Optimization Hub
The Optimization Hub finds inefficiencies in your Amazon Ads campaigns (wasted spend, self-competition, budget pacing issues) and helps you fix them. It surfaces findings by detector, shows before-and-after impact, and tracks your cumulative savings.
In this guide:
- Understand waste audit detectors
- Review and fix findings
- Approve or reject proposed actions
- Monitor savings across your account
Prerequisites
- Permission:
advertising_dashboard_basicto view;org:update_advertisingfor detector settings and dismissals;org:ads_approvefor Approve/Reject/Rollback in the Actions & Approvals tab.
Step 1: Open the Optimization Hub
Go to Advertising → Optimization in the sidebar.
The Optimization Hub opens with three tabs: Waste Audit, Actions & Approvals, and Savings Scoreboard.
Step 2: Review waste audit findings
The Waste Audit tab shows inefficiencies detected in your campaigns, grouped by type.
New-leaks banner
When new findings appear, a banner appears at the top showing the number of new leaks and the estimated monthly waste at stake. Click:
- Review new — filters the list to show only the new open findings
- Mark seen — dismisses the banner (only available when all new findings have been addressed)
Detectors
Hilal scans for these kinds of inefficiencies:
| Detector | What it finds |
|---|---|
| Zero-sale spend | Ad spend on keywords/placements with zero attributed sales |
| Self-competition | Same product in multiple campaigns bidding against each other |
| Unprofitable spend | Spend that doesn’t generate enough profit to justify the cost (ACoS too high) |
| Out-of-stock spend | Ad spend on products that are out of stock |
| Bid hangover | Bids that remain high after the initial promotional period |
| Budget pacing | Campaign budgets that aren’t being fully utilized |
| Branded cannibalization | Branded campaigns cannibalizing organic search traffic |
| ACOS Spike (Anomaly) | Unexpected spike in ACoS above normal levels |
| CTR Drop (Anomaly) | Unexpected drop in click-through rate |
| CVR Drop (Anomaly) | Unexpected drop in conversion rate |
Filter by status
Use the status filter to see findings at different stages:
- Open — findings that haven’t been addressed yet
- Fix proposed — Hilal has a recommended action ready to approve
- Dismissed — findings you’ve marked as false positives
- Fixed — findings where an approved action has been executed
Detector settings
Click Settings to adjust the thresholds for each detector (e.g., how high ACoS must be to flag as unprofitable). Changes are saved automatically.
Review a finding
Click a finding to see:
- Finding details — which product/keyword/campaign is affected
- Current metrics — spend, sales, ACoS, profit
- Recommended action — what Hilal suggests to fix it (e.g., “pause this keyword”)
- Expected impact — estimated savings if you approve
Step 3: Approve or reject actions
Click the Actions & Approvals tab to see pending fixes. This tab has two sub-tabs: Pending Inbox (actions waiting for approval) and Change History (past approvals and rejections).
Pending Inbox
The Pending Inbox shows actions proposed by the Waste Audit, filtered by status:
- Proposed — newly detected recommendations waiting for review
- Deferred — actions you’ve postponed for later
- Approved — actions you’ve approved but not yet executed to Amazon
- Executed — actions that have been completed
- Rejected — actions you’ve declined
Each action shows before-and-after metrics side-by-side:
- Before — current metrics
- After — estimated metrics after the action
- Impact — estimated savings or profit improvement
Approve, Reject, and Rollback
These actions require the org:ads_approve permission. Click:
- Approve — let Hilal execute the action (e.g., pause a keyword, negate a target, reduce a bid). The action will sync to Amazon.
- Reject — dismiss the action without executing it.
- Rollback — undo an approved, executed action. Only available for reversible action types; archive-only or irreversible actions cannot be rolled back.
Step 4: Track savings
The Savings Scoreboard tab shows your cumulative impact:
- Finalized modeled avoided spend — modeled avoided spend from actions approved and fully executed
- Provisional modeled avoided spend — estimated modeled avoided spend from in-progress or recent actions
Monitor this to understand the ROI of using the Optimization Hub.
Troubleshooting
- “You need org:update_advertising permission” message. You can view audit findings but don’t have permission to change detector settings or dismiss findings. Ask your organization admin to grant the
org:update_advertisingpermission. To approve/reject/rollback actions, you needorg:ads_approve. - Detector shows no findings but I expect some. Adjust the detector thresholds in Detector settings. Some findings (e.g., zero-sale spend) may only appear if the threshold window is met.
- I dismissed a finding by mistake. Dismissed findings reappear if the condition occurs again (e.g., the keyword generates zero sales next period).