How to Prepare an Ad Spy CSV You Can Trust

Prepare accurate competitor-ad records for Ad Spy with a five-column CSV checklist, working examples, and a clear explanation of what run length can tell you.

A competitor-ad report is only as useful as the records behind it. If one business appears under three names, an active ad has an invented stop date, or the same creative appears twice, the comparison can look convincing while telling the wrong story.

BeVisibleHQ’s Ad Spy gives you a straightforward way to review competitor ads you have collected. Paste a CSV or load a CSV file, then compare active ads and how long they have run. A few checks before importing will make that review easier to interpret.

Start with a small, consistent research question

Choose a question before collecting examples. You might ask which offers a few local competitors keep running, or which messages appear in a seasonal campaign. Keep the sample focused enough that you can check each record.

Ad Spy works with the data you supply. It does not discover competitors or fetch an ad library for you. Use public information you are authorized to access, and keep the source URL and observation date in a separate research sheet so you can retrace your work. Those extra notes are not displayed in Ad Spy’s results.

Use the five-column format

The interface asks for these columns:

competitor,ad_text,started,stopped,platform

competitor: Use one consistent name for each business. Avoid mixing abbreviations and full names for the same advertiser.
ad_text: Record the wording you are comparing. Keep the original text in your research file rather than silently rewriting it.
started: Enter the ad’s start date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
stopped: Enter a confirmed stop date in the same format. Leave it blank for an ad you have verified is still active.
platform: Label the platform consistently, such as facebook or instagram.

Do not leave stopped blank merely because the end date is unknown. Ad Spy treats a blank stop date as an active ad. If you cannot establish its status, keep that example outside the comparison until you can check it.

Protect commas and quotation marks

CSV uses commas to separate columns, so ad copy containing a comma needs quotation marks around the complete field. A quotation mark inside that field is represented by two quotation marks.

This fictional example demonstrates both cases:

competitor,ad_text,started,stopped,platform
Example Studio,"Book a consultation, get a clear plan",2026-10-01,,facebook
Example Studio,"Ask about our ""starter"" package",2026-10-10,2026-10-18,instagram

These records are illustrations, not observations of a real advertiser. In your own file, use dates and status information you have actually checked. A spreadsheet’s CSV export can handle quoting for you, but inspect the exported file before relying on it.

Check the records before clicking Analyze

Review the file for four common problems:

Duplicate observations. Recording the same ad twice increases the apparent number of ads. Keep distinct ads separate, but remove accidental duplicate rows yourself.
Inconsistent names. Different spellings can split one competitor into multiple result cards.
Date errors. Make sure a stop date is not earlier than the start date and that the start date is not in the future. Use full calendar dates rather than an ambiguous format such as 10/11/26.
Missing information. A competitor name, ad text and valid start date are needed for a usable record. Review any error messages rather than assuming every row was accepted.

Ad Spy reports several input errors, including missing required columns and invalid dates. Some bad rows can be omitted while other rows still appear in the results, so read the messages above the result cards.

Understand what the comparison shows

After analysis, Ad Spy groups records by competitor and lists competitors with more active ads first. Each card shows the active-ad count, up to five of the longest-running active ads, and up to five ads that stopped within 14 days.

An active ad’s displayed duration runs from its start date to the current date used by your browser. A stopped ad’s duration runs from its start date to its stop date. Record when you ran the comparison if you plan to compare it with a later review.

Treat those durations as observations. A long-running ad does not prove profitability, and an ad that stopped quickly does not prove failure. A promotion can end on schedule, a budget can change, or an advertiser can be testing a new message. Ad Spy does not provide the spend, clicks or conversions needed to establish campaign performance.

Turn one observation into a test

Finish with a small, specific question you can investigate. If several examples describe a concrete customer problem, try making your own offer more specific. If competitors repeatedly use a particular call to action, consider whether a different next step would better fit your customers.

Write original copy and measure your own results. Keep the CSV and research notes somewhere you control: the current Ad Spy page does not offer a saved research library or a results-export button. A repeatable record of what you checked is more useful than a confident guess about someone else’s campaign.

Start with a handful of verified records, run the comparison, and choose one question worth testing. Open Ad Spy to put the checklist to work.