# Reading the Dashboard (/docs/paid-media/reading-the-dashboard)



This is your daily 10-minute read. Once you can scan the dashboard in
that time and trust yourself to decide whether to intervene, you've
internalized the system.

## Top-row KPIs [#top-row-kpis]

| KPI                  | Meaning                                             | What to watch                                                                                |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Spend (today)**    | Running total across all platforms.                 | Should track to \~1/30 of monthly budget on a typical day.                                   |
| **Impressions (7d)** | Reach proxy.                                        | Sharp drops = account restriction or audience exhaustion.                                    |
| **Clicks (7d)**      | Interest proxy.                                     | Low CTR trend = creative fatigue.                                                            |
| **CTR**              | Clicks ÷ impressions.                               | Compare to your own trailing baseline; platform norms vary widely by vertical and placement. |
| **CPA (7d)**         | Spend ÷ conversions.                                | Compare to your target.                                                                      |
| **ROAS (7d)**        | Conversion value ÷ spend (when revenue is tracked). | Target-driven; varies by vertical.                                                           |
| **Conversions (7d)** | Count.                                              | Sudden drop = attribution issue (check pixel / CAPI).                                        |

## Trend chart [#trend-chart]

Pick any metric; pick window; see the curve. Good daily habits:

* **CPA over 30d** — your trendline. Ideally flat or sloping down.
* **Spend over 30d** — ideally you're scaling up spend as CPA holds.
* **ROAS over 30d** — if spend is up and ROAS is flat, you're doing the
  right thing.

## Per-platform panels [#per-platform-panels]

Each platform gets its own sub-dashboard. Compare platforms:

* **Meta** often carries the most volume.
* **TikTok** often has lower CPA but higher variance.
* **Apple Search Ads** often has highest intent but lowest volume.

## Creative leaderboard [#creative-leaderboard]

Top creatives by spend × ROAS. Use this to decide:

* Which to [pin](/docs/paid-media/adsets#creative-pool) across more ad sets.
* Which to set `override = 'include'` so score decay can't kick them
  out.
* Which winning elements to reference in the next generation batch.

## Fatigue signals [#fatigue-signals]

Watch for:

* **CTR trending down** over 7d — audience seen the creative too often.
* **Frequency > 3.0** over 7d with declining performance — the
  optimizer's Meta fatigue rule classifies this as `FATIGUED`.
* **Day-7 CPA ≫ day-1 CPA** — classic fatigue signature.

For TikTok, fatigue uses a composite score (min 7-day age, $30 spend,
1,000 impressions) rather than frequency.

The optimizer catches most of this. What it doesn't catch is
**cross-platform fatigue** — the same hook running on Meta AND TikTok AND
showing up on YouTube ads. The dashboard surfaces it; you can manually
retire.

## Optimizer activity panel [#optimizer-activity-panel]

Recent pauses, launches, scale-ups. Read every morning.

## Attribution reconciliation [#attribution-reconciliation]

Hover the conversion count on any KPI card to see the platform-by-
platform breakdown:

* SDK conversions (source of truth).
* Meta-attributed (from Insights API).
* TikTok-attributed.
* ASA-attributed.

These rarely match exactly. See
[Attribution](/docs/concepts/attribution) for the honest explanation.

## Alerts [#alerts]

Set alerts per metric in **Notifications → Rules**. Common alerts:

* CPA > target × 1.5 over 24h.
* Wallet below 48h forecast.
* Campaign pause > 1h (something failed).
* Spend > expected by 30% (runaway).