Tampermonkey scripts turn Ads Manager, the Ad Library and competitors’ landing pages into a research desk. One habit turns them into the fastest route to a banned ad account.
What is Tampermonkey used for in performance marketing? This explainer walks through what userscripts can actually do inside the ad platforms: saving ads from the Facebook Ad Library into a swipe file, reading the events a landing page sends to the Meta Pixel and Google Tag Manager, surfacing Facebook ads hidden interests beyond the ~25 suggestions Ads Manager shows, and cleaning up daily operations. It ends with the line that separates safe scripts from banned accounts, and what Chrome’s Manifest V3 changed for anyone whose scripts stopped working.
Key points
– Userscripts are small pieces of JavaScript that load with a web page and change it: add a button, pull data out, rebuild the layout.
– Three powers matter: GM_xmlhttpRequest sends data to another domain (a Google Sheet or webhook), MutationObserver catches each new ad as it renders, and unsafeWindow reaches the page’s own objects like fbq and dataLayer.
– Facebook Ad Library: scripts add a save button, decode the real landing page from redirect links, store the launch date and skip ads already saved, building a swipe file without a paid spy tool.
– Pixel inspection: Pixel Helper shows whether a pixel fires; a wrapping script shows what it sends. Purchase values that swing may suggest value-based bidding.
– Hidden interests: typing “yoga” into Ads Manager gives about 25 suggestions, the same ones competitors see. Meta’s Marketing API holds far more segments: less auction overlap and, in theory, cheaper reach.
– Daily ops: a UTM builder that lowercases and hyphenates campaign, ad set and ad names; exporting a competitor’s negative reviews on Shopee for ad copy; a save button that posts to an n8n or Zapier webhook and into Google Sheets. (The source report also covers AI rewrite buttons inside the ad editor and Shopee sellers auto-rating buyers and replying to reviews from templates.)
– The ban line: scripts that act — auto-posting, auto-adding friends, auto-commenting — run as you. Platforms fingerprint behaviour; restrictions run from 24 hours to 30 days, or a permanent ban.
– Manifest V3: Tampermonkey now runs on Chrome’s userScripts API. On Chrome 138 or later, turn on “Allow User Scripts” in Tampermonkey’s extension settings, or turn on Developer Mode, if scripts don’t run.
Chapters
0:00 Why marketers use Tampermonkey scripts
0:36 What is Tampermonkey used for?
1:43 Spy on competitor Facebook ads
2:49 Facebook ads hidden interests
4:04 Where ad accounts get banned
5:14 Manifest V3: scripts not working
5:53 The one rule
Sources
– Tampermonkey documentation
– Tampermonkey FAQ, Q209 (Allow User Scripts / Developer Mode)
– Tampermonkey changelog (Manifest V3 rebuild)
– KlientBoost, Facebook interest targeting —
– Chromium issue on Manifest V3 script injection
Note: the 12M+ install figure is as reported in the research source, not read from the store listing; Meta’s interest lists change over time.
Credits
– Black Marble (Earth at night) — NASA Earth Observatory — public domain
– Ferndale Studio 04 and Moonless Golf HDRIs — Poly Haven — CC0
– AntiqueCamera (Maximillan Kamps) and Lantern (Frank Galligan, sbtron) — Khronos glTF Sample Assets — CC0
– ChronographWatch (Eric Chadwick), ABeautifulGame (Ed Mackey, MaterialX Project), MosquitoInAmber (Loic Norgeot, Sketchfab) — Khronos glTF Sample Assets — CC BY 4.0
Interface screens are illustrative mock-ups, not real accounts.
Narration: AI-generated voice.
#TampermonkeyScripts #FacebookAds #PerformanceMarketing #Tampermonkey #Userscripts #MarketingAutomation
source
