Inspiration

Inspiration helps you find reference ads and turn a useful example into a starting point for your brand. The current tabs are Explore, Following, and Inspired. Older instructions referring to Discover or Imported use previous names.

Build a reference base#

1. Select the correct team and brand, then open Inspiration.
2. Use Explore to discover ideas or Following to focus on competitors.
3. Open an ad to inspect the creative and available advertiser details.
4. Choose Save or Save to inspiration for a reference you want to reuse.
5. Reopen saved work in Inspired, or choose Clone / Clone this ad when available to start a creation conversation.

Saved references are inputs for creative direction. They are different from final output files in Creations.

Discover references#

Explore shows recommendations for your brand. Search by a visual idea, brand, or message; enter at least two characters to start a search. Without a search query, use the available type, video-length, platform, country, launch-date, and sort controls to narrow the feed.

Searching Explore uses the query to find relevant ads; its browsing filters and sort selection are not applied to those search results. Clear the search to return to the filtered feed. If there are no matches, try a broader idea or phrase.

Following#

Use Following to search the ads of selected competitors or search ads by keyword. Choose a platform and competitors for advertiser-specific browsing. Keyword search and competitor selection are separate: entering a keyword clears selected competitors, and selecting competitors clears the keyword.

If there are no results, check the selected competitor, platform, and filters. A competitor may not have matching ads for the current selection.

Save and reopen references#

Use the save action on an ad or its detail to keep the reference. Some ads contain multiple media items; use the individual-media or save-all action that matches what you want to retain. Saved items appear in Inspired.

Inspired tab#

Inspired holds saved references. Open a reference to preview it, use Upload New to add a reference from your device, or delete a saved reference you no longer need. Saved references remain available when the discovery preview is locked by plan access.

Use references in creation#

When Clone or Clone this ad is available, it opens Chat with the selected reference and a request to create an ad for your brand. Image references guide style and layout; video references guide scene structure, pacing, framing, and motion. Continue in the conversation to explain what to keep, what to change, and the intended audience.

Google video ad cloning is not supported by this action. Available clone actions depend on the reference media and provider. Starting a clone conversation does not publish an ad.

Find generated media in the conversation and Creations. Open Projects for editable work when a project is available.

Manage competitors#

In Following, choose Manage competitors, search for the competitor, select the matching advertiser account, and save your selection. Playad uses the selected advertiser to keep its ads refreshed. Your plan may limit the number of competitors you can follow.