Should You Use CBO or ABO for Your Budget?

Choose by what you want to control. Advantage+ campaign budget fits when you value all ad sets the same, can let one budget be shared and read results at the campaign level. Ad set budgets fit when you need to control spend per ad set, when value or audience size differs greatly, or when you mix optimization goals or bid strategies. “CBO” and “ABO” are shorthand; the Meta pages cited here say campaign budget and ad set budgets.

What are your three options?

Meta describes three budget strategies and lists goals for each.

Option	Meta’s goals to consider	What you give up
Advantage+ campaign budget	Flexibility in how budget is spent across ad sets; results measured at campaign level; simpler setup; all ad sets valued the same	Meta says it may not spend equally, so with 2 active ad sets most of the budget could go to one
Ad set budgets	Control of the amount spent on each ad set; ad sets whose value differs greatly and cannot be expressed through manual bidding; large audience size differences; mixed optimization goals or bid strategies	You manage more budgets by hand
Ad set budget sharing	Budget constraints with a wish to optimize; tighter control of each ad set; delivery that favors higher performers	Only up to 20% of daily budget moves between ad sets

Which questions decide it?

1. Do you value all ad sets the same? If so, a campaign budget fits. If the value of your ad sets differs greatly and you cannot express it through manual bidding, Meta points to ad set budgets.
2. Do your ad sets share settings? A campaign budget needs the same budget type, the same bid strategy, the same optimization event when the strategy is highest volume, and standard delivery on every ad set. Ad sets that must differ on those need ad set budgets.
3. Where will you read results? Meta says to analyze at the campaign level with a campaign budget, not ad set by ad set.
4. Do you need a floor or cap on one ad set? With a campaign budget you can set minimum and maximum spending limits per ad set. Meta says this may be useful when one ad set has specific budget requirements.

When does the choice get made?

Meta says that for sales, leads and app promotion campaigns, you choose a budget strategy at the campaign level, and campaign budget is on by default. A campaign with one ad set works the same as an ad set budget. Meta also requires a 2-hour minimum when you switch campaign budget on or off, so decide before you build.

What changes in learning when you adjust a budget?

Meta says a budget change may or may not be a significant edit, depending on size: $100 to $101 is unlikely to send ad sets back into learning, while $100 to $1,000 may. With a campaign budget, adjusting it might send several ad sets back at once. Meta also says ad sets do not re-enter learning as a campaign budget moves money between them.

FAQ

Is CBO the same as Advantage+ campaign budget?

Yes. Meta’s page on lifetime budgets describes Advantage+ campaign budget as “formerly known as campaign budget optimization,” which is where CBO comes from. Meta’s other pages call it campaign budget. For ad set budgets, the pages cited here use that name rather than ABO.

Can I keep a fixed budget on one ad set inside a campaign budget?

You can set minimum and maximum spending limits on an ad set inside a campaign budget. Meta says this may be useful when an ad set has specific budget requirements. If you need each ad set to have its own independent budget, ad set budgets are the route Meta describes.

Do campaign budgets and ad set budgets both allow daily and lifetime?

Yes. Meta says for both campaign budgets and ad set budgets you can choose whether the budget applies to each day or over the entire lifetime. A lifetime budget is a hard cap and a daily budget is an average over a week.