again.


  • Q: Why do ad counts differ from Meta Ads Library?

A: Meta reports “~” estimates; GetHookd shows verified creatives only.


  • Q: Can I move brands between folders later?

A: Yes — you can move or rename folders anytime from the Brand Spy view.


  • Q: Can I spy brands not listed in the pre-spied list?

A: Yes, paste their Meta Ads Library URL manually.


  • Q: What does sorting by impressions do?

A: It ranks a brand’s ads by how many impressions they’ve received, so you can quickly find their top-performing creatives.



Notes & limits

  • Counts and trends rely on Meta Ads transparency data; slight delays may occur.
  • Data refresh occurs automatically every few hours.


  • Filters & Search → Learn how to find ads faster with advanced filters.
  • Swipe File → Save and organize your favorite ads for later use.
  • AI Script Generation → Turn spied ads into ready-to-edit AI scripts.


Updated on: 26/02/2026

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