Read Roblox Ads Manager results next to your daily players

Ads Manager tells you what your campaigns delivered. Your daily players tell you what happened to the whole game. They answer different questions and they count on different clocks. This guide shows how to read them side by side without mixing them up. It does not tell you how much to spend.

What Ads Manager reports

Ads Manager reports show the amount spent, impressions, plays and playtime for the game you pick. The campaign table adds clicks, cost per play (CPP: total campaign spend divided by plays) and earnings. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab).

Earnings campaigns also show ROAS: the USD value of the earnings credited to the campaign divided by what you spent. While earnings are still coming in, the card shows Estimated ROAS instead. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab).

Ad plays are not your daily players

• Daily players include everyone who played, whatever brought them. Creator Dashboard splits new and returning users by source, and sponsored ads and search ads are two of those sources, next to Home recommendations, search, friends and others. Acquisition (opens in a new tab)
• Ad plays are plays Ads Manager credits to your ads. For a new user who first joins through an ad, Ads Manager credits all their plays and earnings to the ad for up to 30 days, even when they come back the next day through search or Continue Play. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab)

So Ads Manager can credit a visit that came through another source. Ad plays and the per-source numbers in Creator Dashboard overlap, so don't add them together. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab)

Line up the days first

• Roblox analytics days are UTC days, from UTC midnight to UTC midnight. Analytics API (opens in a new tab)
• Your ad account has its own time zone, chosen when you create it. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab). An Ads Manager day can start at a different hour than a Creator Dashboard day, so compare whole weeks rather than single days.
• Impressions and clicks are reported in real time. Plays and earnings rely on attribution, can include events up to 30 days after an ad is served, and can take up to 48 hours to appear. The campaign chart shows a dotted line for dates that are still collecting data. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab)
• After a campaign ends, Roblox checks it for fraudulent traffic and applies any refunds 16 days after the end date, so the amount spent can still change. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab)

Read them side by side

1. Write down the campaign facts: dates, goal and audience. Ads Manager's reporting views split users into All Users, New Users, Recent Users and two Resurrected Users groups, and each view credits plays in its own way. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab)
2. Check the sources. In Creator Dashboard, open Analytics > Acquisition and look at new users from sponsored ads and search ads for the same dates. Acquisition (opens in a new tab)
3. Look at total daily players for complete days before, during and after the campaign, in equal windows.
4. Check whether ad players stayed. The acquisition view by source reports D7 retention and 7-day playtime per user for new players. Acquisition (opens in a new tab)
5. Pick the right view. If results look low in the All Users view, Roblox suggests switching to Recent Users or Resurrected Users to see the impact on those groups. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab)

Two things Roblox states that help when you read the numbers: running ads does not affect how your game ranks in Recommended For You Ads Manager (opens in a new tab), and the ranking stage of Recommended for You doesn't count the engagement of users first acquired from ads or other sources. Discovery (opens in a new tab).

LaunchBlip's spend proxy is not attribution

On Pro and Studio you can log your daily ad budget in LaunchBlip. LaunchBlip then shows a rough proxy: ad spend divided by (all daily players × new-player Day-1 retention). It is not ad-attributed cost, not a count of returning players and not return on ad spend. For what your ads delivered, use Ads Manager's own reports. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab). How the proxy works and its limits: Methodology.

Limits to keep in mind

• More daily players during a campaign is a clue, not proof that the ads caused it. Updates, events and Home traffic change at the same time.
• Ad players can behave differently from players who found you on Home, so compare ad players with other new players by source, not with all daily players. Discovery (opens in a new tab)
• This guide gives no budget advice. Check Ads Manager's current setup rules and terms before you fund a campaign. Ads Manager (opens in a new tab)