[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":329},["ShallowReactive",2],{"course-ads-not-delivering":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"answer":6,"appPath":7,"body":8,"ctaLabel":285,"description":286,"extension":287,"faqs":288,"homework":298,"meta":299,"minutes":300,"module":301,"navigation":302,"order":276,"path":303,"publishedAt":304,"related":305,"seo":309,"sources":310,"stem":327,"updatedAt":304,"__hash__":328},"course\u002Flearn\u002Fcourse\u002Fads-not-delivering.md","Ads not spending: find the cause in order","An ad that spends nothing is stuck at one known point: still in review, rejected, switched off somewhere, blocked by payment or a spending limit, aimed at too small an audience, or given too little budget to learn. Read the Delivery column in Ads Manager first, then check the causes in order and stop when you find yours. Fix one thing at a time and give the ad a day before you judge it.","\u002Fcampaigns",{"type":9,"value":10,"toc":274},"minimark",[11,15,20,28,31,35,38,98,102,105,111,123,131,135,138,167,171,190,201,210,230,237,241,261,265],[12,13,14],"p",{},"You launched the ad, the card is saved, and the spend still reads RM 0. Or it spent RM 4 yesterday on a RM 30 budget. This is one of the most common problems in Meta ads, and it almost always has a plain cause. This lesson gives you the order to check things in, so you find it in minutes instead of guessing for days.",[16,17,19],"h2",{"id":18},"start-with-the-delivery-column","Start with the Delivery column",[12,21,22,23,27],{},"Before you change anything, open Ads Manager and read the ",[24,25,26],"strong",{},"Delivery"," column. Read it at all three levels: campaign, ad set and ad. Each level has its own status, and the strictest one wins. A campaign can be active while its ad set is off.",[12,29,30],{},"Hover over the status to see Meta's own reason. If the whole account has a problem, such as a failed payment, Ads Manager usually shows it as a banner at the top, not on each ad.",[16,32,34],{"id":33},"check-the-causes-in-this-order","Check the causes in this order",[12,36,37],{},"Start at the top. Stop as soon as one matches.",[39,40,41,48,60,66,72,78,88],"ol",{},[42,43,44,47],"li",{},[24,45,46],{},"Still in review."," Meta says most ads finish review within about 24 hours. New ad accounts and health or finance products can take longer. Do not edit the ad while you wait, because an edit sends it back for review.",[42,49,50,53,54,59],{},[24,51,52],{},"Rejected."," The ad broke one of Meta's rules. Follow the lesson on ",[55,56,58],"a",{"href":57},"\u002Flearn\u002Fcourse\u002Frejected-ads","rejected ads",".",[42,61,62,65],{},[24,63,64],{},"Switched off or out of dates."," The campaign, the ad set and the ad must all be on. Check that the start date is not in the future and the end date has not passed. A lifetime budget that is used up also stops the ad.",[42,67,68,71],{},[24,69,70],{},"Payment or a spending limit."," Meta charges you each time your spend reaches your billing threshold. If that charge fails, Meta can pause every ad until you pay. An account or campaign spending limit you set earlier also stops ads once it is reached. A new ad account may also have a daily spending limit set by Meta, which rises as you spend and pay on time.",[42,73,74,77],{},[24,75,76],{},"Audience too small."," A small town, a narrow age band and several interests stacked together can leave too few people to show the ad to. Check the audience size in the ad set and widen one thing at a time.",[42,79,80,83,84,87],{},[24,81,82],{},"Budget too small for the goal."," Meta needs about 50 results (sales, leads or whatever you optimise for) in 7 days for an ad set to leave the learning phase. If the budget cannot buy that many, the ad set shows ",[24,85,86],{},"Learning limited"," and spends below its potential.",[42,89,90,93,94,59],{},[24,91,92],{},"It spent well, then faded."," If spend and results fell after a good week or two, the same people have seen the ad too often. That is ad fatigue, covered in ",[55,95,97],{"href":96},"\u002Flearn\u002Fcourse\u002Fad-fatigue","its own lesson",[16,99,101],{"id":100},"do-the-budget-maths","Do the budget maths",[12,103,104],{},"For cause 6, a little maths tells you if the budget can ever work. Take your cost per result, times 50, divided by 7. That is the daily budget that gives Meta 50 results in a week. This is a rule of thumb built on Meta's 50 results, not a formula Meta publishes.",[12,106,107,108,110],{},"Say a sale costs you RM 25. Fifty sales is RM 1,250 a week, or about RM 179 a day. On RM 30 a day, that ad set will stay in ",[24,109,86],{},". You have three honest options:",[112,113,114,117,120],"ul",{},[42,115,116],{},"Put the budget of several small ad sets into one, so one ad set gets all the results.",[42,118,119],{},"Optimise for a cheaper, more frequent result for now, such as add to cart.",[42,121,122],{},"Raise the budget, in steps, if the product can pay for it.",[12,124,125,126,130],{},"Meta counts a big budget change as a significant edit that restarts learning, so change one thing and then leave the ad set alone. The lesson on ",[55,127,129],{"href":128},"\u002Flearn\u002Fcourse\u002Fbudget-and-learning-phase","budget and the learning phase"," shows how.",[16,132,134],{"id":133},"a-worked-example","A worked example",[12,136,137],{},"Say you sell kek lapis online from Kuching. You launch a new test campaign at RM 30 a day on Friday morning. On Saturday evening the spend is still RM 0.",[39,139,140,146,152,161],{},[42,141,142,145],{},[24,143,144],{},"Delivery column."," The campaign shows as off. Nothing was rejected.",[42,147,148,151],{},[24,149,150],{},"Cause found: switched off."," The campaign was created paused and never switched on. You switch it on.",[42,153,154,157,158,160],{},[24,155,156],{},"One week later."," The ad set spends its RM 30 a day but shows ",[24,159,86],{},". Each sale costs about RM 25, so 50 sales a week would need about RM 179 a day.",[42,162,163,166],{},[24,164,165],{},"Fix."," You move the budget of two other small ad sets into this one and optimise for add to cart while sales build up. You make no other change for 7 days.",[16,168,170],{"id":169},"checking-delivery-in-adplayai","Checking delivery in AdPlay.ai",[12,172,173,174,177,178,181,182,185,186,189],{},"When you launch from AdPlay.ai, the ",[24,175,176],{},"Launch by hand"," page has a switch below the campaign and ad set you pick. ",[24,179,180],{},"Start paused"," means Meta gets the ad but does not run it, so you can check it first. ",[24,183,184],{},"Go live immediately"," means the ad starts delivering once Meta approves it. Unless you change the switch, every launch starts paused, except a ",[24,187,188],{},"Scaling"," campaign.",[12,191,192,193,196,197,200],{},"To switch a paused campaign, ad set or ad on, open ",[24,194,195],{},"Campaigns",", then ",[24,198,199],{},"All campaigns",", and use the switch on its row. Team members with the Owner, Admin or Ad Manager role can do this.",[12,202,203,206,207,209],{},[24,204,205],{},"Insights"," lists only ads that have spent money or been shown. An ad that spends nothing will not appear there, so check ",[24,208,199],{}," or Ads Manager instead.",[12,211,212,213,216,217,220,221,225,226,59],{},"On Pro or above, Copilot reads your Meta account every morning and warns you before ads stop. Cards such as \"Your Meta spending limit is almost used\" and \"Pay Meta to keep your ads running\" sit in ",[24,214,215],{},"To do",", the second with ",[24,218,219],{},"Open Meta billing",". See ",[55,222,224],{"href":223},"\u002Flearn\u002Fcopilot","the Copilot guide"," and ",[55,227,229],{"href":228},"\u002Flearn\u002Flaunch-your-ads","launch your ads",[12,231,232],{},[233,234],"img",{"alt":235,"src":236},"A Copilot account card titled Pay Meta to keep your ads running, with an Open Meta billing button","\u002Fimages\u002Flearn\u002Fbilling-card.webp",[16,238,240],{"id":239},"checklist","Checklist",[112,242,243,246,249,252,255,258],{},[42,244,245],{},"I read the Delivery column at campaign, ad set and ad level.",[42,247,248],{},"I waited 24 hours for review and did not edit while waiting.",[42,250,251],{},"The campaign, ad set and ad are all switched on, and the dates are right.",[42,253,254],{},"Meta billing shows no failed payment, and no spending limit is used up.",[42,256,257],{},"The audience is not tiny.",[42,259,260],{},"My daily budget can buy about 50 results a week, or I changed the plan.",[16,262,264],{"id":263},"your-homework","Your homework",[12,266,267,268,270,271,273],{},"Open ",[24,269,195],{}," in AdPlay.ai and go to ",[24,272,199],{},". Pick one ad set that is not spending, or spending far below its budget. Go down this lesson's list, stop at the first cause that matches, and fix only that one thing. Write down the date, then check it again in 24 hours.",{"title":275,"searchDepth":276,"depth":276,"links":277},"",2,[278,279,280,281,282,283,284],{"id":18,"depth":276,"text":19},{"id":33,"depth":276,"text":34},{"id":100,"depth":276,"text":101},{"id":133,"depth":276,"text":134},{"id":169,"depth":276,"text":170},{"id":239,"depth":276,"text":240},{"id":263,"depth":276,"text":264},"Open Campaigns","Your Meta ad is live but spends nothing, or spends very little. Check review, on and off switches, payment, audience and budget, in that order.","md",[289,292,295],{"question":290,"answer":291},"How long should I wait before I worry that my ad is not spending?","Meta says most ads finish review within about 24 hours. If the ad is approved and switched on but still spends nothing a day after that, start checking the causes in this lesson.",{"question":293,"answer":294},"My whole ad account stopped spending at the same time. Why?","When every campaign stops together, the cause is almost always the account, not the ads: a failed payment, a spending limit you reached, or a restriction. Check Meta billing and Account Quality before you touch any ad.",{"question":296,"answer":297},"Will raising the budget fix an ad that is not spending?","Only if the budget is the cause. If the ad is in review, switched off, blocked by payment or aimed at a tiny audience, more budget changes nothing. A big budget change also restarts Meta's learning, so find the cause first.","Open Campaigns in AdPlay.ai, go to All campaigns, and for one ad set that is not spending, find its cause with this lesson's list and fix that one thing.",{},5,8,true,"\u002Flearn\u002Fcourse\u002Fads-not-delivering","2026-11-08",[306,307,308,128,228],"\u002Fblog\u002Ffacebook-ad-not-delivering","\u002Fblog\u002Ffacebook-ad-learning-phase","\u002Fblog\u002Ffacebook-ad-in-review",{"title":5,"description":286},[311,315,318,321,324],{"label":312,"url":313,"year":314},"Meta Transparency Center: Introduction to the Advertising Standards","https:\u002F\u002Ftransparency.meta.com\u002Fpolicies\u002Fad-standards\u002F","2026",{"label":316,"url":317,"year":314},"Meta Business Help Center: About ads in review","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.facebook.com\u002Fbusiness\u002Fhelp\u002F204798856225114",{"label":319,"url":320,"year":314},"Meta Business Help Center: About the learning phase","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.facebook.com\u002Fbusiness\u002Fhelp\u002F112167992830700",{"label":322,"url":323,"year":314},"Meta Business Help Center: Significant edits and the learning phase","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.facebook.com\u002Fbusiness\u002Fhelp\u002F316478108955072",{"label":325,"url":326,"year":314},"Meta Business Help Center: About billing thresholds","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.facebook.com\u002Fbusiness\u002Fhelp\u002F776240779095515","learn\u002Fcourse\u002Fads-not-delivering","fr4AgZjYmuZhylmfRAFctJ6dKCrP4gbwWIdIINemXsE",1794226375838]