# How to read your ad set test and act on the check-in URL: https://blackbox.plus/guides/read-ad-set-test Level 4: Run it as an ad (https://blackbox.plus/guides/run-ads) Updated: 2026-11-02 Time: about 5 minutes You'll end with: Your budget moved to the ad sets that work, and the losing ad sets and creatives paused, on the platforms Do it in Blackbox: https://blackbox.plus/app/plan > See each ad set’s and creative’s cost per result at a check-in, then approve moving budget and pausing what costs too much, on every platform at once. ## Short answer To read your ad set test in Blackbox (blackbox.plus), open Plan and click the campaign’s Check-in on the calendar. Its card opens beside the calendar with a grid: one row per ad set, one column per creative, and in each cell the cost per result, coloured against that ad set’s target. Green is 15% or more under the target, red is over 1.5 times it, and Best here marks each row’s winner. Under If you approve, the check-in lists the moves worked out from those numbers: move budget to the ad sets under target that spend their share, pause an ad set over 1.5 times its target, pause a creative that costs over 1.5 times the best one in its ad set, or make one more ad when fewer than three are left. Click Change something and untick what you don’t want, check Shares after approve, and click Approve. The changes are made on Meta right away, and each one can be undone. ## You'll need - **A campaign with ad sets, running.** Named ad sets with the same ads in each, started at least 3 days ago. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/facebook-ad-sets) - **A target cost per result.** Set on the Budget step; without one, each ad set is judged against the average. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-facebook-ad-campaign) ## How to read your ad set test and act on the check-in in Blackbox 1. **Open the check-in.** In **Plan**, click the campaign’s **Check-in · day 7** on the calendar. You'll see: Its card on the right, with what the week showed in one line. Starts at: https://blackbox.plus/app/plan ![The calendar’s day with the campaign’s Check-in, day 7, Fall menu sales NYC, 4 moves to approve, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/read-ad-set-test/01-calendar.png) 2. **Read the grid.** Under **Cost per purchase · ad set × creative**, find **Best here** in each row. You'll see: Each ad set’s cost per result by creative, green under its target and red over 1.5×. ![The check-in card’s grid: cost per purchase for five ad sets and three creatives, coloured against each target, the best in a row ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/read-ad-set-test/02-grid.png) 3. **Read the moves.** Under **If you approve**, read each move and the reason under it. You'll see: Moves such as **Pause Students, Queens** and **Move $22 a day**, each ticked. ![If you approve: pause Students, move 22 dollars a day, pause a static ad, make one more ad and keep the reel, the first move ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/read-ad-set-test/03-moves.png) 4. **Untick what you don’t want.** Click **Change something**, then untick a move, such as **Make one more ad**. You'll see: The move crossed out, and the shares worked out again. ![The moves with Make one more ad unticked and crossed out, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/read-ad-set-test/04-untick.png) 5. **Check the shares.** Read **Shares after approve** under the moves. You'll see: Each ad set’s share and amount a day, the paused one marked **paused**. ![Shares after approve: each ad set’s share and amount a day after the moves, Students paused, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/read-ad-set-test/05-shares.png) 6. **Approve the moves.** Click **Approve**. You'll see: **What changed**, a tick on each move, and **Done on Meta.** ![What changed: a tick on each move made, the unticked one left out, and Done on Meta, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/read-ad-set-test/06-done.png) 7. **Follow the ad sets.** Click **Campaign** at the top of Plan. You'll see: The campaign’s progress and the same grid, side by side for each ad set. Starts at: https://blackbox.plus/app/plan ![Plan’s Campaign tab: running, day 8 of 14, and the ad set by creative grid under the totals, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/read-ad-set-test/07-campaign.png) ## Good to know - Check-ins come on day 3, halfway through and on the last day. The last one is the decision card: it shows the grid for the whole run, then Stop, Revise and Continue. - Nothing is called on too little: an ad set or creative needs at least one result, or twice its target spent with none, before a move names it. Until then it is listed under Left as they are, Too early to call. - Retargeting is judged against its own target, half the campaign’s unless you typed one, and its money only moves between retargeting ad sets: people who know you are always cheaper. - A move never leaves an ad set under its daily floor (target × 50 ÷ 7, rule 4). When a cut would, the ad set is paused instead and the move says so. - Money moves at most the platform’s step a change: 20% of an ad set’s budget on Meta, 30% on TikTok once every 2 days. What a pause frees beyond that isn’t spent, and the next check-in moves more. - A creative is paused only in the ad set where it loses; it keeps running where it does well. Keep a creative running everywhere changes nothing; it says which one works. - Make one more ad sends Studio a draft like the ad set’s best creative for you to check; nothing new goes live until you launch it. - What check-ins do is set on the Budget step under While it runs: Suggest moves sends this card, Move automatically applies the moves and reports them on the card when autonomy allows budget changes and pauses for the brand, and Off shows the numbers only. - Each change is its own step on the platform. If one fails, the card shows it with Report, and the steps after it on the same platform aren’t tried, so a raise never goes out without the cut that pays for it. - Every change can be undone from its card in Inbox: a pause turns back on, a budget goes back to what it was. - The numbers are summed across every platform an ad set runs on; point at a cell to see each platform’s part. On LinkedIn, where an ad set is a campaign, the check-in doesn’t read ad sets yet. ## Questions people ask **The check-in says Too early to call** No ad set has a result yet, or none has spent twice its target. Wait for the next check-in; nothing is moved until the numbers say something. **Approve is greyed out** Every move is unticked. Tick at least one, or click Not now to keep everything as it is. **A move says it failed** The platform refused that change, and the reason is under it. Click Report to send it to us; the moves that landed stay, and the next check-in works from where things are. **Money a pause freed isn’t moved** The ad sets under target take at most the platform’s step a change. The rest stays unspent until the next check-in. **There are no moves, only numbers** While it runs is set to Off on the Budget step, or nothing was worth moving. Change it before you start the next campaign.