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Review and deploy ads: approve, send to Meta or Google, and manage
Ads lists the rendered ads that are ready to review, launch or archive. Open it from Create > Ads. Each card is one ad.
Problem and intended user
A media buyer (the person who runs your paid ads) needs to check each new ad before it spends money. A wrong audience or budget wastes ad spend. A creative strategist (the person who plans and makes ad creatives) sees which ads are ready.
Current workflow
The media buyer takes the finished creative from a design tool or an agency, uploads it to Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads, builds the campaign and audience by hand, and copies the ad text across.
Prerequisites
- Ad: In Studio, choose Create Ad on a Creative Set. See Studio.
- Integration, to deploy: Connect Meta Ads or Google Ads. A Meta deploy also needs a Facebook Page and an Instagram identity, set up as in Meta Ads. See Meta Ads and Google Ads. Create Ad, Approve and Reject work without a connection. Only Deploy needs one.
- Ad budget, to create a campaign when you deploy: Set an ad budget for each platform. Open Settings > Integrations, open the Meta Ads or Google Ads dialog, and select Set up ad budget. The button shows only after the platform is connected.
How Nexus works
Fixed checks score a generated ad. The score is the Quality Gate. Some checks use AI to inspect the finished image. Nexus can approve an ad on its own when the score is high enough. It holds an ad back as Rejected by Quality Gate when the score is too low, so that ad never reaches review. AI can write the copy and make the image. On deploy, a readiness check with fixed rules runs, then Nexus sends the ad to your Meta or Google account.
You approve or reject each ad that needs review, read the readiness check, choose Deploy, and confirm each bulk action and archive.
Find an ad
- All Platforms, Google and Meta limit the list to one platform. TikTok shows as Coming soon.
- The campaign list, set to All campaigns at first, shows one campaign's ads. It lists only campaigns with ads.
- The search box Brief name… narrows the list by the name that each card shows above its headline.
- Sort: Created, Sort: Updated or Sort: Status orders the list. The arrow flips the direction.
- A From Set label appears when you arrive from a Creative Set in Studio. Choose Clear Set filter to see all ads.
Approve or reject
On a Needs Review card, choose Approve or Reject. Approve moves the ad to Ready to Deploy. Reject asks for an optional reason. Choose Confirm Reject to finish. The ad becomes Stopped.
Deploy one ad
WARNING
Deploying sends the ad to Meta or Google. Check the audience, the placements and the budget before you choose Deploy.
- On a Ready to Deploy card, choose Deploy to Meta or Deploy to Google. The ad detail names it Deploy to Meta Ads or Deploy to Google Ads. A failed ad shows Retry Deploy.
- In Deploy to Campaign, select a Nexus campaign that fits the ad. Or choose Create new campaign, which also names the objective, for example Create new conversion campaign. Enter a Campaign name, an Objective (Awareness, Consideration, Conversion or Retention), a Strategy (Optimize or Experiment) and a Daily budget. On Meta, the dialog shows the minimum daily budget for the objective under Daily budget. Under Schedule, Auto shows "Campaign starts immediately and runs continuously." and sets no start or end date. Custom sets a start date and an optional end date. Choose Create. The schedule sets dates for a new campaign. It does not choose between live and paused. With a start date in the future, the ad shows Active in Nexus while Meta or Google waits for that date.
- Read the Deployment summary. On Meta it lists the bid strategy, optimization goal and pixel. A pixel marked Not connected links to Settings > General > Ad Deployment.
- Set the Audience and the Geolocation. On Meta, pick at least one placement and one location. On Google, set the networks.
- Read the readiness check. It runs only after you select a campaign. Under Cannot deploy, fix every issue first. Warnings do not block you. The dialog Deploy button stays disabled until you fix the issues.
- Check the campaign status badge before you deploy. Then choose Deploy.
If Meta or Google is not connected, or the connection has expired, a red box reads Cannot deploy — N issues found. It lists a message such as "Connect your Meta ads account to publish this ad — once it's linked in Settings > Integrations, you're ready to go live." A short reason follows in brackets, and it varies. For a Google ad the message names Google. On Meta, the box can also list "A Facebook Page must be linked to your Meta ad account." and "An Instagram identity is required for Meta deployment." The link Open Settings → Integrations opens a new tab.
A single deploy goes live. Nexus creates the campaign, ad set and ad, then switches them on. The ad can start spending as soon as the card shows Active. To create ads without serving them, use Select ads and choose Deploy paused.
The dialog closes and the card shows Uploading with a progress bar, the current stage and a percentage. Stages read Queued, Resolving credentials, Uploading media assets, Creating campaign, Resolving targeting, Creating ad set, Building creative, Creating ad, Activating and Finalizing. After a failed attempt that Nexus will retry, the stage reads Retrying deployment. The card then shows Active, or Deploy Failed. After a bulk Deploy paused it shows Paused. A Cancel deploy link appears in the ad detail after a short wait, but not while the ad is Queued.
Work with many ads
Choose Select ads, then tick the cards. All ads in a selection share one platform and one stage. A limit applies to how many ads you can select at once. A greyed card shows the reason under its checkbox. When you reach the limit, the reason reads "You can act on N ads at a time."
| Selected stage | Actions |
|---|---|
| Needs Review | Approve, Reject, Archive |
| Active | Pause, Archive |
| Paused | Resume, Archive |
| Ready to Deploy or Deploy Failed | Deploy, Archive |
Each action asks you to confirm. A Paused ad that never delivered offers Activate. A Paused ad that delivered before offers Resume. Activate switches on the ad and its ad set, and the campaign if that deploy created it. Activating starts spending. The single-ad confirm reads "This ad has never delivered. Activating switches on its ad set — and the campaign, if this deploy created it — so it starts spending on Meta or Google." The bulk title reads "Activate N ads?".
Deploy opens Deploy N ads. A selection of ads to deploy holds up to 20 ads. The reason on a greyed card reads "You can act on 20 ads at a time." The group When these go out has two choices.
| Choice | What the dialog says |
|---|---|
| Deploy paused (selected first) | "Fully created on the platform but not serving. Review them, then activate together." |
| Deploy live | "Starts delivering and spending as soon as each ad is created." |
The button reads Deploy paused (N) or Deploy live (N). A paused deploy leaves each ad as Paused on its card. Use Activate, not Resume, to switch it on. In Deploy N ads, a new campaign has an optional Start date, with no Auto choice. When you set a start date, the dialog says ads in it won’t deliver until that date, even if you deploy live.
A progress panel reads Deploying X of N ads, then Deployed X of N ads. While ads share a campaign, it says "Waiting to start the next ad — ads sharing a campaign are started one after another." A failed ad is listed with its reason. Retry N failed reopens Deploy N ads. The panel's own text does not say paused or live.
If the connection is missing, Deploy N ads shows "None of these ads can deploy yet" with the reason. The deploy button (Deploy paused or Deploy live, matching your choice) stays disabled. Fix the connection in Settings > Integrations, then reopen the dialog.
Generate landing pages (N) also shows in the bulk bar. In Deploy N ads, the box Also generate a landing page makes one draft page for the batch, written from the first ad. It uses credits, and the dialog shows the cost once you tick the box. See Landing Pages.
Manage one ad
The detail panel adds:
- Edit reopens the ad in Studio until the ad is deployed. Choose Update Ad there to change the same ad.
- Duplicate in Lab copies the ad into a new Creative Set. It opens a copy of the creative in Studio.
- Generate landing page in the "…" menu in the card footer starts a landing page from the ad. The menu shows Open landing page when the ad already has one. Generating a page uses credits, and the dialog shows the cost. See Landing Pages.
- Create similar ad opens the Similar Ad Wizard. See Clone an ad. Video ads do not have this button.
- Pause, Resume and Activate control a live ad.
- Archive or Archive Ad retires the ad. You can add a reason. A Needs Review or Ready to Deploy ad has no Archive button here. Use Select ads to archive it.
WARNING
Archiving a live ad deletes it on Meta or Google. You cannot undo this.
Exact output
Ad cards
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Needs Review | A new ad that waits for your decision. |
| Rejected by Quality Gate | Nexus held the ad back because it failed its own checks. |
| Ready to Deploy | You approved the ad, or Nexus did. Nothing is published yet. An ad made with Create Ad in Studio starts here. |
| Uploading | Nexus is sending the ad to the platform. A progress bar shows the stage. |
| Deploy Failed | The upload did not finish. The card shows the reason. |
| Active | The ad is switched on at the platform. |
| Paused | The ad is not delivering. A Paused ad that never delivered shows Activate. |
| Stopped | You rejected the ad, or it was stopped. The card shows the reason. |
| Completed | The ad finished its run. |
| Archived | You archived the ad. |
A red Rejected label means the ad platform disapproved the ad. The card shows the reason.
Ad detail panel
Click a card to open the detail panel. Depending on the ad, it shows the product, Campaign Info, Audience, Primary Copy, Alternative Copy and the Quality Gate score. Live ads also show their results.
What to do with it
| What you see | Decision or action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Needs Review | Read the ad. Choose Approve or Reject. | media buyer |
| Rejected by Quality Gate | Choose Duplicate in Lab or Create similar ad for a new version. | creative strategist |
| Ready to Deploy or Deploy Failed | Read the reason if any. Choose Deploy to Meta, Deploy to Google or Retry Deploy. | media buyer |
| Cannot deploy with "Connect your Meta ads account to publish this ad...", also for an expired connection, or with the Facebook Page or Instagram identity message | Open Settings > Integrations for the connection, the Facebook Page and the Instagram identity. | media buyer |
| A pixel marked Not connected | Open Settings > General > Ad Deployment for the pixel. | media buyer |
| The banner "Set up a budget pool for META first before deploying ads." | Open Settings > Integrations, open the Meta Ads or Google Ads dialog, and select Set up ad budget. | media buyer |
| Another Cannot deploy issue | Fix it in the dialog. | media buyer |
| Red Rejected label | Read the reason. Make a revised ad with Duplicate in Lab. The platform reviews outside Nexus. | creative strategist |
| Active | Check results. Choose Pause or Archive. | media buyer |
| Paused | Choose Activate or Resume to switch the ad on, or Archive to retire it. | media buyer |
Expected value and measurement
This page can help you review ads in one place and send them to Meta or Google without rebuilding them. A live ad shows its own results in the detail panel. For all ads, open Performance > Ad performance and compare You spent, Platform-reported revenue and Matched revenue for your dates. See Ad performance.
You cannot isolate one ad's effect when audience, budget or offer change at the same time.
Limitations and exceptions
- Estimates: The Quality Gate score is automatic and can be wrong. The checks that use AI to inspect the image can be wrong too. So can AI copy and images. Read each ad before you deploy it, also when Nexus approved it.
- Text-only ads: A text-only ad has no Edit or Duplicate in Lab button.
- No ad budget: The top banner of Deploy to Campaign reads "Set up a budget pool for META first before deploying ads." (Google reads "Google Ads") with a Go to Integrations link. The banner does not switch Deploy off. The text "No budget pool configured for META." with the link Set up a budget pool shows only inside the new-campaign form. Saving that form fails with "No budget pool found for this platform." Without an ad budget, you cannot create a campaign in the dialog. You can still select an existing campaign.
- Failures: A failed upload shows Deploy Failed with the reason. A failed bulk item shows in the progress panel. A list that does not load says Failed to load generated ads.
- Empty states: With no ads, the page says No ads yet and offers Go to Studio. With filters and no match, it says No ads match these filters and offers Clear filters.
Demo Mode
On a card, Approve, Confirm Reject and Deploy look active, but a click has no effect and shows no message. Reject opens the reason box, but Confirm Reject does nothing. In the detail panel, the buttons Approve, Reject, Deploy, Pause, Resume and Archive are switched off. Bulk Pause, Resume, Archive and Deploy show "Demo mode — the bulk action was simulated. No ads were changed." Create Ad in Studio shows "Creating an ad is disabled while you explore with sample data". You can still browse cards and open the detail panel. Turn off Demo Mode to approve and deploy. See Demo Mode and sample data.