Radar · by category
News apps: the winning Meta ads, x-rayed
3 News apps are on the HyperScale radar, together running 2,323 active ads in Meta's Ad Library, with 258 creatives that have survived 30 or more days. Citizen runs the biggest set at 1,202 active ads. The category's longest-running ad, from NYTimes, has been live 136 days.
Every teardown below covers the full winning set: the live ad gallery, the decoded creative strategy, what reviewers actually say, and new ad concepts HyperScale agents generated from it.
Citizen
News · by sp0n, Inc.
1202 active ads longest 115d
918 active Meta ads for Citizen's safety app compress into exactly 2 unique primary texts and 2 x-rayed creatives, both Japanese personality quizzes ("推しグセ診断") tied to a Global Citizen cause message. Only 2 ads have cleared the 30-day survival bar, topping out at 46 and 42 days, +0 new winners landed this week, and 211 ads retired since 2026-07-27, all while 87 of 606 reviews flag paywall friction the quiz never mentions.
NYTimes
News · by The New York Times Company
946 active ads longest 136d
The New York Times just rotated a third of its Meta ad set in a week: winners jumped from 132 to 149, with 46 new ads and 29 retirements since July 27. The engine driving that growth is still recipes: the seasonal recipe hook angle now covers 48 of 149 winning ads, all video, zero on-camera humans, feeding one persona, the Weeknight Meal Decider.
The Guardian
News · by Guardian News & Media Ltd
175 active ads longest 77d
Image now drives 79% of the 33-ad winning set, up from a video-heavier mix last cycle, while video collapsed to just 15%. The account swapped its old 80-day Ottolenghi video for two fresh 75-day hooks about feeling 'addicted' to fast food and greasy dinners. Community support story and scenic destination showcase now tie atop the angle list at 6 ads each, with recipe showcase nowhere in the top six.