The shelf life of a SaaS ad
October 12, 2026
The median observed run length for a SaaS ad was 79.5 days. The study reports 439.5 days for the longest-running 10% of creatives, roughly 5.5 times the median.
The analysis covers 445,379 SaaS ad creatives from 2,732 companies across Google Ads and Meta Ads, observed on October 5, 2026. Run length is measured in days between a creative’s first and last recorded appearances.
The spread is substantial. Some creatives appear briefly, while others remain visible for more than a year. For creative teams, the longest-running group offers a useful collection of messages, offers, and designs to study alongside their own campaigns.
The platform breakdown makes the findings more useful for planning. Google image ads and Meta image ads have very different run lengths, giving teams a reason to organize creative reviews around where an ad runs and which format it uses.
How much is still running
As of October 5, 2026,194,735 creatives were still running, representing 43.7% of the sample. Nearly half the ads were still live when the analysis was recorded.
The dataset includes both completed and ongoing ad runs. The 79.5-day median brings those records together into one view of observed creative duration.
The active share differed sharply by platform. Across the listed formats,56.1% of Google Ads creatives were still running, compared with 6.7% of Meta Ads creatives.
Google had both longer median runs across the listed formats and a larger share of creatives still active. On Meta, the medians were shorter, and most creatives were no longer running at the observation date.
For teams tracking their own ads, these are two useful measures to keep together: how long each creative has run and whether it remains active.
Platform and format change the picture
Breaking the sample down by platform and format shows where the largest differences sit.
Platform | Format | Creatives | Median observed run (days) | Still running |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Ads | Image | 260,346 | 158.9 | 147,761 (56.8%) |
Google Ads | Video | 13,990 | 60.7 | 9,962 (71.2%) |
Google Ads | Unknown | 59,199 | 58.8 | 29,543 (49.9%) |
Meta Ads | Carousel | 50,993 | 18.0 | 2,666 (5.2%) |
Meta Ads | Video | 31,800 | 12.0 | 2,737 (8.6%) |
Meta Ads | Image | 28,884 | 7.0 | 2,064 (7.1%) |
Meta Ads | Text | 167 | 8.0 | 2 (1.2%) |
Google Ads image creatives led in both volume and median run length. The 260,346 creatives accounted for 58.5% of the full sample, with a median observed run of 158.9 days. Of those,147,761 were still running.
Google video creatives had a median of 60.7 days across 13,990 creatives. They also had the highest active share in the table:71.2%, or 9,962 creatives, were still live.
The 59,199 Google creatives without a format classification had a median run of 58.8 days, with 29,543 still running.
On Meta, carousel creatives had the longest median at 18.0 days across 50,993 creatives. Video followed at 12.0 days across 31,800 creatives. Image creatives had a median of 7.0 days across 28,884 creatives, while the 167 text creatives had a median of 8.0 days.
The image-ad comparison is the clearest contrast:158.9 days on Google versus 7.0 days on Meta, a ratio of 22.7 to one.
The same direction appears in video, with Google’s 60.7-day median well above Meta’s 12.0 days. Within Meta, carousel creatives had a longer median run than either video or image creatives.
These differences give teams more relevant benchmarks than the overall figure alone. Compare Google image ads with other Google image ads, Meta video with Meta video, and carousel with carousel. That is a more useful starting point for a creative review than applying the same schedule across every campaign.
What to do with this
Build your review calendar by platform and format, then use campaign results to decide where new creative is needed.
A three-week-old Meta image ad has run for three times its group’s 7.0-day median. A three-week-old Google image ad is still well below its group’s 158.9-day median. The same amount of time puts those ads at very different points relative to their benchmarks.
Give each review a clear purpose. A 30-day review is an opportunity to check results, identify changes, and decide what to keep, revise, or replace. Record the decision and the reason behind it so the next review builds on what the team has already learned.
Use results to set priorities. Compare acquisition costs, conversion rates, and other relevant outcomes with campaign targets and recent performance. When results weaken, review the creative, targeting, budget changes, and landing page together. Direct production effort toward the changes that address the problem.
Study the longest-running creatives. Look for recurring messages, offers, layouts, and calls to action. In your own campaigns, identify which long-running ads continue to meet their goals, then develop variations around the elements worth retaining.
For production planning, reserve capacity for both fresh ideas and variations on ads that are already working. Keep track of which platform and format each new creative serves, along with the result it is intended to improve.
The 79.5-day median gives you the broad benchmark. The 439.5-day figure highlights the long-running end of the sample. The platform and format breakdown brings those numbers closer to the decisions your team makes every week.
Build the calendar around comparable ads, review their results, and put the next round of creative work where it is needed most.