The Andromeda update from Meta Platforms fully rolled out in October 2025. The long-awaited update has finally gone live worldwide. It marks one of the most significant overhauls to Facebook and Instagram’s ad delivery infrastructure since the launch of Advantage+ campaigns in 2022.
Described by Meta as the “next generation of its ad delivery system,” Andromeda changes how ads are selected, ranked, and shown. It’s not just an algorithmic tune-up. It’s a structural shift in how the system understands people and creative content.
The result is a smarter and faster platform: one that focuses on what creative a person is most likely to connect with, rather than which audience an advertiser has predefined.
Let’s explore what Andromeda is, why it matters, what it means for the advertiser’s strategy, how to adapt, and everything you need to know.
What is Andromeda, and Why Does It Matter?
Andromeda is a next-generation ad retrieval engine.
Rather than the older system, which evaluated a limited number of eligible ads based on audience targeting, Andromeda is built to process far larger volumes of ad creatives, interpret thousands of engagement / behavioural signals, and select in real-time which creative variation is most relevant for each user.
Key innovations include:
- Use of deep neural networks customised for the NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchip to support large-scale inference.
- Hierarchical indexing to support exponential growth in creative inputs (especially as advertisers build more varied creative libraries).
- Reduced reliance on manual rule-based logic and more end-to-end automated optimisation.
According to Meta’s published engineering blog: early deployments of Andromeda achieved approximately +6% recall improvement in retrieval and +8% ads-quality improvement in selected segments.
Why Advertisers Should Care
The shift means that the ad system now asks “which ad should this person see?” rather than primarily “who should see this ad?”
For advertisers, this implies: better relevance, improved click-through or engagement, and a stronger path to efficiency, provided the creative inputs are rich and varied.
But the performance uplift is not automatic. The algorithm can only use what you feed it, and when creative, structure, or fundamentals are weak, Andromeda may actually expose those weaknesses.
In short: the game has changed. Precision audience-splits are less of the driver; creative intelligence and variety are now front and center.
How Andromeda Changes Strategy For Advertisers
1. Targeting takes a back seat
For years, Meta advertisers have relied on meticulous segmentation — breaking audiences down by interests, behaviours, and demographics to maintain control. That model is now being phased out.
Andromeda thrives when given freedom to learn from broader audience pools. Meta’s current best practice guidance encourages advertisers to:
- Use broad targeting rather than tight segmentation.
- Adopt Advantage+ placements to give the algorithm full flexibility.
- Treat lookalike audiences as learning signals, not fixed boundaries.
The shift is philosophical as much as technical: advertisers need to move away from micromanaging delivery and instead focus on the bigger creative picture.
2. Creative diversity is now the biggest performance lever
If targeting once defined ad performance, creative diversity now takes that crown.
Andromeda’s machine learning models rely on differences between creatives to learn what resonates. That means advertisers should avoid cosmetic tweaks, change only colours or headlines, and instead develop distinct creative concepts that reflect different audience motivations or emotions.
For example, a retail campaign might test multiple creative angles around:
- Value: Price-focused and deal-driven messaging.
- Aspirations: Lifestyle-driven visuals and emotional storytelling.
- Convenience: Fast delivery or easy returns.
- Belonging: Brand community or inclusivity themes.
This variety allows the algorithm to match the right creative with the right user, maximising engagement and conversion potential. In effect, creative testing now replaces audience testing as the key path to performance growth.
3. Campaign structure becomes simpler and smarter
Gone are the days of running 10 different campaigns with 20 tiny ad sets. Andromeda performs best with streamlined campaign architecture.
Meta’s new rule of thumb:
- Fewer ad sets, more creative inputs.
- One campaign with one ad set and 5–10+ unique creatives often outperforms complex setups.
This shift saves advertisers time and allows Meta’s automation to do what it does best: identify patterns too intricate for humans to manage at scale.
4. Ad volume and variety are rewarded
Previously, advertisers were told to limit each ad set to 4–6 ads to prevent performance dilution. Under Andromeda, those limits are gone.
The system can now process dozens of creatives per ad set without confusion — and, in fact, it performs better when given more options to analyse.
However, the emphasis is on meaningful variety, not duplication. The algorithm rewards campaigns that show genuine creative breadth:
- Different messages
- New tones
- Fresh visuals
- Emotional triggers
This makes ongoing creative production essential. Maintaining a rolling pipeline of fresh content is now part of staying competitive on Meta.
5. Strong fundamentals still matter
Even the most advanced AI system can’t make a weak campaign strong. Andromeda amplifies what’s already effective, but it won’t fix poor offers, unclear messaging, or weak conversion funnels.
Marketers should therefore double down on:
- Clear value propositions.
- Consistent creative-to-landing-page alignment.
- Well-defined campaign objectives.
The more strategically sound your foundation, the better Andromeda can optimise delivery and maximise returns.
The New Playbook For Success Under Andromeda
Putting theory into action, Reno Hughes and the MTM Digital team would emphasise the following practical steps:
- Use broad targeting + Advantage+ placements: Give Meta’s system the freedom to learn and optimise.
- Invest heavily in creative diversity: Build at least 8-15 (or more) truly distinct creatives per campaign; think multi-angle, multi-format, multi-emotion.
- Focus your testing on creatives, not audiences: Identify your message, tone, visual style, call-to-action, format, and test them.
- Refresh creatives regularly: On a cadence of every 1–2 weeks add something new, remove underperformers.
- Evaluate at campaign level, not micro-ad level: Look at the consolidated performance rather than obsessing over individual ad variations too early.
- Ensure strategic clarity: Your offer, conversion experience, and creative must align tightly to your objective. Everything feeds into the algorithm’s learning.
A Shift From Targeting Precision To Creative Intelligence
This update marks a philosophical pivot in Meta’s advertising strategy.
Where once the competitive advantage lay in how tightly you could define and segment your audience, now it lies in how richly you can express and deliver to diverse audience motivations via creative.
If you do it right:
- Your ads become smarter, more personalised at scale.
- The algorithm handles the heavy lifting of delivery. You handle the heavy lifting of creative ideation and strategic clarity.
If you don’t adapt:
- You may find performance stagnating or costs rising.
- Old habits (micro-targeting, incremental creative tweaks) become liabilities.
In the world of Andromeda, the question isn’t just “who do we target?” but “what do we say, and how many ways can we say it well?”
Final Word And Next Steps
For advertisers working on the Meta platforms, this moment is pivotal.
The full global rollout of Andromeda means the landscape has changed: those who adapt early to the new creative-diversity-centric model will benefit; those stuck in old habits risk falling behind.
If you’d like to review how this applies to your account (creative pipeline, campaign structure, data settings, and conversion flow), review your existing set-up, identify optimisation opportunities under the Andromeda system, and implement the shift toward creative-first thinking.
Need a fresh perspective? Let’s talk.
At 360 OM, we specialise in helping businesses take their marketing efforts to the next level. Our team stays on top of industry trends, uses data-informed decisions to maximise your ROI, and provides full transparency through comprehensive reports.
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