Spot trends and build smarter filters on Ads Manager

Campaign analysis often requires more than just surface-level insights. To better support your decision-making process, Ads Manager includes trend-based filtering and advanced filters. These features help you spot changes in performance, compare time periods, and build multi-level filter conditions without leaving the tool.

Advanced filters

Advanced filters are designed for more complex filtering logic, including multi-level comparisons, grouped conditions, and using AND/OR operators. You can access them via the “Create Advanced Filters” button in the Filters dropdown.

Once opened, you’ll see a builder interface where you can:

• Define conditions across different levels (e.g., campaign, ad group, keyword)
• Combine filters using AND/OR logic
• Apply trend-based conditions within the same group
• Compare metrics across levels (e.g., Keyword Spend > 90% of Campaign Spend)
• Compare the same metric over two different time periods

If you open advanced filters without selecting anything beforehand, the default logic will apply, which is;
“Current Level” Spend > 90% of “Current Level” CPA 

AND
“Current Level” Installs > 0

You can modify this logic, add groups, change levels, and save your custom setup. All filters applied through advanced filters will appear collectively in the UI with their level marked. “Add Filter / Group / By Trend” buttons help you build layered logic by combining multiple rules with AND/OR operators.

• + Filter: Adds a new metric-based condition at the same level (e.g., "Impressions > 100").
• + Group: Creates a sub-group of filters. This is useful for applying nested logic, like (TTR > 10% AND CR > 5%) OR Installs > 50.
• + By Trend: Lets you add a filter based on changes over time, just like the standard Trend Filters tab, but within your advanced filter logic. We’ll take a deeper look into this capability in the following sections. 

Each addition appears as a separate line in the builder interface, and you can use dropdowns to switch levels, metrics, operators, and date comparisons.

When using advanced filters, you’ll notice several controls in the builder interface. Each is designed to make it easier to manage your logic, experiment with different strategies, and apply the exact filter structure you need. Here's how they work:

Reset: The Reset button restores the default filter conditions for the current level. If you haven’t added any custom filters yet, this button will be inactive.

Save / Save As: You can save any advanced filter setup for future use.

• Save: Updates the existing filter with any new logic or name changes. This option is useful when you're working with a saved filter and want to revise it.
• Save As: Creates a new copy based on your current configuration. This option is ideal if you want to branch off from an existing setup without overwriting it.

Once saved, your filters appear under the Saved Filters section in the dropdown menu. You can easily select and reapply them without rebuilding from scratch.

Delete: Click the trash icon next to any saved filter to permanently remove it. This won’t affect any filters currently applied in your session; it simply clears the saved version.

Compare metrics and values

Within advanced filters, some filters allow you to compare one metric or value against another. This option is available under the “Compare with” menu (represented by a 3-dot icon).

• For instance: Keyword Spend > 90% of Campaign Spend
• Only compatible metrics can be compared (e.g., money vs money, ratio vs ratio)
• If a filter doesn’t support it, a tooltip will explain why

Filter for metric trends over time

Trend filters help you catch fluctuations in performance metrics over time. Instead of toggling between reports, you can now filter by increase or decrease in values such as spend, impressions, or CPA directly within Ads Manager.

You can access trend filters from the “By Trend” tab in the Filters dropdown. When selected, this view lets you:

• Compare metric values across two time periods
• Choose from pre-defined ranges such as Previous Period, Month, Quarter, or Year
  Apply filters like “Increase by more than” or “Decrease by less than”

Trend filters are available for dozens of ad performance, conversion, and cohort metrics, including:

• Spend, Impressions, Taps
• Installs (Tap-through, View-through, Total)
• CPA, CPT, TTR, CR
• Goals, Revenue per Goal, ARPU, ROAS (1/3/7/14/30/60 days)
• Attributed installs and in-app conversion events

 

In this case all you need to do is to exit the filter builder, click on the Goal dropdown and select your goal.

Date comparison for trend filters

If the compare switch isn’t enabled, trend filters default to comparing the selected date range with the Previous Period. If it is enabled, Ads Manager uses your selected comparison range (e.g., Last 7 Days vs Previous 7 Days). You can also select:

• Previous Month
• Previous Quarter
• Previous Year
• Custom Range (if chosen from Ads Manager’s main date picker)
  
  

Once a trend filter is applied, it will affect all views in Ads Manager: the table, total summary, and graph.

 

Eligibility and limitations of advanced filters

While advanced filters offer powerful analysis capabilities, there are a few important limitations to keep in mind:

One filter per level: You can apply only one advanced filter at each level (Campaign, Ad Group, Keyword, etc.) at a time. If you want to apply a new one, you’ll need to remove the existing filter first.

Supported on key levels: Advanced filters are available across most levels in Ads Manager, including Campaigns, Ad Groups, and Keywords. At this time, they're not supported at the Negative Keyword or Search Term levels.

Filters don’t transfer across levels: If you switch from one level to another, such as moving from Campaign to Ad Group, the current advanced filter setting will be disabled. This limitation prevents confusion, since not all conditions may apply across levels.

Trend filters follow a strict structure:

• You can’t compare different metrics within the same trend rule. For example, “Spend increase compared to Impressions” is not supported.
• You also can’t apply different comparison date ranges within the same filter group. If you set one filter to compare against the “Previous Period,” all other Trend Filters in that group will align with that same comparison range.

 

These rules help maintain clarity and prevent conflicting logic, especially when working with multi-level or time-based filtering.

Real-world use cases

The combined power of advanced filters and trend-based filtering allows marketers to uncover meaningful insights and get the full story they’re looking for. Here are some real-world scenarios where these filters can help improve decision-making and performance:

1. Spot spikes in acquisition costs

Say you're running multiple campaigns across regions, and you want to catch any sudden increases in cost-per-acquisition (CPA). By applying a trend filter such as:

Average CPA (Total) ↑ more than 30% vs the Previous Period

you can instantly identify campaigns where performance may be slipping. This approach allows for timely intervention, whether that's adjusting the bid strategy, reallocating budget, or pausing underperforming segments.

This use case is invaluable when managing at scale, as manually catching these changes is nearly impossible.

1. Focus on what drives impact

If your primary goal is tied to revenue, like purchases or subscriptions, you can use goal-based metrics such as:

Goals Revenue ↑ more than 20% vs the Previous Month
OR
Cost per Goal ↓ more than 15%

These filters help you zero in on keywords or ad groups that are improving their monetization potential. Since goal-based filters require that a goal is selected in Ads Manager, these insights are inherently aligned with your defined KPIs, making them suitable for lower-funnel optimization efforts.

This setup also supports scaling what works: when a specific keyword starts bringing higher returns, you can increase its bid or allocate more budget confidently.

1. Understand performance across dimensions

Let’s say an ad group is spending heavily, but you want to understand whether that spend is translating into user engagement at the campaign level. You can apply filters like:

Ad Group Spend > $500
AND 

Campaign TTR ↓ more than 25% vs the Previous Quarter

Using advanced filters, you’re not restricted to a single level. You can combine conditions across levels, such as ad group spend and campaign tap-through rate, to uncover low performance that wouldn’t be visible through basic filtering.

This is particularly useful for flagging situations where individual elements appear to perform well in isolation but fail to contribute meaningfully to upper-level performance.

1. Prevent spend leaks from non-performing keywords

Some keywords spend aggressively without driving any meaningful installs. You can set up filters to catch these by comparing keyword-level spend against campaign-level benchmarks:

Keyword Spend > 3x Campaign CPA
AND 

Installs (Total) = 0

This rule helps uncover overspending keywords that haven’t converted, allowing you to lower bids, pause them, or switch bidding strategies. These types of filters are ideal for maintaining efficiency at scale and ensuring the budget goes toward keywords that show real potential.

Final tips

• Enable Compare mode first: Before applying any trend filters, make sure the Compare toggle is active in the date picker. Doing this allows you to analyze changes across time periods and unlock trend-based conditions.
• Saved filters remember compare settings: When you save a filter, whether basic, trend-based, or advanced, your selected comparison range is saved with it. This capability helps maintain consistency the next time you apply it.
• Watch for tooltips: If a filter or metric is unavailable, hover over the disabled item to see why. Tooltips will explain whether it’s due to level restrictions, goal requirements, or data type incompatibility.
• Connect filters with Automations: Filters can help you surface the exact campaign elements that match your conditions, whether you're aiming to protect brand terms, manage bids, or scale performance. You’ll also be able to preview the matching results before setting up an automation, making it easier to confirm that your conditions are correctly set. The filter structure in Ads Manager and the conditions in Automations are now fully aligned, so what you see is exactly what your automation will act on.  
• Use advanced filters with saved goals: If you're optimizing toward a specific goal like purchases or subscriptions, selecting that goal first will unlock relevant metrics for more targeted filtering. Your goal selection will also be saved with any saved filters for future use.

If you're unsure how to structure your filters or want to make sure they're aligned with your campaign goals, reach out to your Customer Success Manager or start a conversation with us via live chat from the platform!