Introduction — why your Facebook ads suddenly feel broken
If your Facebook/Meta campaigns have seen a sudden drop in ROAS, higher CPMs, or strange delivery behavior, you’re not crazy — you’re witnessing the effects of Meta’s Andromeda update. Rolled out incrementally since late 2024, Andromeda overhauled Meta’s retrieval & ad-delivery system so it can match individual people with the right creative at the right moment. That’s powerful — and it breaks old strategies.
The good news: the fix is straightforward. It’s not magic; it’s structure, creative volume, and flexibility. Read on for the exact system (tested by ad ops teams) to restore performance fast.
What Andromeda actually changed (short version)
Meta moved from a mostly audience-centric retrieval to a personalized retrieval paradigm. Instead of “audience → candidate ads,” Andromeda evaluates many ad candidates and picks the best creative for each individual in tight time windows. The result: campaigns that restrict creative diversity or force budgets toward small ad groups get starved. The algorithm now rewards breadth, freshness, and many varied ad candidates.
Key impacts advertisers report:
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Lower ROAS and higher CPC/CPM for tightly targeted/manual-budget campaigns
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Advantage Plus campaigns (ASC-like automation) acting as early Andromeda adopters
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Retargeting/retention working better than prospecting — but prospecting must change
One core concept — and two mechanisms that fix it
Core concept: Give every creative an equal shot.
Andromeda needs many active ad candidates so it can match creatives to individuals. If you restrict or micro-budget ads, Meta can’t do its work.
Two mechanisms to implement immediately:
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Campaign Structure: CBO + Broad Prospecting Packs
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Creative Volume & Organized Launch Packs (date-stamped)
Step-by-step: The exact structure to recover ROAS
1) Prospecting = the highest priority (Scale campaign on CBO)
Set up a single prospecting campaign using Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO). CBO lets Andromeda allocate spend where it finds the best individual matches — which is exactly what it’s built for. Think of prospecting as your continuous “creative discovery” engine.
Recommended setup:
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1 Prospecting CBO campaign (daily launch cadence of new ad packs)
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Ad sets minimalization: keep few ad sets (broad audiences, minimal restrictions)
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Use broad targeting (interest + lookalike light-touch) and let the algorithm match
2) Launch creatives in date-stamped “packs”
Don’t drip one creative at a time. Launch grouped creative bundles (“BroadPack-2025-05-01”) so the system has multiple candidates from the same launch window. That reduces learning resets and gives Andromeda diverse options in the same time window.
How to do it:
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Create a new ad pack each time you get a batch of creatives ready (daily/weekly).
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Each pack can contain 1→10 creatives (video cuts, angles, thumbnails).
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Name them by date & theme to track performance and graduation later.
3) Retargeting & Retention = keep them tight
Retargeting and retention campaigns are less affected — keep them focused. These groups are small and you can force spend here (they don’t need the same creative breadth). Continue to use specific offers and frequency caps for these audiences.
4) The graduation process (scale what works)
When a creative proves itself in prospecting, graduate it:
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Duplicate the winning ad into a Scale campaign (higher spend, CBO or manual scaling).
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Also duplicate into an Interest ad set (narrow targeting pockets). This expands prospecting into hyper-competitive pockets where Andromeda can deliver more efficiently.
When to graduate: typically once a creative consistently outperforms peers and you have stable metrics (conversion rate, CPA, ROAS) over multiple days.
Creative playbook — volume, diversity, and testing
Andromeda is creative-first now. Your creative pipeline must be industrial:
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Triple down on creative volume. Produce multiple cuts per concept: 15s, 30s, 60s, thumbnails, caption variations.
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Test formats: short hooks, UGC, branded, product demo, lifestyle.
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Date your creative packs so you can pause entire packs if something underperforms.
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Avoid over-restricting creative spend. Give the algorithm room to explore.
Tip: Use dynamic creative testing where possible to speed discovery, but pair it with packs so you don’t fragment learning.
Practical account hygiene & operational tips
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Stop running 20 tiny active campaigns. Too many active campaigns with small budgets starve the system. Consolidate.
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Use CBO for prospecting; manual adset budgets hamper Andromeda.
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Keep retargeting separate (fine to set budgets here).
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Limit forced budget rules that move spend away from winners automatically — let Andromeda optimize.
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Monitor learning phase for each pack and limit frequent edits that reset learning.
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Scale slowly with graduated winners; don’t re-create winners as new ads each time — duplicate and scale.
What you’ll see and when to expect results
If you adopt this structure:
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Short term (3–7 days): improved delivery stability, fewer CPM spikes.
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Medium term (2–4 weeks): better ROAS as the system finds matching pockets.
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Long term: sustainable scaling via graduated winners and interest expansion.
If you don’t change, expect continuing higher CPCs and lower ad rank.
Quick checklist (do this in order)
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Consolidate campaigns → 1 prospecting CBO + 1 retention + 1 retargeting
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Prepare 5–10 creatives → launch as BroadPack #1 (date stamped)
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Do not edit packs for 48–72 hours; let them learn
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Monitor top performing creatives → graduate to Scale & Interest ad set
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Repeat weekly, keep creative flow consistent
Final thoughts — Andromeda is an opportunity, not a death sentence
Andromeda raises the bar: ads that are fresh, diverse, and allowed to compete will win. Advertisers who cling to old micro-budget silos will get crushed. The shift favors creators and teams that can consistently produce creative volume and implement a lean, centralized campaign structure. Make the change, and you’ll find Andromeda delivering better matches — and eventually, better ROAS.
