Custom groups let you compare sets of ads that you define yourself, such as your testing angles, evergreen versus seasonal ads, or in-house versus agency ads. You describe each group with filters, and the report shows one row per group.
Custom groups or Group by?
If what you want to compare already exists on your ads, such as a campaign name, format, custom tag or naming convention position, use the normal Group by option. See Group-by options in Analytics reports.
If it isn't a field on your ads, such as "our three testing angles" or "ads that mention price", use custom groups.
Create custom groups
Open or create a custom report (see How to create a custom report).
Click Group by and choose Define custom groups.
For each group, set the filters an ad must match to be included.
Add as many groups as you need, then click the orange Save in the report header. Reports don't save automatically.
The report then shows each group as a row, with all your metrics side by side.
Combine conditions in a group
Inside a group definition, + Add filter rule adds a single condition and Add filter group adds a set of conditions. Each set can use And or Or, and sets are combined with And. For example: (Summer Sale or Back to School) and (Video or Carousel). Sets can be one level deep.
Example: comparing creators
Make sure each creator's ads can be identified, either with a custom tag per creator (see Custom tags in Analytics reports) or a position in your ad names (see Turn your ad naming conventions into insights).
In a custom report, go to Group by → Define custom groups.
Create one group per creator.
Add the same extra condition to every group if needed, such as and Video, so you're comparing like with like.
Make the groups differ only in the thing you're comparing.
Ask Raya
You can also describe the comparison to Raya, for example: "compare ads in the Summer Sale or Back to School campaigns that are video or carousel, build an Analytics report".
Good to know
Duplicating a report copies its groups. Build the comparison once and copy it to other accounts. See Duplicate Analytics reports.
New ads join automatically if they match a group's filters. If a group names specific campaigns, new campaigns won't be included until you add them.
If you're not sure how to turn a comparison into filters, send it to us in plain words and we'll help.