The Three Pacing Types
Every Standard Guaranteed order must have a pacing type. You choose one when you set up the order, and it tells the Spotify Ad Server how to spread your ad delivery across your campaign's flight dates.
ASAP — Full Speed
Delivers as fast as possible — focuses on the impression cap
Best for short flights, make-goods, or campaigns that just need to finish fast
ASAP does still pace (it's not the same as Priority, which skips pacing entirely) — it's just the most aggressive pacing option
Be careful: if your impression cap is reached early, your ads will stop delivering for the rest of the flight
*Important: ASAP Warm-Up Period*
When a campaign first starts delivering, the ad server applies a short warm-up period where it treats the campaign as if it were on Even pacing — even if you selected ASAP. This warm-up window is calculated as the greater of 6 hours or 10% of the total flight duration.
For a short flight (like a few days), this warm-up is barely noticeable — just 6 hours. But for a very long flight, 10% of the total duration can be months. During that entire warm-up window, the campaign behaves like an Even-paced campaign, which may result in much slower delivery than you expected.
Examples in practice:
Flight Length: 1 Year
10% = 876 hours = 36.5 days
Flight Length: 1 Quarter
10% = 216 hours = 9 days
Flight Length: 1 Month (30 days / 720 hours)
10% = 72 hours = 3 days
In all three cases the 10% value far exceeds the 6-hour floor, so the warm-up period scales linearly with flight length. The 6-hour minimum only kicks in for flights shorter than 60 hours (~2.5 days).
⚠️ Best Practice for ASAP
Keep your flight windows short when using ASAP pacing. ASAP is designed for campaigns that need to deliver quickly — pairing it with a multi-year flight works against its purpose. If you need always-on delivery for a long-running campaign, consider using a Priority Guaranteed campaign instead. |
Even — Steady & Predictable
Spreads your impressions evenly across the entire flight based on the historical performance of the content targeted
Best for long-running campaigns and brand awareness
Keeps delivery steady day after day
The ad server may allow SPAN to backfill open slots during high-traffic moments, since it knows it's on track to hit the goal
Avoid even pacing when targeting shows that do not have a predictable publishing cadence
Front-loaded — Heavy Start
Heavier delivery at the start of your flight, tapering off over time
Great for product launches, time-sensitive promotions, and building early buzz
Allocates approximately double the Even rate early on
Still paced — the ad server manages the impression cap so you don't burn through your goal too early
Pacing Only Applies to Standard Campaigns
This is important: Priority Guaranteed campaigns do not have pacing. They don't need it! Priority campaigns always serve first — they skip the pacing and ranking systems entirely. There's no impression cap and no pacing control on Priority campaigns.
If you see a pacing value (like "Even") displayed on a Priority campaign in reporting, ignore it — it's a placeholder that the system assigns automatically. It has zero effect on how the Priority campaign delivers. The ad server does not enforce pacing for Priority campaigns.
🔧 Quick Rule of Thumb
Need your ads to always serve first, no matter what? → Use Priority Guaranteed (no pacing, no cap).
Need to hit a specific impression goal with controlled delivery? → Use Standard Guaranteed + pick a pacing type. |
How Pacing Affects What Gets Served
The ad server prioritizes ads in a waterfall: Priority campaigns always serve first, followed by Standard campaigns. Within the Standard set up, the ad server looks at three things together to decide which order wins the impression:
CPM × Impression Cap × Pacing = Relative Priority
A more aggressive pacing type makes your order rank higher among other Standard campaigns. In order from most to least aggressive:
ASAP → Front-loaded → Even
So if you have two Standard campaigns competing for the same ad slot and everything else is equal, the one with more aggressive pacing will be favored by the ad server.
Why does SPAN sometimes fill instead of my Standard campaign?
This is normal! For Standard campaigns, the ad server applies pacing logic across the full flight to make sure your campaign hits its goal without burning through impressions too early. If your campaign is ahead of schedule (especially on Even pacing with a long flight) or in its warm up period, the ad server may let SPAN backfill some slots during high-traffic moments. Your direct-sold campaign isn't being skipped — it just doesn't need that particular impression to stay on track. If you need your ads to always fill when eligible, use a Priority campaign instead.
Changing Pacing After Your Campaign is Live
You can change pacing after a campaign is published — but there's one big rule:
You can only make pacing more aggressive. Never less.
Think of it like a one-way street. Here's what's allowed and what's not:
Change | Allowed? |
Even → Front-loaded | ✅ Yes |
Even → ASAP | ✅ Yes |
Front-loaded → ASAP | ✅ Yes |
Front-loaded → Even | ❌ No |
ASAP → Front-loaded | ❌ No |
ASAP → Even | ❌ No |
⚠️ Can't Go Backwards!
Once you switch to a more aggressive pacing type, you cannot switch back to a slower one. If you need to go from ASAP back to Even, you would need to create a new order. Plan your pacing choice carefully before you publish! |
Pacing & Impression Caps Go Hand in Hand
Every Standard Guaranteed order requires both a pacing type and an impression cap. The pacing type controls the speed; the impression cap sets the finish line.
A few things to keep in mind:
Setting the cap too low can prevent delivery. If you set a very small cap (like 1,000 impressions) with a longer flight, the ad server may not be able to pace delivery against such a low number — and your campaign won't serve at all.
After publishing, you can only increase the cap — never decrease it. This applies as long as the original cap hasn't been reached yet.
Quick Comparison: When to Use Each
Pacing Type | Best For | Speed |
Even | Long-running campaigns, brand awareness, steady delivery | Slow and steady |
Front-loaded | Launches, promotions, building early momentum | Fast start, slow finish |
ASAP | Short flights, make-goods, finish-fast campaigns | Warm up period, then full speed ahead |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Priority campaigns have pacing?
No. Priority Guaranteed campaigns skip the pacing and ranking systems entirely. Any pacing value shown in reporting is a system placeholder — ignore it.
My Standard campaign is set to ASAP, but SPAN is still backfilling some slots. Is that a bug?
Not a bug. The ad server paces across the full flight, so if your campaign is ahead of schedule it may yield some slots to SPAN. Use Priority if you need to always fill.
Can I change from ASAP to Front-loaded on a live campaign?
No. You can only make pacing more aggressive, never less aggressive. You would need to create a new order.
I set a campaign to ASAP with a 2-year flight and delivery is very slow. Why?
ASAP has a warm-up window equal to the greater of 6 hours or 10% of the flight duration. On a 2-year flight, that warm-up is about 2.4 months of Even-style pacing before ASAP kicks in. Keep ASAP flights short, or use Priority Guaranteed for always-on delivery.
How do I make one Standard campaign deliver before another?
Within the Standard tier, the ad server ranks orders using CPM × Impression Cap × Pacing. A more aggressive pacing type (ASAP > Front-loaded > Even) raises your order's relative priority.
What happens if I set my impression cap too low?
The ad server's internal budget may be too small to spend, and your campaign won't serve. Always set a realistic impression cap.