Save ads from the Meta Ad Library with the Chrome extension

The Nexus extension for Google Chrome adds a Save to Nexus button under each ad in the Meta Ad Library. A click saves the ad to the Saved tab of your store's Inspiration Library.

Problem and intended user

The creative strategist (the person who plans and makes ad creatives) and the media buyer (the person who runs your paid ads) look for ideas in the Meta Ad Library. A good ad is easy to lose there. A screenshot keeps the picture but loses the dates, the platforms and the landing page. Two teammates can also keep the same ad without knowing it.

Current workflow

Without the extension, you take a screenshot or paste the ad's link into a spreadsheet, a board or a team chat. You copy the advertiser and the ad text by hand. Each person keeps a separate collection, and you ask around to learn whether someone already kept an ad.

Prerequisites

• Google Chrome on a computer.
• The Nexus extension installed in Chrome and connected to your store. Browser extension explains the install and the connection, in the standalone app and in Shopify.
• Access to the store you want to save ads to.

How Nexus works

The extension saves an ad only when you click Save to Nexus. It then takes what the Meta Ad Library page already shows for that ad: the advertiser, the text, the pictures or videos, every card of a carousel, the dates, the platforms and the landing page. Nexus stores the ad in your store, then copies its pictures and videos into Nexus. Fixed rules do this work. No AI is involved, and nobody approves a save.

Save an ad

1. Open the Meta Ad Library in Chrome and search for a brand or a keyword.
2. Under an ad, click Save to Nexus. The button reads Saving…, then Saved, with Change at its right end.
3. The panel opens on its own under the button, so you can pick a folder or add a note right away. Click Done, or click anywhere outside the panel, to close it.

Nexus files a new save in no folder. In Nexus, the ad shows on the Saved tab with Saved from Meta Ad Library under the brand, and on the All ads tab.

The panel opens on its own only while the ad is on screen and you have not moved on. If you scrolled away or clicked into something else while Nexus saved the ad, the panel stays closed. Click Change to open it.

File the ad and add a note

1. Click Change on the Saved button under the ad, or use the panel that opened when you saved it. The panel shows the ad, the folders of your store and a note field.
2. Under Folder, tick a folder. Nexus moves the ad at once. To take the ad out of its folder, untick it. With nothing ticked, the ad is in no folder.
3. To make a folder, click + New folder, type a name and click Create. Nexus files the ad in the new folder.
4. Under Note (optional), type a note for your team.
5. Click Done. Nexus saves the note, then closes the panel.

Escape, a click outside the panel and a scroll of the page also close it. Nexus then saves the note. Open in Nexus opens the ad's own page in Nexus.

Remove a saved ad

WARNING

Remove deletes the save with its folder and its note. When you save the ad again, it starts in no folder, with no note.

1. Click the Saved button under the ad.
2. Click Remove in the panel. The button goes back to Save to Nexus.

See what your team saved

An ad that you or a teammate saved earlier shows who saved it and when. The button reads Saved by you or Saved by with the teammate's first name, then the date. Nexus checks which ads on the page your store saved when the page loads, and again when you come back to the tab. Click the button to see the folder and the note in the panel. The popup of the extension also lists your store's latest saves under Saved recently.

Exact output

Each ad in the Meta Ad Library gets a row under it with the Nexus mark and one button. The button says the state of the ad:

Button	What it means
Save to Nexus	The ad is not saved. Click to save it.
Saving…	Nexus is saving the ad.
Saved, with Change	The ad is saved in no folder. Click to open the panel.
Saved to and a folder name, with Change	The ad is saved in that folder.
Saved by you or Saved by and a first name, with the date and Change	You or a teammate saved the ad earlier.
Couldn’t save, with Retry	The save failed. A line under the button says why. Click Retry.
Connect Nexus to save	This browser is not connected. Click it, then click Connect.
Can’t save this ad	Nexus can't save this ad. Point at the info icon, or move to it with the keyboard, to see why.

The panel has these parts:

Part	What it shows
Title	Saved, or Saved to and the folder name, over your store's name.
The ad	The advertiser, the format, the platforms and, when the page shows it, how many days the ad has run.
Folder	Every folder of your store. A tick marks the folder the ad is in; with nothing ticked, the ad is in no folder. + New folder makes a folder.
Note (optional)	The note your team sees with the ad in Nexus.
Remove, Open in Nexus, Done	Remove the save, open the ad's page in Nexus, or close the panel.

In Nexus, Saved ads: who saved them, notes and ad details describes the card and the page of an ad saved with the extension.

What to do with it

What you see	Decision or action	Owner
An ad you want to learn from	Click Save to Nexus, then file it in a folder from the panel.	creative strategist
An idea behind the ad that the team should know	Write it under Note (optional) and click Done.	creative strategist
Saved by with a teammate's name	Open the panel and read their folder and note before you brief the same idea.	creative strategist
Couldn’t save	Check your connection, then click Retry.	media buyer
Connect Nexus to save	Connect this browser to your store. See Browser extension.	media buyer

Expected value and measurement

Ads you find while browsing can land in one place, with their dates, platforms and landing page, instead of in personal screenshots. Your team can see who kept an ad and why.

To check, open Inspiration Library > Saved in Nexus. Pick a teammate under Saved by to see the ads that person saved, and open an ad to read its note.

Limitations and exceptions

• The extension works in Google Chrome on a computer, and only in the Meta Ad Library.
• An ad that shows Meta's notice that its content was removed can't be saved. An ad you saved before Meta removed it stays saved.
• The status and the running time are a snapshot of the day you saved the ad. Nexus does not check the ad again, so it may have stopped or kept running since.
• When an ad has several versions, Nexus saves the version the page shows and the number of versions. It does not save the other versions.
• Nexus copies the pictures and videos after the save. Until then, the card in Nexus shows Processing media. When Nexus can't copy them, the card shows the ad's text and Media not available.
• Nexus does not link an ad saved with the extension to a competitor, and it does not analyse the ad.
• An ad that Nexus already holds, such as an ad of a competitor you track, keeps its usual card when you save it with the extension.

The reason under Can’t save this ad is one of these:

Reason	What to do
Meta removed this ad’s media.	Nothing. Meta no longer shows the pictures or videos of this ad.
This ad format isn’t supported yet.	Keep a link to the ad another way.
Nexus can’t identify this ad.	Reload the page and try again.
This is your own ad. Nexus already has it.	Nothing. Nexus already holds your own ads.
This ad’s brand is no longer in your library.	Add the brand to your Inspiration Library again, then save the ad.

The line under Couldn’t save is one of these:

Line	What to do
No connection to Nexus. Nothing was saved.	Check your internet connection, then click Retry.
Nexus didn’t answer in time. Nothing was saved.	Click Retry.
Nexus refused this save. Nothing was saved.	Reload the page and try again. If it happens again, contact support.
Too many saves. Try again in a few minutes.	Your store saved many ads in a short time. Wait a few minutes, then click Retry.

When Nexus can't move the ad, create a folder, save the note or remove the ad, the panel says so under that control. The ad goes back to its folder, the text you typed stays, and the ad stays saved. Try again.

When the connection stops working, the button reads Connect Nexus to save. Connect the browser again from the popup.

In Demo Mode you can't connect the extension. See Browser extension.

Related

• Browser extension
• Saved ads: who saved them, notes and ad details
• Saved ad folders
• Inspiration Library