Preview an Ad
We strongly recommend previewing your ad to ensure it renders correctly in placements and as a post.
Ads built with the API can be tested in two ways:
| Method | Description | Best for |
|---|---|---|
preview_url (recommended) | View your ad in an environment mirroring the ad’s real-life behavior. Only usable while preview_expiry is set and valid. | Validating tracking, analytics, ad performance, and reviewing placement. |
post_url | View your ad as a post. | Moderating comments or reviewing presentation. |
You can retrieve both values with Get Ad.
You can retrieve your ad’s ID with More Tools > Copy ID on the dashboard or List Ads.
Refresh preview expiration
Use Update Ad to refresh your preview URL’s expiration date. This is required to generate preview_url initially. Provide a datetime within the next 30 days for preview_expiry.
If this is the first time expiration has been set, open the Ads Manager and generate its test URL.
After refreshing, it may take up to 20 minutes for your ad to appear on your preview link.
- Request Body
- Response
"data": {
"preview_expiry": "2025-03-27T21:18:39.927000+00:00"
}
{
"data": {
"id": "2150528811614587268",
...
"preview_expiry": "2025-11-14T15:32:29.080868+00:00",
"preview_url": "https://www.reddit.com/?ad=kR9wTqLzP5hA3cVnE7sGbUjM8fXyB6dK4aW2oP1iL0uYvJmQzR7tW5sF9eG1cHkO8rB3xNlD4pG6jVbCqI2gA9uYhTfE7lK5zM0wR8oPvB4cQ%3D",
...
}
}
Preview on a specific post or community
By default, preview_url shows your ad in the conversation placement on the Home feed. To test your ad on a specific post or community, append ?ad={{Your preview ID}} to the URL.
For example, if preview_url is:
https://www.reddit.com/?ad=kR9wTqLzP5hA3cVnE7sGbUjM8fXyB6dK4aW2oP1iL0uYvJmQzR7tW5sF9eG1cHkO8rB3xNlD4pG6jVbCqI2gA9uYhTfE7lK5zM0wR8oPvB4cQ%3D
You can use the same preview ID elsewhere:
- Preview ID:
kR9wTqLzP5hA3cVnE7sGbUjM8fXyB6dK4aW2oP1iL0uYvJmQzR7tW5sF9eG1cHkO8rB3xNlD4pG6jVbCqI2gA9uYhTfE7lK5zM0wR8oPvB4cQ%3D - Preview on r/ramen:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ramen/?ad=kR9wTqLzP5hA3cVnE7sGbUjM8fXyB6dK4aW2oP1iL0uYvJmQzR7tW5sF9eG1cHkO8rB3xNlD4pG6jVbCqI2gA9uYhTfE7lK5zM0wR8oPvB4cQ%3D - Preview on a post in r/ramen:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ramen/comments/1nytqai/how_do_ramen_restaurants_make_their_ramen_so/?comments_ad=kR9wTqLzP5hA3cVnE7sGbUjM8fXyB6dK4aW2oP1iL0uYvJmQzR7tW5sF9eG1cHkO8rB3xNlD4pG6jVbCqI2gA9uYhTfE7lK5zM0wR8oPvB4cQ%3D