Brand Activator troubleshooting

  • Updated

Savings discrepancy and/or missing Activity Log data 

Errors such as no savings, a significant drop in savings, and/or no data in the activity log generally occur for these reasons:

  • Brand Activator terms didn't meet requirements.
  • Brand Activator search terms were switched out without proper qualification.
  • The scripts were enabled incorrectly.
  • The scripts stopped working because user permissions changed or user left company.
  • Brand Activator was deliberately paused.
  • The Google Ads account has hit the limit of 20 negative keyword lists. 

Quick checks:

  1. Review in-app alerts for common issues.
  2. Review the Activity Log to ensure there has been activity within the last hour.
  3. Confirm that Brand Activator terms are being indexed. 

Investigate:

Google Ads scripts

The owner of the scripts running in Google Ads no longer has the necessary permissions. This often occurs if the person who initially set it up has left the company.

In Google Ads, go to Tools > Bulk actions > Scripts.

  • Check script's status. Filter by 'Script name contains adthena'. Can you see the scripts? When did they last run?Screenshot 2024-08-02 at 3.59.39 PM.png
  • Review errors. Go to 'Script history'.
    • Note when the scripts last run. This should align with with the last activity recorded in the Activity Log. You should see activity within the last hour. If no recent activity, the scripts aren't working.
    • Review history for log statements as this indicates an error. Make a note of who created the scripts (the 'User').Screenshot 2024-08-02 at 4.23.16 PM.png

    • Click into the last log statement and scroll right to review entire statement. In this example you can see 'User doesn't have permission to access customer'. Scripts make changes on the user's behalf, so the user must be an Admin for the scripts to run. If the script's owner is no longer working at the company or moves to another team, the scripts will stop working. 

      Screenshot 2024-08-02 at 4.02.12 PM.png

  • Review script's owner and their permissions.
    • Check the user's permissions. Go to Admin > Access and Security and look for the user in the 'User' column (may have left company) and check their Access level (only Admins have script permissions).user.png

Fix permission issue

  1. Disable the existing scripts in Google Ads.
  2. Recreate the scripts using the same name (e.g., adthena-us) and the same code located in your Adthena account Settings Cog (top right corner), within the Brand Activator Setup section.
  3. In the yellow warning banner click "Authorize" to give permission for the scripts to run.
  4. Save the scripts by clicking the "Save" button.
  5. Click "Run" and then "Run without preview." You should now be redirected to the Script. management page. You don't need to make any changes to your existing negative KW list.
  6. On the script management page, you will see a table of scripts for your account. Find the row in the table with the adthena scripts and click the 'Frequency' column. Select 'Hourly' and click 'Save'.

After making above changes, Brand Activator should run as expected at midnight that same day and savings will display in-app after 4 days.

Negative keyword lists

Your Brand Activator campaigns should be active, contain the active exact match keywords selected for Brand Activator and be applied to the Adthena negative keyword list. 

Manual Changes

Check that keywords have not been manually removed from the negative keyword list.

NKL Script Errors

Error while removing all negative keywords from list

Screenshot 2024-08-07 at 09.44.47.png

The error above indicates that there are over 20 negative keyword lists in your Google Ads account, which means you have exceeded the maximum limit allowed. To resolve this issue, please follow these steps:

  1. Review Your Negative Keyword Lists: Navigate to your Google Ads account and check the number of negative keyword lists currently in use.
  2. Remove Excess Lists: Identify any lists that are no longer needed and remove them to ensure the total number does not exceed 20.

Please note: Lists owned by manager accounts do not count towards the limit.

Search terms

  1. Have the search terms been uploaded into the Brand Activator feature?
  2. Do the search terms meet the requirements?
  3. Have changes been made to existing terms? If so, do new terms meet the requirements?
  4. If terms were switched out, how long ago were the changes made? The Google Ads scripts update automatically and changes will be reflected 72 hours later.

No data in Ad and organic click chart 

Review this article and check your Google Ads account is linked to your Search Console account. You must be the administrator for both Google Ads and Search Console to proceed with linking the two platforms. Please note, that it will take 4 days for data to show in-app after setting up Brand Activator. If ad click data is still missing after 4 days, check your campaign settings in Google Ads. Ad Click and Organic data will filter through as long as the data is available in your linked Search Console account.

Redirect Error at point of authorization

This error occurs during the initial script set up, making it impossible for the user to authorize the script as expected:

Screenshot 2026-02-03 at 1.10.24 PM.png

Ensure that the user setting up the script is named as an Admin user at the child account level. Once added, the user should complete the normal Brand Activator script set up process as normal.