Budget Utilization

Budget utilization is how much of a campaign's daily budget actually gets spent: $47 spent on a $50 budget is 94% utilization.

The signal cuts both ways. A campaign at 95–100% utilization with ACOS below target is being throttled — it runs out of budget while profitable demand still exists, often by early afternoon. Raising that budget is close to free money. A campaign at high utilization with terrible ACOS is doing damage at full speed and is a candidate for bid cuts or budget reallocation toward winners.

Utilization patterns also reveal pacing: if a budget is gone by noon, you're invisible during evening shopping hours — fix it with higher budgets or lower bids, depending on efficiency.