Does Meta's opportunity score matter? What it measures, and what Meta says it doesn't
Meta says opportunity score doesn't reflect performance. What moves it, why it can sit low, what combining ad sets does, and how campaign score differs.
- Hristijan Jankulovski
- 10 min read
Opportunity score matters as a ranked list of Meta's suggestions, not as a grade of your results. Meta says the 0–100 score "is based on how many Meta Ads Manager recommendations you apply", and that it "does not reflect your actual or future performance, even if your score is high." Meta also says not to turn off a campaign because its score is low.
The score goes up when you apply a recommendation or fix an error. It stays where it is when you dismiss one. Recommendations carry different points: in Meta's example, combining fragmented ad sets is worth 35 and switching on Advantage+ placements is worth 5. Campaign score is the same idea for a single draft campaign, and Meta says it doesn't feed into opportunity score.
What is opportunity score in Meta Ads Manager?
Meta's page About opportunity score in Meta Ads Manager:
On a 0-100 point scale, opportunity score represents how optimized your campaigns, ad sets and ads are. Your opportunity score is based on how many Meta Ads Manager recommendations you apply. Meta Ads Manager ranks recommendations based on estimated performance impact.
Errors count as well as advice. Meta says recommendations "include best practices, errors and warnings that appear when there is an issue with an ad or campaign, such as incorrect formatting, missing information or policy violations." The score changes when you apply recommendations, when you edit the account, campaigns, ad sets or ads, and when Ads Manager finds new recommendations.
The page opens with a caveat that the whole feature "is in development and may evolve."
Does opportunity score matter?
For what it ranks, yes. For judging a campaign, Meta says no:
You should not turn off campaigns with a low opportunity score since your opportunity score represents how optimized your campaign is, not whether it is performing poorly. You should judge performance based on your business goals.
Meta repeats a version of that note on its Advantage+ sales, audience settings and ad set fragmentation pages: "Opportunity score (including a high score) itself does not reflect your actual or future performance."
Meta describes the score as a measure of setup and doesn't say the score itself affects delivery or your auction results. What enters the Meta ad auction is your bid, estimated action rates and ad quality. Applying a recommendation can change those inputs; Meta gives the score itself no role there.
What does a high or low opportunity score mean?
Meta lists three things a higher score suggests:
- "You already follow Meta Ads Manager recommendations."
- "You resolved all errors and warnings in your ad account."
- "There are no errors, warnings or recommendations for you at this time."
A lower score, in Meta's words, "suggests there may be more opportunities that could help to improve your performance by applying recommendations or resolving errors and warnings." That is a statement about unapplied advice, and it is consistent with an account that performs well.
Why is my opportunity score 0, or not showing?
Meta doesn't describe what a score of 0 means. Its page does name three things that hold a score down or hide it:
| What you see | What Meta says |
|---|---|
| No score at all | "If you have an ad account error, your opportunity score will not show." |
| Errors fixed one at a time, no points yet | "if your campaign has multiple errors, you will not receive points until all errors are resolved" |
| A score that never reaches 100 | "if you cannot apply some available recommendations (for example, due to business constraints), your opportunity score will always be lower than 100 points" |
Meta also says the score and recommendations "may not update in near real time" in some cases. When a recommendation has you create a new campaign "with optimal presets", Meta says "the points will be added to your opportunity score" and "The recommendation will be removed after your campaign is active."
Does dismissing a recommendation lower your score?
No, and it doesn't raise it either. Meta: "If you dismiss a recommendation, your opportunity score will not change and the dismissed recommendation will move to the Dismissed tab in Account Overview." Two limits apply. A dismissal "only applies to that campaign", so the same recommendation can come back on another one. And a dismissed recommendation keeps the score below 100 for as long as it stands, so a score in the 70s can come from an account that reviewed every recommendation and declined the ones that didn't fit.
Why are some recommendations worth more points?
Meta weights them by estimated value. Points vary "depending on your business type, campaign objective and characteristics, budget allocation and performance improvements seen for that recommendation in experiments."
Meta's worked example starts at 60:
| Recommendation | Points in Meta's example |
|---|---|
| Fix audience fragmentation ("when similar audiences in different ad sets compete with each other") | 35 |
| Apply Advantage+ placements | 5 |
| Both applied | Score could reach 100 |
Meta concludes that "you may want to focus on fragmented ad sets because they will help increase your opportunity score more."
Should you combine ad sets to reduce audience fragmentation?
The recommendation behind those 35 points has its own page, Combine ad sets and campaigns in Meta Ads Manager to reduce audience fragmentation. It starts with "We're gradually introducing recommendations in Account Overview to help combine ad sets", so not every account sees it yet.
Meta gives two reasons to combine similar ad sets. The first is budget. Its example is three ad sets with the same objective and creative, targeting people interested in dogs, dog toys and dog collars: splitting them "could decrease performance because your total audience size is split across multiple ad sets." The second is the learning phase: "When you run too many ad sets at the same time, each one gets fewer opportunities to learn and therefore fewer results."
For the usual reason to split ad sets, reporting by segment, Meta points to breakdowns instead. They show results by age, gender, country, region and other segments without separate ad sets. The page also says you can "create an automated rule for us to automatically combine ad sets if audience fragmentation is detected", or a rule that only notifies you.
Fragmentation is one of three audience recommendations Meta names, next to audience expansion and auction overlap.
What recommendations can you get?
Meta's Types of opportunity score recommendations page groups them in seven categories and gives an example of each:
| Category | Meta's example recommendation |
|---|---|
| Automated campaigns | "You could get a lower cost per result with an Advantage+ app campaign" |
| Objective and goals | "You could get a lower cost per result with a campaign to maximize the number of conversions" |
| Audience | "Using Advantage+ audience may improve performance" |
| Creative and placements | "Re-engage your audience by adding another image or video to your ad" |
| Signals | "You could get a lower cost per result by setting up Conversions API" |
| Budget and bidding | "Scale your high-performing campaign" |
| Other | "You could increase the value of your customer messages when you respond quickly" |
"Other" also holds "important errors or warnings that need your attention" and "partnership and non-campaign recommendations." Meta adds that the recommendations "will evolve over time to align with Meta's latest, experimentally proven best practices."
Several of these ask you to turn an Advantage+ setting back on. What turns Advantage+ on and off shows which of your choices switched it off in the first place. The creative recommendation is Meta's creative fatigue fix, and it only helps if the new image or video looks clearly different from the ones already running.
Where do you find opportunity score?
Meta's access page names two places on a computer. In Account Overview, the Opportunity score section shows your score with Available and Dismissed recommendations. Above the Campaigns table, click Opportunity score to see and apply them; "You may also see an Actions column that shows recommendations that could help you raise your opportunity score if adopted." The About page adds that the score also shows when you create an ad.
What is campaign score, and how is it different?
Campaign score is the draft-stage version. Meta's campaign score page says it "predicts how optimized your campaign is before publishing", that each campaign has its own, and that it "does not impact your overall account's opportunity score".
| Campaign score | Opportunity score | |
|---|---|---|
| When | While you draft, before publishing | After launch, across the account |
| Scope | One draft campaign | "your campaigns, ad sets and ads" |
| What 100 means | "there are no recommendations to apply or errors and warnings to resolve while you're creating your campaign" | You applied or have no recommendations, and fixed all errors |
| Performance claim | "does not reflect future performance" | "does not reflect your actual or future performance" |
Meta's page on what turns Advantage+ on and off ties the two together: most new campaigns start in the Advantage+ setup, where "You may see a campaign score of 100." The campaign score page says what lowers it: "Making adjustments to the campaign may make you eligible for certain recommendations or cause errors and warnings, which will cause your campaign score to decrease."
Both scores carry Meta's "in development" label. Meta's page on that label says such measures suit "Directional guidance", not "Strategic planning or important business decisions."
Using the score without chasing it
- Read the top of the list. Meta ranks recommendations "based on estimated performance impact", so the high-point items are where Meta expects the most effect.
- Fix errors first. No points arrive until every error in a campaign is resolved, and an account error hides the score.
- Dismiss what doesn't fit, and expect it back. A dismissal is per campaign, and it caps the score below 100.
- Count the learning cost before applying. Changing targeting or creative and adding a new ad are significant edits that can restart the learning phase.
- Judge campaigns on results. Meta's instruction is to judge performance "based on your business goals", with metrics like cost per result.
Sources
- About opportunity score in Meta Ads Manager — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 11, 2026)
- Types of opportunity score recommendations in Meta Ads Manager — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 11, 2026)
- How to access opportunity score recommendations in Meta Ads Manager on your computer — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 11, 2026)
- Combine ad sets and campaigns in Meta Ads Manager to reduce audience fragmentation — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 11, 2026)
- Choose audience settings in Advantage+ campaigns — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About Advantage+ sales campaigns — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 11, 2026)
- What turns Advantage+ on and Advantage+ off — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About campaign score during campaign creation in Meta Ads Manager — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 24, 2026)
- About estimated, in development and third-party metrics — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 24, 2026)
- Significant edits and learning phase — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 22, 2026)
Opportunity score is labeled in development, so Meta may change how it is calculated without notice. Check the source before acting on any of it.
Terrads makes new image and video ads that differ in concept and layout, so a recommendation to add another image or video has a real answer.