I Tested Meta’s Andromeda Update. Here’s What Happened

What's up, Marketers! This is Aazar.

This newsletter is about leveling up your paid growth marketing skills by analyzing the best brands' paid strategy, tactics, positioning, and value props.

This newsletter is divided into:

• Sharing what I've learned

• Sometimes sharing some other performance marketers’ lessons with you

• And I analyze & compare the best ads on the internet (this issue)

I Analyzed 40,000 DTC Ads (Here’s What Actually Works)

I've analyzed over 40,000 ads from 11 nine and ten-figure D2C brands.

Here's what I discovered:

The brands generating $2.8 billion in revenue aren't doing what you think.

They're using emotion over hooks. They're launching 2,000+ ads. And they all have one thing in common: a clear villain.

I spent 40+ hours breaking down what's actually working:

→ The exact ad formats Dr. Squatch, AG1, and Oura Ring use to dominate
→ Why comparison ads still crush (and how to use them without naming competitors)
→ The psychology behind ugly ads that convert better than polished ones
→ 9 key takeaways you can apply to your brand today

The shocking part? Most of these brands are running the same proven formats for months because they work.

I've turned this into a complete video breakdown with real ad examples, swipe files, and frameworks you can steal immediately.

Plus, I'm sharing a full Excel analysis in the description so you can study at your own pace.

Watch the full breakdown here →

This newsletter is sponsored by Insense.

Meta’s Andromeda update just changed the game for ad creatives

And most brands don’t even realize it yet.

Andromeda is quietly downgrading ads that look too similar, even if they perform well. The result?

• Ad fatigue hits faster
  

• Winning ads lose momentum overnight
  

• CPAs climb, despite strong strategies

The fix isn’t bigger budgets or endless testing.

It’s creative diversity.

1. The Meta shift that’s reshaping UGC

Meta Andromeda now rewards variety: different creators, hooks, and visual styles.

If your UGC ads share the same vibe or feature the same faces, the algorithm flags them as duplicates before they even hit the auction.

That’s why leading DTC brands are shifting to diverse, modular UGC systems that scale content and authenticity.

Different creators, styles, and storylines — all Andromeda-approved.

2. The new winners: modular UGC at scale

Instead of spending more, top brands are producing smarter.

They build modular content systems where one shoot = dozens of unique hooks, angles, and personas.

But the real edge? More faces.

To meet Andromeda’s demand for diversity, brands now need greater creative volume, sourced from more creators than ever before.

3. Here’s the shortcut

Insense built the fastest way to scale modular UGC that’s Andromeda-ready:

• Request both raw footage & edited videos using an interactive brief that helps you specify hooks, CTAs, and styles for maximum diversity
  

• Match with 70K+ vetted creators across 35+ countries - ensuring a mix of faces, backgrounds, and styles that resonate globally
  

• Manage everything end-to-end: payments, lifetime content rights, and even FB Ads Manager integration for Partnership Ads

No more scrambling for “just one more variation.”

This is a systematic approach to creative production for achieving diverse UGC at scale.

4. Two ways to roll

Self-Serve Platform: You control briefs, creators, and campaigns.
Managed Services: Their expert team handles everything from concept to delivery.

Choose your setup. Scale your creative diversity.

📅 Book a free strategy call by Nov 28 and get $200 credit toward your first creator collaboration.

If your Meta ads have felt weird recently… It’s not just you.

CPM is going up. Winners are dying faster. New ads are struggling to get out of learning. 

Same budget. Same funnel. But different results.

Everyone's talking about Andromeda right now. Every group chat. Every Slack channel. Every advertiser is trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

So I did what I always do: I tested it. 

Ran campaigns. Watched what broke. Watched what worked. And honestly? I'm still figuring parts of this out 😅.

But here's what I know so far, and it's changing how we're running ads completely.

Meta flipped a big switch called Andromeda, a new AI engine that changes how your ads are selected and delivered. 

The rollout started earlier this year, but most accounts are only feeling the impact now or in a couple of months.

And the shift is bigger than most people realize (But the good creative strategists will still keep winning, I’ll tell you why in a sec).

Here's the simple version:

• Meta now compares your ads visually before performance even matters

• If your ads look similar, Meta treats them as the (almost) same ad

• It picks one winner from the batch and pours all the spend into it

• That winner burns out faster than before

• Everything else gets ignored

That's the surface level. But the way this actually plays out in your account is where it gets interesting.

And this is exactly why your ad performance now feels unstable.

In this edition, I'll show you:

• What Andromeda actually changed

• Real account examples

• How testing campaign works now

• How scaling campaign works now

Let's dive in.

What Actually Changed With Andromeda

Let's keep this very simple.

Meta didn't just "update" delivery. It changed how its brain works.

Meta used to judge ads by performance. Now it judges ads by how visually different they look.

If 8 of your ads look like cousins (same colors, same layout, same energy), Meta groups them together.

Then it chooses one from that group… and pushes all your spend into it.

That's why:

• Your tests feel incomplete

• Your variations don't get spend

• Your winners burn faster

• Scaling feels unstable

Why Similar Ads Are Dying Instantly

We tested multiple creatives for a brand.

Different text. Different lines. Different hooks.

But visually?

• Same yellow palette

• Same ingredients

• Same top-down angle

• Same cup

• Same layout

Meta saw them as the same.

So it picked one winner. Everything else got ignored.

Even when we added tiny changes (slightly new layout or slightly new testimonial), Meta still collapsed them into one bucket.

This is why your ads don't "get spend." They never even get a chance.

How Testing Has Changed Under Andromeda

Most advertisers are still testing the old way:

• 1 concept

• 4–5 small variations

• Slight background tweaks

Under Andromeda, this does not work.

The new way to test:

1. Pick one concept

Example concepts:

• Shame/embarrassment

• Quitting a bad alternative

• Effortless transformation

• Made for moms

• Price comparison

• Social proof

• Status identity

You can test multiple later, but one concept at a time keeps your data clean and your learnings clear.

2. Create 5–8 visually different variations of that concept

Not remixes. Not color tweaks. Not tiny edits.

Visually different.

Different:

• Faces

• Colors

• Hooks

• Ad formats

• Angles

• Visual archetype

3. Meta will still pick 1–2 winners

This is normal under Andromeda (I’m still learning).

4. Move that winner into scaling

This is where the real game begins. As you can see below, all ads look different in one of our accounts’ winning/scaling campaigns.

Here’s the truth about testing

Out of my 12 accounts, 9 are still using the old method of testing one ad with different variations, and they are still finding successful winning ads. So, it's not too bad. Only 3 of my accounts are seeing a variety of ads being used. If you're using the old testing method, it still works. However, this new update might become important in 3-6 months, so we should consider changing our testing process. That's all I wanted to share about testing.

Scaling Under Andromeda (How to Stop Your Winners From Dying)

Here's the truth: scaling is where fatigue hits the fastest now. Andromeda is ACTUALLY about having diversity in your scaling campaign imho.

Meta picks the one ad it loves most… then overserves it. That ad dies in days or weeks.

But this is fixable.

Here's the new scaling strategy:

1. Your scaling campaign needs VARIETY, not volume

Stop adding 5 similar ads from the same shoot. Meta collapses them.

Your scaling ads need to look like they belong to different worlds:

• A UGC talking-head

• A clean studio shot

• A lifestyle POV moment

• A meme-style graphic

• A bold product-only visual

• A lo-fi creator selfie

• A comparison shot

• A testimonial moment

2. Scaling works like a playlist

One track on repeat gets boring fast. Same with ads.

You need 5–8 visually different ads that can rotate naturally.

(The above ad is still in testing, so the ROAS is high.)

3. Never move a testing winner into scaling alone

If you do this:

• Meta pushes it

• Frequency jumps

• Fatigue hits

• ROAS dies

Instead: Add the winner + 5–7 ads that look nothing like it.

This protects it.

TBH: I think I was doing it anyway and all winners looked different from each other.

4. Scaling ads must talk about different things

Hit different angles:

• Taste

• Convenience

• Identity

• Social proof

• Pain relief

• Price

• Routine

• Emotional benefit

Different angles = better distribution.

5. Weekly rotation matters

Winners might die faster.

So essentially, you need to test more ads with variety so you keep pumping more winners in your scaling campaign.

Why You Now Need More Creators

One creator = one visual world. Andromeda needs multiple worlds.

Your ads now need:

• Different faces

• Different voices

• Different shooting styles

• Different rooms

• Different lighting

• Different first 3 seconds

This is the only way Meta treats creatives as truly distinct.

The strategy is clear. The execution is the hard part.

You need systems to:

• Source and manage multiple creators

• Produce visually different variations of the same concept

• Test with structure, not chaos

• Build a rotating library of fresh visuals

• Keep fatigue at bay week after week

If your creative process can't keep up with Andromeda's demands, your performance will plateau no matter how good your media buying is.

(This is the exact problem we solve for brands, scaling creative production without the usual trade-offs in quality or speed.)

One more important thing we’re seeing:

Brands are placing all their TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU ads in one ad set and allowing Meta to optimize them. Interestingly, they don’t turn off any ads, even though two of them are spending. Hence, we might move in this direction too.

Final Takeaways (TL;DR)

• Andromeda groups similar-looking ads together

• If your creatives look alike, only one gets spend

• Variation matters more than ever

• Testing = 1 concept × 5–8 visually different ads

• Scaling = 1 winner + 5–7 ads that look NOTHING like it

• Weekly rotation keeps winners alive

• One creator is no longer enough

• More creators = more visual variety = better results

• Visual diversity is the #1 lever

All of this means you need multiple creative strategists or agencies to help you out with this. You need DIVERSE, unique ideas. That’s where we can help you as an agency. Book a call if you want diverse, unique, and thoughtful ads that win consistently.

That’s it for this week.

Thanks to our partners who support this newsletter.

Happy Growing with Paid Social,

Aazar Shad

Since this newsletter is free, I do it to follow my curiosity. But I’d love it if you could leave some feedback so I know if I am helping you or not.

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