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Define what a winning ad is
Nexus sorts ads into winners and potential winners. You can keep the built-in definition or write your own. Find the settings at Settings > Ads > Winning Ads. Campaign exceptions live on Settings > Ads > By Campaign.
Problem and intended user
This page is for the creative strategist (the person who plans and makes ad creatives) and the media buyer (the person who runs your paid ads). One bar for a winner does not fit every store. A retargeting campaign and a prospecting campaign judge success differently, and a new ad with few impressions says little. A loose bar calls weak ads winners. A strict bar hides ads worth keeping.
Current workflow
Most merchants decide what a winner is in their head, or in a spreadsheet. They export results from Meta Ads Manager and Google Ads, compare ROAS and cost per result against a target, and mark the ads that pass. Some ask an agency. They redo the marking when the target changes.
Prerequisites
- Connect and sync your ad accounts. See Meta Ads and Google Ads.
- Have enough ads for conditions that compare an ad with your other ads. The page warns you when a campaign is too small.
- The page offers rule sets only for the platforms where your store runs ads.
How Nexus works
Nexus judges every ad with fixed conditions: the built-in definition or the one you write. No AI decides who wins. Your definition is account-wide. It sets:
- Which ads count as winners and potential winners in the preview on this page.
- Auto rules that trigger on winners. See Ad Auto Rules.
- The past ads Nexus uses as examples when it generates new creatives.
- The winner count on the badge of a deployed set card in Create > Studio.
It does not change Launch Monitor statuses, the Lifecycle hit rate or the Verdict column on the Ad performance page. Those use their own logic. The Hit Rate and Testing Quantity & Hit Rate in Pro mode on Ad performance do use your definition. See Columns and verdicts.
Nothing changes until you select Save in the Shopify save bar. Select Discard to drop your edits.
Choose a mode
Master mode has two options:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Use the built-in definition | Nexus judges every ad against the definition shown on the page. You see it read-only, one format at a time: static or video. |
| Use my own criteria | Nexus judges every ad by your conditions. An ad without enough data is marked "not enough data", not counted as a loser. |
Build your criteria
Choose Use my own criteria to open the editor. It has three parts:
- A winning ad is…
- A potential winner is…
- Before judging an ad
Each of the first two parts is a list of condition groups. Each group is a separate way for an ad to qualify.
With two or more conditions in a group, choose all conditions or any condition. With two or more groups, choose all condition groups or any condition group.
Build each condition from four fields:
- Metric: the number to test.
- Is: the comparison: ≥, >, ≤, <, = or ≠.
- Compared to: a fixed number, a portfolio percentile or a multiple of your account average.
- The value to compare with. Its label is Value, Percentile (%) or Multiplier (×).
Use Add condition and Add condition group for more. A portfolio percentile example: ROAS at or above the median of your ads.
The Metric select offers these metrics: impressions, clicks, CTR, spend, conversions, CPA, NCPA, ROAS, true profit, frequency, days active, CPC, CPM, hook rate, hold rate, unique outbound CTR and outbound CTR.
- A help line under the select explains the metric you choose.
- A metric that does not fit the rule set on screen is greyed and ends with "— not for" and the ad type or platform.
- Hook rate and hold rate work on Meta video ads only.
- Unique outbound CTR and outbound CTR work on Meta only.
- NCPA and true profit need order data that your store may not have sent yet.
Before judging an ad sets the minimum an ad needs before Nexus judges it: Look back over (days), Minimum impressions and Minimum spend. Look back over (days) takes a whole number of days from 0 to 365, and 0 means all time. An ad below these is marked "not enough data".
Under Which ads these rules judge, switch between Static and Video. Use Applies to and the Add rules for buttons to write rules for one platform.
Preview before you save
The panel on the right reads "N of M ads qualify". It updates as you edit and shows how many ads would be winners and potential winners. Fix any highlighted field before you save.
Relabel past ads
The definition applies to ads labelled from now on. Historical labels brings older labels in line. Select Re-label historical ads. You can run it again after you change your rules.
When your store has Meta ads, the run first re-imports your Meta ad history, then re-labels your ads. The card shows where the run stands:
| Card text | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "Labels written before the video rules shipped came from the old single definition. Re-label to bring them in line." | No run has finished yet. |
| "Re-importing Meta history…" | The first step is running. |
| "Re-labelling… X of Y days." | The second step is running. |
| "Re-labelled on" and a date | The last run finished. |
| "The last run failed" | The last run failed. Select Re-label historical ads to try again. |
Only one run can go at a time. If you select the button while an ad sync or another re-label runs, a message appears: "An ad sync is running. Try again when it finishes." or "A re-label is already running for this store." Wait, then select Re-label historical ads again.
Give a campaign its own definition
The Campaign exceptions card tells you how many campaigns have their own definition. Select Set one up for a specific campaign or Manage them on By Campaign, or open By Campaign directly.
- Select Add campaign definition.
- Choose a campaign under Campaign, then select Continue.
- Start from your account definition and adjust it.
- Select Save in the Shopify save bar.
Each campaign has two options:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Use this campaign's own definition | Nexus judges the ads in that campaign by the conditions you set. |
| Use my account definition | Pauses the campaign definition without deleting it. |
Remove definition, or Remove in the campaign list, deletes it for good. Your account definition never changes.
How Nexus decides which definition to use: if an ad's campaign has its own definition, Nexus uses it. Otherwise Nexus uses your account definition.
WARNING
In a campaign definition, a condition such as "ROAS above the median" compares an ad with the other ads in that campaign. A campaign with very few ads gets "not enough data". Use fixed numbers there.
Exact output
The page shows the Master mode options and, with your own criteria, the builder with the right-hand preview panel. The panel has count tiles for Winner, Potential winner, Not a winner and Not enough data. Show N example ads lists ads with their label and the reason. The page also shows the Historical labels and Campaign exceptions cards. The By Campaign tab lists each campaign definition with its mode options.
What to do with it
| What you see | Decision or action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Use the built-in definition is selected | Read it. Select Use my own criteria if it does not fit your targets. | creative strategist |
| "N of M ads qualify" looks too high or too low | Tighten or loosen a condition, then check the preview again. | creative strategist |
| An ad marked "not enough data" | Check the metric. Hook rate and hold rate need a Meta video ad. If you raised Minimum impressions or Minimum spend, lower them, or wait for more data. | media buyer |
| A retargeting or prospecting campaign judged by one bar | Select Add campaign definition and set its own bar. | media buyer |
| Older labels differ from your new rules | Select Re-label historical ads. | creative strategist |
| Rules in Ad Auto Rules use Is a winner | Check your definition here first. | media buyer |
Expected value and measurement
A definition that fits your store can help you act on the right ads. It can help auto rules and new creatives start from ads you trust.
To check it, open Show N example ads in the preview. Find those ads in Performance > Ad performance under By ad. Compare ROAS, CPA and Spend for winners with other ads, using the same dates and platform. Change one condition at a time to see which change moved the count.
Other changes to creatives and budgets in the same weeks hide the effect of a new definition.
Limitations and exceptions
- Some video metrics, such as hook rate, come from Meta only. Nexus marks other platforms "not enough data" for them.
- A label is a fixed comparison with your conditions. It does not predict future results.
- Preview messages:
- Some metrics cannot be judged here: a metric you chose needs order attribution your store has not sent yet, or does not apply to the ads these rules judge. Conditions that use it count as "not enough data". Choose another metric or wait for the data.
- No ads to evaluate: your store has no ad performance data in the selected period yet. The criteria apply once ads deliver.
- Failures: "Could not start the re-label": read the message under it, then try again. "The last run failed" on the Historical labels card: select Re-label historical ads to run it again.
- The By Campaign page limits how many campaign definitions you can add and states the limit when you reach it. This campaign has very few ads names the minimum number of ads.
- Demo Mode: the page shows a Sample data badge and a Demo mode banner. The controls and Save are view-only, and Re-label historical ads does not run. The preview panel still updates. Example ads in the preview do not open.