Andromeda has been a hot topic for many months now, with advertisers really seeing the performance impact so far in 2026.
From rising CPMs and lower CTRs, to single ads ‘swallowing’ most of the budget without others ever having a chance to serve – the impact of Andromeda is everywhere.
But many advertisers are, understandably, still finding their feet.
The biggest Meta Ads overhaul in over a decade, Andromeda has changed the game.
The good news is, the fundamentals aren’t complicated – if we break down the technical jargon and really understand what makes Andromeda tick, it comes down to one thing: creative is key. It always mattered, but now it’s non-negotiable. And for brands willing to adapt, it’s a genuine opportunity to grow.
What is Andromeda?
Andromeda is Meta’s AI retrieval system that decides which ads can be shown.
There’s another part to this too… GEM. This is Meta’s central intelligence – the brains of the operation. It identifies patterns across both organic and ad interactions, looking at sequencing and using historical data to make predictions. This means that long-term behaviours matter more than ever. It’s less “what did this person engage with recently?” and more “who is this person, what do they care about, what are they likely to respond to?”.
In short: Andromeda is the filter that decides what can be shown (the retrieval), while GEM determines what should be shown (ranking the shortlist of ads), and then Meta’s delivery system serves the winning ad.
Think of it like this: Andromeda is the bouncer, the one who decides whether you get through the door. GEM is the host inside who figures out exactly where to seat you and what you need.
Why is this important?
Your creative is now your targeting.
As has always been the case with Meta ads: what you feed the algorithm determines your success.
Now you need to feed it something different.
- The old system started with your audience. You told Meta who you wanted to reach and it found those people. Creatives were along for the ride. An opportunity? Absolutely. But just one piece of the puzzle.
- The new system works in reverse. Andromeda reads your ad first, predicts which users are likely to engage, and then serves it. It’s a matching game.
What does Andromeda actually read?
When your ad goes into the system, Andromeda analyses it across four layers:
- Visual: what’s in the scene, the colours, the composition, the emotional mood, who’s on screen – the context
- Copy: the tone, the intent, language register, emotional triggers
- Audio (for video ads): the music type, pace, and voiceover tone
- Format: the ad type, placement fit, and how well the message matches user intent
From all of that, Andromeda builds a fingerprint for your ad – a semantic view of what it’s really about and who it’s likely to resonate with – known as an Entity ID.
Why this can create problems?
Here’s the kicker…
If two ads communicate the same idea – same scene, same message, same visual feel – Andromeda can assign them the same Entity ID. Even if they look like different ads to you!
What does this mean? They compete against each other for the same auction space, in front of the same audience. This wouldn’t help you to expand reach.
More distinct Entity IDs = more auction entries & more reach.
See the below example:
Creative has always mattered – now it’s non-negotiable
Good creatives have always made a difference to performance. That’s nothing new. What’s new is that creatives are now the biggest lever we can pull.
At Iff Digital, creative strategy and testing has always been at the heart of how we approach Paid Social. But with Andromeda, that focus has become more important than ever. It’s not a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.
A poor creative strategy doesn’t just underperform, it limits your potential reach, can inflate costs and leave key potential customers completely untouched.
But this is where the opportunity lies…
What can we do?
This is a chance to take “show, don’t tell” to a whole other level and make a real impact on advertising performance.
Strong, differentiated creative is how to unlock Andromeda. Think genuinely different angles, messages, formats, and visuals. Get more auction entries, get in front of more of the right people.
Here’s how testing new content angles helped unlock performance for one of our partners – a 50% conversion rate improvement YOY so far:
Our approach to digital is underpinned by the belief that we can only drive the right outcomes ‘if and only if’ we influence the right metrics or dependencies.
Meta creatives are now a core dependency.
It’s about understanding your customer… What do they want? What are their emotional triggers? What are their pain-points? Why might they choose you over others? What ad formats do they engage with? Then curate creatives that reflect that.
One thing to remember. As we say to our partners: there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ creative. You can’t do everything all at once, or within a single ad. And what you think your audience wants to see may not be what they actually engage with.
But that’s exactly why creative strategy needs the same thought, time and testing your audience targeting once did.
Find Out How Iff Digital Can Help
If you’d like to understand how your creatives are performing under Andromeda – and where the opportunities lie – we’d love to talk so get in touch today!