Overview
Learn how to manage the Open Web campaign budgets on the Canvas (new experience). Control how the platform allocates spend across creative types and flights. You cannot set a budget or schedule for programmatic guaranteed deals because those elements are controlled at the deal level.
Steps to open a campaign
- Open a campaign on the Canvas (new experience).
- Switch on the New experience toggle at the top of the canvas.
- Click the campaign block. A new window displays.
- Go to the top of the canvas.
- Click the Budget & goals tab.
| 🟦 The New experience toggle is hidden for illumin clients who joined after August 25, 2025. |
Steps to manage the budget strategy
You can configure this option after setting at least one flight range and entering a budget.
- Click the Budget Strategy field.
- Select Automatic allocation or Manual allocation.
Three budget allocation strategies
Automatic
The platform automatically distributes budget across tactics based on your performance goals. You set the total flight budget, and the system adjusts spend in real time to optimise results. This is the default setting. Use automatic allocation when your goal is performance and you want the system to optimize spend dynamically.
Manual
Requires you to enter a percentage per creative type. The total must be 90 percent or less. The platform auto-calculates the estimated budget per creative type and per flight. The chart shows estimated allocation by type. Note, the value under the Total campaign budget heading in the right-hand panel changes as the campaign starts to spend money.
Use allocation by creative type when your goal is to balance investment across formats rather than individual tactics.
Manual allocation by tactic
You directly assign a budget to each tactic within the flight, using either amounts or percentages. The total allocation must equal 100 percent of the flight budget. No budget can be left unassigned.
Use manual allocation by tactic when you need full control over budget distribution, such as prioritising specific audiences or deals.
Learn more about Manual allocation (by tactic):
- Set up manual budget allocation by tactic
- How to pause a tactic in a live campaign
- View historical flight spend
FAQs
How does budget allocation work on the Canvas?
Budget allocation on the Canvas controls how spend distributes across creative types and flights. Marketers select automatic or manual allocation (by creative or tactic) after they define a flight range and total budget. The platform applies this strategy only to Open Web campaigns.
What is the difference between automatic and manual budget allocation?
Automatic allocation uses illumin optimization to distribute budget based on performance signals. Manual allocation lets marketers assign percentages by creative type or tactic.
Why can’t marketers set budgets for programmatic guaranteed deals?
Programmatic guaranteed deals do not accept campaign-level budgets or schedules. The deal owner defines these controls at the deal level. The Canvas budget strategy applies only to Open Web inventory and does not override guaranteed deal settings.
Why does the total campaign budget value change over time?
The total campaign budget value reflects live spend once the campaign starts delivery. As impressions serve, the right-hand panel updates to show remaining budget. This behavior confirms that spend tracks actual delivery rather than static estimates.
Why does the budget strategy option not appear?
The budget strategy option appears only after marketers set at least one flight range and enter a campaign budget. If these inputs are missing, the Canvas hides allocation controls to prevent incomplete or invalid budget configurations.