---
title: Set up Rules
description: How to create automated rules that pause campaigns, cap spend, or adjust budgets based on performance thresholds — across Meta, Google, and other platforms from one place.
---

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# Set up Rules

## The Rules Engine lets you create automated rules that trigger actions across your campaigns — pausing underperformers, capping spend, adjusting budgets — without logging in to make changes manually. Rules work across Meta, Google, and other connected platforms from a single place.

#### Who this is for

Anyone managing campaigns who wants to automate routine decisions.

### How rules work

Each rule is an **if–then** statement: if a condition is met (e.g., CPM exceeds a threshold), then take an action (e.g., pause the campaign). Rules are checked based on a scope you set: a single campaign, all campaigns, or all campaigns in an account. They also analyze a predefined period: last 7 days, 15 days or 30 days.

### Where to find it

Open the **Advertise** tab and select **Rules** from the **Optimizations** tab. 

### Creating a rule

1. Open the **Rules** area and click **Add rule**.
2. Set the **scope** — which campaigns or ad sets this rule applies to: 
     - All active campaigns
     - Specific Platforms
     - A specific set of campaigns
     - A campaign group
3. Set the **condition** — the trigger metric and threshold. Available conditions include: 
     - Cost per result (CPL, Cost per conversion, etc.) is above or below a value
     - CTR is below a minimum
     - Spend or Clicks are below the expected values
4. Set the **action** to take when the condition is met:
5. - Pause the campaign or ad set
     - Increase or decrease the budget by a percentage or fixed amount
     - Send a notification (done from the Alerts tab). Save and activate the rule.

### Practical rule examples

#### Underperforming campaign rule

Condition: Cost per lead is more than \[target CPL × 2\] over the last 7 days. Action: Pause campaign. This catches campaigns that have drifted significantly from your target efficiency before they consume more budget.

### CPM cap

Condition: CPM is above X (users have seen the ad more than X times). Action: Pause campaign. Prevents highly competitive or restriced audiences from driving up costs and reducing results in longer-running campaigns.

**Tip:** Pair a "pause if underperforming" rule with a notification action so you get an alert before taking action. This lets you catch edge cases — like a campaign paused during its learning phase — and override the rule manually if needed.

### Common issues

#### My rule fired but the campaign is still active

Rules require a small delay to propagate to the ad platform after firing. Allow a few minutes after a rule triggers for the action (e.g., pause) to be reflected in your campaign status. Check the Rules Engine log to confirm the rule did fire.

#### My rule fired during a campaign's learning phase

Performance metrics can look poor during the learning phase — cost per result is often elevated before an algorithm has optimized delivery. Avoid applying strict performance rules to campaigns in the first 7 days, or expand the lookback period.

#### Related articles

- Set up the Budget Optimizer
- Set up Optimize for Me
- Set a Facebook account spend limit
- Understand the learning phase

 

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