An **Optimization Group** is a named set of campaigns you want to see and manage together. It sits under **Amazon Ads**, at the top of the section — above Campaigns, because it is the layer you organise everything else with.

First, a name clash worth clearing up.

[Watch the walkthrough](https://kb.trackiq.com/kb-assets/kbvideo-opt-groups-explainer-9c551e37.mp4)

*Prefer to watch? Seventy-two seconds on the name clash with rule groups, and grouping by intent.*

## **Optimization Groups are not Rule Groups**

Two different features, two different screens, similar names.

| | **Optimization Group** | **Rule Group** |
|---|---|---|
| Lives under | **Amazon Ads** | **Automations** |
| Is for | **reporting** on a set of campaigns | **targeting** a set with a rule |
| Screen shows | performance totals | a campaign count |

An Optimization Group answers *“how is this part of my account doing?”* A Rule Group answers *“what should automation act on?”*

Most accounts want both, organised the same way. See **Rule Groups**.

## **The screen**

![Optimization Groups, with performance per group](/kb-assets/shot-adv-campaign-groups-view-011957.png)

Standard Amazon Ads layout — six headline tiles, Performance Trends with the Day/Week/Month and Values/% change controls — plus **+ Add Optimization Group**.

The table gives you performance **per group**:

**Optimization Group**, **Ad Sales**, **Spend**, **Impressions**, **Clicks**, **ACoS**, **CPC**, **CTR**.

That is the value in one line: **a P&L per part of your account**, rather than per campaign. A campaign list of two hundred rows does not tell you whether your hero product line is working. A grouped view does.

## **Group by intent, not by convenience**

The same argument as rule groups, and it matters more here because these groupings usually become your rule groups too.

Campaigns do different jobs, and a group that mixes them produces an average that describes nothing:

| Job | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| **Defending** a term you own | a higher ACoS is the price of holding ground |
| **Launching** | ACoS is expected to be poor — you are buying rank |
| **Harvesting** | the efficiency target genuinely applies |

Put all three in one group and its ACoS is a blend of three intentions. **It will look stable while each part drifts.**

Group instead by product line, and then split defended campaigns out from the rest. That is the structure well-run accounts converge on.

## **What to do with it**

**Read groups before campaigns.** Six group rows tell you where to look faster than two hundred campaign rows.

**Compare groups against each other**, not against a single target. Your launch group *should* look worse than your harvest group.

**Use vs previous.** A group whose ACoS moved while its spend did not is the one to open.

**Then point rules at the same structure.** Once a group reflects a real intent, a rule scoped to the matching rule group inherits that intent. See **Targeting Rules** and **Campaign Rules**.

## **Two cautions**

**A campaign in the wrong group corrupts two numbers** — the group it left and the group it joined. Worth a check when performance moves for no obvious reason.

**Groups do not change what a rule sees.** A rule acts on its **rule group**, not on an optimization group with the same name. Keeping the two aligned is a discipline, not something the product enforces.

## **Related**

- [**The Automations Screen**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/the-automations-screen) — where rules and rule groups live.
- [**Rule Groups**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/rule-groups) — the automation-side equivalent.
- [**Campaigns: Budgets, Placement and Audience Adjustments**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/advertising-campaigns) — the level below this one.
- [**Restructure Your Campaigns Before You Optimise**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/restructure-your-campaigns) — portfolios, naming and one parent ASIN per campaign.