CBO vs ABO: who decides where your money goes

CBO vs ABO: who decides where your money goes

Two budget styles confuse almost everyone, so let's untangle them gently.

— ABO = Ad-group Budget Optimization, meaning you set a budget per ad group yourself
— CBO = Campaign Budget Optimization, meaning TikTok holds one pot and spreads it across ad groups for you

CBO sounds easier, and it is, but here's the catch beginners hit: TikTok will pour almost everything into one ad group and starve the rest. If you're still testing which audience works, that's bad, because it picks a 'winner' too early.

Simple guide:

— Testing new audiences? Use ABO so each gets a fair shot
— Already know what works? Switch to CBO and let TikTok scale it

Don't worry if this felt backwards, most guides skip it.

Try this: look at your last CBO campaign and see if one ad group ate the budget. Nicely spotted if it did.