Pinterest and Snapchat both run EU-mandated ad repositories under the Digital Services Act — Pinterest's at ads.pinterest.com/ads-repository, Snapchat's at adsgallery.snap.com. Both platforms were designated Very Large Online Platforms on 25 April 2023, triggering Article 39's requirement to publish a searchable, publicly accessible ad archive. But neither was built as a competitor-research product: Pinterest's repository is EU-focused with minimal filters, and Snapchat's Ads Gallery was found to be unavailable 99.7% of the time during a 2026 AI Forensics audit before a partial fix in April 2026. For agencies prospecting local businesses, these repositories confirm that an advertiser is spending — a warm-lead signal — but they will not tell you how much, how effectively, or who they targeted. Here is what each surface actually exposes, how to search it, and where the gaps bite for agency prospecting.
What the DSA requires of Pinterest and Snapchat
Both platforms carry the same Article 39 obligations as Meta, Google, TikTok, and LinkedIn: compile a searchable repository containing ad content, advertiser and payer identity, run period, targeting parameters, and total plus per-Member-State reach. Ads must remain visible for the entire run period plus one year after the last impression. No spend disclosure is required anywhere in Article 39, so no VLOP repository shows budget figures.
| Requirement | Pinterest Ads Repository | Snapchat Ads Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Searchable by | Advertiser, category, country, dates, gender, age | Advertiser name (limited filters per AI Forensics audit) |
| API access | No public API | Researcher access program for EU DSA requests |
| Spend shown | No | No |
| Coverage | EU-focused | EU + Türkiye only |
| Retention | Run + 1 year (DSA minimum) | 12 months (consistent with DSA) |
Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Article 39. Platform designations: EC VLOP/VLOSE list, digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/list-designated-vlops-and-vloses (Pinterest: 124M EU MAU, DSC Ireland; Snapchat: 102M EU MAU, DSC Netherlands). Verified August 2026.
Pinterest Ads Repository — what it actually shows
The Pinterest Ads Repository lives at ads.pinterest.com/ads-repository/. No login is required. The search interface offers six fields: start date, end date, ad category, country, gender, and age. Results show ad creatives (the promoted Pin as served), advertiser identity, and a rough run window. It does not show spend, impressions, conversions, granular reach, precise targeting, or marketing-style filters. The repository was built as a compliance log for regulators, not a research UI for marketers — which explains the EU scoping, the focus on advertiser identity over creative performance, and the absence of the filters you would expect from a competitor-research tool.
Pinterest was designated a Very Large Online Platform on 25 April 2023, with 124 million average monthly active EU users. Its Ads Repository at ads.pinterest.com/ads-repository is the DSA compliance artifact — a searchable, EU-focused record of ads served on the platform. No login required; no spend, conversions, or granular targeting shown. Verified August 2026 via the EC VLOP designation list and the live repository. (Source: EC VLOP list, digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu; Pinterest Ads Repository, ads.pinterest.com)
To search it: go to the URL above, enter an advertiser name (brand names do not always match legal entities — try trade name, parent company, or product name if a search comes up empty), filter by country and date range to narrow to EU-targeted ads, and click "Details" on any result for the full creative. Record the advertiser name, creative, run window, and source URL — the repository is your source of truth for confirming a brand advertises on Pinterest in the EU.
The repository is the narrowest and most region-locked of the major ad-transparency surfaces. Meta's library is global with impressions ranges on every ad; Google's covers format, region, and date globally; TikTok's covers every paid ad since October 2022. Pinterest's is EU-only and built as a compliance log. If your target market is outside the EU, the official repository may not be available to you at all, and you need in-app observation or third-party tools instead.
Snapchat Ads Gallery — what it actually shows
Snapchat's DSA compliance repository is the Ads Gallery at adsgallery.snap.com. According to Snap's own Transparency Hub, it covers "European Union and Turkiye ads that delivered in the last 12 months and commercial content that's live right now." No login is required. Snapchat also operates a separate Political Ads Library at snap.com/en-US/political-ads (since 2018, global, with spend and targeting data — but political ads only, not commercial campaigns).
The AI Forensics audit: a repository that was broken
In April 2026, AI Forensics published an investigation finding that Snapchat's advertising transparency tools "fell far short of requirements for very large online platforms under the DSA." The Ads Gallery was searchable only by advertiser name, was unavailable 99.7% of the time during the observation period, and did not label commercial communications on the web. After sharing findings with Snap's DSA Compliance Team, Snap deployed a fix on 29 April 2026 that raised service availability from near-zero to nearly 100%. Limited search functionality and missing commercial-content labeling remained unaddressed as of the report's 13 May 2026 publication. MLex covered the findings, reporting that Snapchat's ad repository "may breach DSA transparency rules."
An April 2026 AI Forensics investigation found Snapchat's Ads Gallery was searchable only by advertiser name, was unavailable 99.7% of the time during the observation period, and did not label commercial communications on the web. After sharing findings with Snap's DSA Compliance Team, Snap deployed a fix on 29 April 2026 raising availability from near-zero to nearly 100%, but limited search functionality and missing commercial-content labeling remained unaddressed as of the report's 13 May 2026 publication. (Source: AI Forensics, aiforensics.org/work/snapchat-dsa-ad-transparency; MLex, 13 May 2026)
To search it: go to adsgallery.snap.com, search by advertiser name (check whether additional filters have been added since the April 2026 fix), and review results covering the last 12 months in the EU or Türkiye. Cross-reference with the Political Ads Library if your prospect operates in politically adjacent categories (advocacy, healthcare, finance, housing) — Snap's definition of "political, electoral, or social issue" is relatively broad.
Advertising stats for prospecting context
Pinterest reported $3.65 billion in 2025 ad revenue with 537 million monthly active users and an average CPC of $0.83 — the cheapest among major social ad platforms. EU growth is concentrated in Germany (22M MAU, +9.2% YoY) and the UK (19M MAU, +5.8% YoY). Snapchat reported $5.93 billion in total 2025 revenue, but ad revenue grew just 3% in Q1 2026 — a business still running Snapchat ads is likely doing it because it works for their 13–34 demographic, not because it is the trendy channel, which makes them a more qualified prospect. (Sources: DigitalApplied, citing Pinterest Q1 2026 earnings and Snap Q1 2026 SEC 8-K; verified August 2026)
How these repositories compare to the others
Pinterest and Snapchat sit at the bottom of the transparency depth chart. Meta leads (global, impressions ranges, EU spend bands), Google and TikTok follow, LinkedIn is in the middle — Pinterest and Snapchat are the thinnest: EU-scoped, minimal filters, no commercial-ad API. For deeper comparisons of the better-documented platforms, see our EU Ad Library guide, Google Ads Transparency Center guide, LinkedIn Ad Library guide, and TikTok Commercial Content Library guide.
The prospecting workflow
For an agency using ad activity as a prospecting signal, Pinterest and Snapchat repositories are secondary sources. Start with Meta and Google, where the data is richest — use the Meta Ad Library and Google Ads Transparency Center to confirm spend activity first. Then cross-check Pinterest for prospects in visual-discovery categories (home, fashion, beauty, food, DIY, weddings, parenting) — Pinterest's audience has a purchase intent index 5.6× the social-platform average and a $100 average order value for Pinterest-attributed conversions in the US (DigitalApplied, 2026). Check adsgallery.snap.com for prospects targeting a younger demographic (13–34); a local business running Snapchat ads is less common than one running Meta ads, which makes it a stronger differentiation signal. Check the LinkedIn Ad Library too, since LinkedIn ad activity indicates B2B budget.
The prospecting read-patterns are the same as for any ad library: a long-running active ad suggests conversion; a cluster of ads starting the same week suggests a new push or agency hire (check whether they have tracking pixels installed); a year-old flurry then nothing suggests lapsed spend — a re-engagement pitch. For a full qualification framework, see our signs a business needs marketing help checklist. If your target market is outside the EU, neither repository gives global coverage — use in-app observation and third-party tools. For programmatic access, neither platform offers a public commercial-ad API — see our best ad intelligence tools for prospecting roundup.
Bottom line
Pinterest and Snapchat both comply with the DSA's ad-repository requirement, but both built the minimum viable compliance tool rather than a research product. Pinterest's repository is EU-focused, searchable by six fields, and shows creative with no performance data. Snapchat's Ads Gallery was functionally broken for most of early 2026 before an April fix, and still lacks the search filters and commercial-content labeling that AI Forensics flagged as DSA shortfalls. Both are worth checking as secondary sources after Meta and Google — a prospect advertising on Pinterest or Snapchat has budget and platform-specific knowledge — but neither will give you the depth of signal that the larger platforms' repositories do. Use them to confirm presence, not to size spend.