Why Do Some Ad Lab Tests Spend More Than $3 (Beyond Automation Rules)

If you've set up your Ad Lab automation rules properly, then you might find that some tests occasionally spend more than $3. This is common.

But it will not negate your results. Our "Super Probability" calculator takes into consideration the number of people reached.

There are a few scenarios and reasons this can happen so in the video below, Josh explains why this happens and how to avoid it in more if it's happening to you.

• Facebook automations run every 60 minutes, so things won't shut off precisely at $3.00 in spend on the dot.

• If you publish your ads 'immediately', your daily budget will be accelerated until it resets at 12am the next day. This means: more spend per 60 minutes.

• If you publish your ads at '12am the next day', your daily budget will spend more evenly throughout a 24-hour period and will be closed to $3.00 per test.

• If you want to spend as close to $3 per test as possible and aren't in a hurry, then lower your daily budget in the testing to only $1 per test so that it completes the tests over a 2-3 day period vs 24 hours.

  • Ex: If you were running a creative test with 20 creatives x 2 (double validated), you would have 40 total ads. You could run the test in 24 hours by setting a $120 daily budget. (40 ads x $3) But you could also set the budget to $40/day and it would take 3 days to complete the test. Since the spend per hour is much lower and the automations run every 60 minutes, your tests will spend much closer to $3.