¶ Overview
Stop Loss is a daily automation tactic that will pause an ad or ad set of the day if it is under-performing. Asset performance fluctuates regularly, and your ads might bring in a lot of conversions one day but then completely tank the next day: Stop Loss prevents you from losing on bad days and Surf helps you capitalize on good days.
This tactic protects your account from spending your budgets ineffectively and helps you optimize your budgets. 
First, you set a condition. This is the event that means the asset is underperforming and will cause the automation to kick in and pause the asset. For example, if the asset, ad set or ad, has spent more than half its budget, and it hasn’t generated a single purchase, then the tactic will take action and pause it for the day.
The tactic continuously checks if the condition is true, and if it is, Stop Loss will pause the asset. It will automatically reset or unpause at a specific hour every day.
How to Choose a Trigger
This tactic resets every day, so the trigger you choose must reflect daily performance. For example, if you set it to trigger only when the asset has exceeded its weekly budget, it will never trigger.As a good rule of thumb—make sure that the average cost-per-conversion you've chosen as a trigger (purchase, add-to-cart, etc.) is less than the average daily ad spend.
¶ Step-by-Step Guide
¶ Step 1 - Choose the ad or ad set level
First, choose if you want to run Stop Loss on the ad level or on the ad set level. The ad set level will pause whole ad sets while the ad level will pause individual underperforming ads.
We highly recommend you launch both levels. This will provide you with two layers of budget protection and allow you to weed out the underperforming ads before you pause the whole ad set.
To start, pick the option you want to start with and click that panel.
¶ Step 2 - Select an event
Choose an event to optimize for. In other words, the conversion type you’d like to achieve.
For example, most eCommerce accounts would choose Purchase, but you can also choose Add to Cart, Outbound Clicks, or anything else that best fits your needs.
Click on the event you want to choose.
¶ Step 3 - Set up tactic conditions
Here you set up the tactic conditions. Madgicx has already filled in all the fields with the best values for your account and for the event you're optimizing for, but of course you can edit everything and match the tactic to your needs.
First, choose the number of conversions and the spend that will trigger the automation. In the example below, the tactic will be triggered if the asset's ROAS is under 2.62 and the daily spend is more than £27.86. This means that the asset has spent too much and hasn't gotten any results, so the tactic will pause it.
You can change the event type by clicking on the drop-down menu.
You can also set static or dynamic metrics by setting numbers or ratios that change according to your account performance.
¶ Step 4 - Change the time
Set the reset time. Midnight is the default time, but you can set the tactic to reset at any time you'd like.
When you're done, click Next.
¶ Step 5 - Select assets
Select what assets you'd like the tactic to run on. You can select and de-select using the check boxes. The little 'A' stands for Auto Apply, meaning that the tactic will apply for any future ad sets or ads in that campaign. Click on a box twice to reach Auto Apply.
Click Next, and you're done! You've created a Stop Loss automation tactic. 
¶ Use Cases
¶ FAQ
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¶ Why should I set up Stop Loss on the ad level?
Setting up Stop Loss on the ad level may seem counter intuitive since the budgets are not set on the ad level. However, underperforming ads can hurt your performance, and Stop Loss on the ad level provides you with micro-level defense.