At a Glance

1. 1Fast pacing — spends the day's Maximum Daily Budget as quickly as auctions allow, front-loading delivery early in the day.
2. 2Even pacing — spreads that same Maximum Daily Budget across the hours of the day, aiming for steady delivery from morning to evening.
3. 3Both settings apply within a single day only — neither one changes your Total Budget or spreads spend across the campaign's full flight.

What Fast Pacing Means

Fast pacing tells Topple to spend the campaign's Maximum Daily Budget as quickly as it can win auctions, starting as soon as the campaign becomes eligible to serve each day. On a high-demand day, a fast-paced campaign can exhaust its full daily budget within the first few hours — after that, it stops serving until the next day's budget resets. Fast pacing is the setting to use when timing matters more than even exposure: a flash sale, a same-day promotion, or any campaign where maximum delivery as early as possible is the goal.

What Even Pacing Means

Even pacing tells Topple to spread that same Maximum Daily Budget across the hours of that single day, aiming for a steady, consistent delivery rate from morning to evening rather than an early burst. Even pacing is the setting to use when consistent, all-day visibility matters more than early-day volume — an always-on brand-awareness campaign, or a retargeting campaign meant to stay visible to a warm audience throughout the day.

The Practical Difference

The two settings answer different questions. Fast pacing answers 'how quickly can this day's budget go out?' — as quickly as possible. Even pacing answers 'how should this day's budget be spread across the day?' — evenly, hour by hour. Neither setting touches how much you spend in total; that is set by Maximum Daily Budget and Total Budget. Pacing only controls the shape of delivery within a day, never the size of it.

When to Use Each

1. 1Choose Fast pacing for time-sensitive campaigns — a flash sale, a limited-time offer, a same-day event — where getting delivery out early matters more than steady exposure.
2. 2Choose Fast pacing when testing a new campaign and you want to reach your daily budget quickly to gather performance data sooner.
3. 3Choose Even pacing for always-on or brand-awareness campaigns where consistent presence throughout the day matters more than early volume.
4. 4Choose Even pacing for retargeting campaigns, where showing up steadily throughout the day tends to outperform an early burst followed by hours of no delivery.

Common Mistakes

1. 1Assuming Even pacing spreads spend across the campaign's full flight — Even pacing only smooths delivery within a single day. If your campaign runs for 30 days, Even pacing does not meter the Total Budget out evenly across those 30 days; each day still uses its own Maximum Daily Budget, spread evenly within that day. To control spend across the full flight, use Total Budget and end date, not pacing.
2. 2Using Fast pacing on an always-on campaign, then wondering why delivery drops off after a few hours — Fast pacing exhausts the daily budget as soon as demand allows, which can mean no delivery for the rest of the day once the cap is hit. If you want visibility all day, switch to Even pacing.
3. 3Switching pacing mid-campaign to 'catch up' on under-delivery — pacing controls the shape of each day's delivery going forward; it does not redistribute a day that has already under-delivered. If a campaign is under-delivering, check Maximum CPM first (see Budget, Pacing & Bidding) rather than changing pacing.

Related Troubleshooting

1. 1
   Why isn't my campaign spending? →

Next Steps

1. 1
   Set or adjust pacing in Budget, Pacing & Bidding →
2. 2
   See Goal Auto-Optimization if you want Topple to adjust daily budget automatically →
3. 3
   Review the Campaign Pacing glossary entry →