Meta Andromeda is the retrieval system that picks which ads get considered for a person before the final auction, and Meta's guidance is that genuinely different creatives give it more to work with. For performance teams, creative diversity means different concepts, not more edits of one idea.
Quick takeaways
- Definition: Andromeda is the first stage of ad selection, narrowing tens of millions of candidate ads to a few thousand (Meta Engineering).
- What Meta asks for: many creatives with different themes, messages and visuals (Meta).
- What to avoid: near-identical ads, which Meta says its system may not treat as different (Meta).
- What is not confirmed: exact similarity thresholds. Meta has not published one.
What Is Meta Andromeda Doing to Your Ads?
Meta describes Andromeda as its machine learning system for ad retrieval. Its December 2024 engineering post reports a 10,000x increase in model capacity, a 6% recall improvement and an 8% ads quality improvement on selected segments (Meta Engineering). Those are Meta's own figures, measured on its own system.
The same post says a more diverse set of ad candidates can improve both user experience and advertiser outcomes. That's the stated reason creative variety matters: retrieval has a limited slate to fill, and a slate of lookalikes wastes slots.
What Counts as Diverse Creative?
Diverse creative means a different idea, not a different edit. Meta defines diversification as creating many ad creatives with different themes, messages and visuals (Meta, April 2025). Its guidance for small businesses adds that very similar ads may not be treated as different and can reach the same audience, which limits reach and can lead to creative fatigue.
In practice, our read is that the test is the viewer's experience. Two ads with the same footage and a different headline are one idea. Two ads that open on different problems, with different people and a different first three seconds, are two.
| Change | Likely reads as |
|---|---|
| New call to action on the same video | Same idea |
| Same script, new colour grade | Same idea |
| Different pain point, different talent | New idea |
| Testimonial versus product demo versus founder note | New idea |
The table is our editorial judgement, not a Meta rule.
Does Andromeda Mean You Need Far More Creatives?
Volume helps only if it carries variety. Meta's November 2024 guidance suggests launching new ads regularly, keeping at least 20 diversified ads in Advantage+ shopping campaigns and putting 20 to 30% of budget towards testing new ads (Meta). Treat those as Meta's recommendations for one campaign type, not a guarantee of results.
Be careful with the numbers you'll see elsewhere. Terms like "Entity ID" and specific similarity percentages circulate widely in agency commentary. We could not find them in Meta's own documentation, so we would not plan around them.
How Should You Brief Creative for Andromeda?
Brief around audience tensions, not formats, so every concept has a different reason to exist. List five reasons a buyer might say yes, then give each reason its own concept, its own opening and ideally its own format across video, static and carousel. Our performance creative formula covers how to structure that brief.
Then read results by concept, not by ad. If three variants of one idea all lose, you learned about the idea once, not three times. This also changes testing: fewer one-variable tests, more concept-level comparisons, with the winners iterated afterwards.
FAQ
It's Meta's ad retrieval system, the stage that shortlists a few thousand candidate ads from tens of millions before ranking. Meta announced it in December 2024 as part of its Advantage+ automation work.
It favours more different creatives. Meta recommends many themes, messages and visuals. Ten edits of one video give the system little new to choose between, so volume without variety is unlikely to help.
Meta gives no numeric threshold. Its examples point to distinct visuals, text and formats rather than small tweaks. A practical check: would a viewer who saw one ad feel they're seeing something new in the next?
Yes, in emphasis. Judge concepts rather than single variants, keep a standing budget for new ideas, and iterate on winners only after a concept proves itself. Meta suggests 20 to 30% of budget for testing, per the guidance above.
There is no universal number. Meta suggests at least 20 diversified ads for Advantage+ shopping campaigns. Smaller accounts can start with fewer genuinely distinct concepts and add as budget allows.
Brief Your Next Concept Round
Bring your audience tensions and your current top ad, and we will shape distinct performance concepts around them rather than edits of one idea. Schedule a call to talk it through.
