In short
If product browsing is on for your Meta ads, compare the seven days before 28 October with the seven days after. Look at link click-through rate, landing-page views and conversions side by side. If clicks fall but spend does not, or clicks hold but landing-page views fall, something now sits between the tap and your site. Switch it off on one ad and compare.
This follows yesterday's post on how to check and opt out. Meta said it would switch product browsing on for running ads on 28 October. This post is about reading your reports afterwards. I cannot see your account, so these are checks, not conclusions, and one week of data is thin. Do not make big changes on three days of numbers.
Before you look: set up a fair comparison
- Same length. Seven days before 28 October against seven days after. Use the same attribution setting for both.
- Same campaigns. Only compare campaigns that did not change budget, creative or audience in that period.
- Mind the calendar. Black Friday is a month away and spend patterns shift. A weekday against a weekend is not a comparison.
The four numbers to read side by side
| Number | Where to find it | What a change could mean |
|---|---|---|
| Link click-through rate | Ads Manager, Performance columns | Falls if fewer people tap through, or if taps are counted differently now. Meta has not said how an in-app product page is counted. |
| Link clicks against landing-page views | Same view, add both columns | A growing gap means people tap but do not reach your site. This is the first place a new step in front of your site would show. |
| Conversions and cost per result | Results and cost per result columns | The number Meta's 3% claim is about. Look at it last, and over the whole week. |
| Spend and reach | Spend and reach columns | If spend holds while clicks drop, you are paying the same for fewer visits. |
What the patterns could mean
- Clicks down, spend flat. Your cost per click is rising. Check which ads changed and whether product browsing is on for them.
- Clicks flat, landing-page views down. People are tapping and not arriving. Check your site speed and tracking first, then the product browsing setting.
- Clicks down, conversions flat or up. Possibly fewer, better-qualified visits. Wait for more days before calling it good.
- Everything flat. Nothing to do. Write it down and move on.
How to test it properly
If a campaign looks worse, do not switch everything off at once. Duplicate one ad, switch product browsing off on that copy in Advantage+ Creative and Destination, and run both for a week with the same budget. Check the copy's settings after you create it. One clean test tells you more than the average of 117,700 other advertisers.
Keep in mind that Meta's own 3% figure comes from its own test, and the notice does not say how it was measured. Your account is the only evidence that counts for your money.
If you would rather not do this yourself
Checking this for a few accounts is an afternoon. It is the kind of routine I set up in my paid media work: a before and after sheet, one test per account, and a short note on what to keep.
Book your free 30-minute call. I look at your setup first, and within 48 hours you get a written audit, yours to keep. No card, no contract.
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