Purpose
After reading this article, you should understand the following:
- Template error categories
- Likely error cause
There might be other error causes. This document presents the most likely scenarios.
- How to resolve errors
There might be other ways to resolve errors. The correct resolution varies depending on how templates are implemented.
General information
Because Templates automatically builds and manages campaigns at scale (as opposed to when campaigns are manually built), the Templates feature can't check each field.
Templates errors do the following:
- Provide insight into where you might need to refine your feed, formulas or other template configurations to maximise template output and effectiveness.
- Display the number of campaigns, ad groups, targeting and creatives that the template couldn’t generate or update because of errors when the template was evaluated.
- Help you iterate on templates’ configurations to make them more effective. Because of the flexibility of Templates, configuring templates for each use case might require iteration.
Text is too short
In most cases, this error indicates that the template didn’t generate any text for the field with this error because most text fields accept as few as one.
Potential errors
Template type | Error |
Campaign | Field is too short: Campaign name |
Ad group | Field is too short: Ad group name |
Responsive search ad (RSA) | Field is too short: Unknown field |
Keyword | Keyword text is invalid: Keyword text |
Potential causes
Template formulas use feed data to generate the text for fields. Examples include campaign name, ad group name, headlines and descriptions.
- For formulas to be successfully validated, feed columns used in formulas must either contain data or be wrapped in
if_error(value, error_value)
functions.
Note: Ifvalue
generates an error, the function evaluates and returns the alternative defined inerror_value
. Otherwise, the function returns the value. - If data is missing, the formula fails, so partially accurate values aren’t created. The
if_error()
function enables templates to continue to produce values, even if some requested columns don’t have data.
Example scenario
Feed name: Feed A
Feed data:
ID | Brand | Category |
1 | Alpha | Shoes |
2 | Beta | |
3 | Charlie | Clothes |
The following formula automatically attempts to build a campaign for each unique combination of Brand and Category: "Campaign: " & f:"Brand" & " " & f:"Category"
.
Expected output:
Campaign 1 = 'Campaign: Alpha Shoes'
Campaign 2 = “Campaign: Beta “
Campaign 3 = 'Campaign: Charlie Clothes'
Actual output:
Campaign 1 = 'Campaign: Alpha Shoes'
Campaign 2 = “”
Campaign 3 = 'Campaign: Charlie Clothes'
Because Campaign 2 is empty, you get the following error: 'Field is too short: Campaign name'
Example resolution
Depending on the field, do the following:
- Use alternatives with other formulas or static text.
- Use
if()
functions combined withlength()
functions to detect if there will be length issues and provide alternatives. - Use text functions to trim and refine feed data to prepare it to be used in text fields.
- Modify feed data so it only contains data that meet the requirements for advertising platform text fields.
Start date should be after current date
Templates can't generate campaigns and ad groups after a statically defined date has passed.
Potential errors
Template type | Error |
Ad group | The ad group start date should be after current date |
Campaign | CAMPAIGN_ERROR_CANNOT_SET_DATE_TO_PAST: Start date |
Potential causes
The template start date was defined as a specific date and that date passed before the template tried to generate the affected campaign structure, targeting or creatives.
Example scenario
Template start date: 31/10/2022
Scenario: A feed is updated with new values on 10/11/2022, which triggers the template to attempt to create new campaigns or ad groups.
Output: New campaigns and ad groups can't be created, because the template start date (31/10/2022) is in the past.
Example resolutions
If a resolution is required, do one of the following:
- Change the start date to a date in the future.
- Use the 'As soon as campaigns are created' option to set the start date as the date the campaign or ad group is created.
- Define a static number of days after the campaigns or ad groups are created as the start date (for example, 'today +1').
Text contains invalid characters
The template-generated text included characters that aren't allowed for the impacted field. Typically, errors are generated because special characters are used, which can include (but aren't limited to) the following: !, @, #, $, %, -, (, ) and /.
Potential errors
Template type | Error |
Keyword | Invalid characters in keyword text: Keyword text |
RSA | STRING_ERROR_ILLEGAL_CHARS: Display path 2 |
RSA | STRING_ERROR_ILLEGAL_CHARS |
RSA | STRING_ERROR_ILLEGAL_CHARS: Display path 1 |
Potential causes
The following are potential causes for this error:
- Feed data contains characters that aren't allowed for the impacted field.
- The formula on the template contains static text with characters that aren't allowed for the impacted field.
Example scenario
Feed name: Feed B
Feed data:
ID | Field A |
1 | Alpha/Beta |
2 | Charlie |
3 | Delta |
Scenario: The following formula is used to populate Field A, which doesn’t support the '/' character: f:"Field A" & " / "
Expected output:
“Alpha/Beta / “
“Charlie /”
“Delta /”
Actual output:
No values are generated because all instances of the expected output would contain the '/' character, which is not supported. One of the Field A values, 'Alpha/Beta' contains the '/' character, and the formula adds the '/' character as static text.
Example resolutions
The following are general guidelines to resolve these errors:
- Update feed data to ensure that it doesn’t use special characters.
- Use alternates.
- In the Templates functionality, use functions such as
clean_keyword()
orregex_extract()
to remove special characters. The following example function removes special characters from the feed’s product ID column data:[TRIM(CLEAN_KEYWORD(PRODUCT_ID, " "))]
. For example, if the product ID in the feed is 'Bolt (10x)', the function returns 'Bolt 10x'.
Advertising platform policy issues
The template-generated text doesn't meet advertising platform policy requirements.
Potential errors
Template type | Error |
Keyword | POLICY_ERROR_POLICY_VIOLATION: Keyword text |
Potential causes
The following are potential causes for this error:
- Feed data doesn’t adhere to advertising platform policy requirements.
- The combination of feed data and static text produced by the template formula generates text that doesn't adhere to advertising platform policy requirements.
Example scenario
Feed name: Feed B
Feed data:
ID | Custom |
1 | Alpha |
2 | Beta |
3 | Charlie |
Scenario: The value 'Alpha' in the 'Custom' column doesn't adhere to the target advertising platform keyword policy.
Keyword formula: f:"Custom"
Expected output:
Keyword 1 = “Alpha”
Keyword 2 = “Beta”
Keyword 3 = “Charlie”
Actual output:
Keyword 2 = “Beta”
Keyword 3 = “Charlie”
'Alpha' can't be created, because in this example, 'Alpha' doesn't adhere to the advertising platform’s keyword policy. A template error is displayed.
Example resolution
Modify feed data so that text field data adheres to the advertising platform's policy requirements.
Advertising platform count limit exceeded
Each advertising platform puts limits on the number of campaigns per account, number of ad groups per campaign, number of ads per ad group and more. Advertising platform limit errors occur in the Templates functionality in the new Search Ads 360 when the template configuration attempts to build more campaign structures, targets and creatives than the advertising platform allows.
Potential errors
Template type | Error |
RSA | Advertising platform count limit exceeded |
Potential causes
The following are potential causes for this error:
- The multiplier, or the set of columns that a template uses to build campaign structure, targeting or creative, results in more combinations than the advertising platform limit allows.
- The number of templates that produce ad groups, targeting or creatives for a particular campaign or ad group exceeds the advertising platform's limits.
Example scenarios
Example 1
- Scenario: An ad group template has the following multiplier defined directly or implicitly based on ad group name:
f:"Product_ID".
For a particular campaign, there are more ad product IDs than the advertising platform allows. - Output: The ad group template builds up to the maximum number of ad groups allowed for each campaign. The remaining product IDs display as limit errors on the template.
Example 2
- Scenario: An ad group template has the following multiplier defined directly or implicitly based on ad group name:
f:"Product_ID"
, and the advertising platform limits the number of ads per ad group to 3. The user then creates 4 or more RSA templates for the ad group template, which causes the number of RSAs per ad group to exceed advertising platform limits. - Output: The ad group template builds up to the maximum number of ad groups allowed for each campaign. The remaining product IDs display as limit errors on the template.
Example resolutions
Example 1
- Change the multiplier on the ad group template to generate fewer ad groups by using any feed column or combination of feed columns that generate fewer unique values per campaign.
- Change the multiplier on the campaign template to generate more campaigns, so fewer ad groups are required for each campaign.
Example 2
- Decrease the number of templates that build ads within an ad group.
- Update the ad group template multiplier to generate more ad groups so fewer ad templates are required per ad group.
Empty RSA path 1 field
The template-generated text for the path 1 field was empty, but the path 2 field has a value. Both path 1 and path 2 must have values, or errors are generated.
Potential errors
Template type | Error |
RSA | FIELD_ERROR_VALUE_MUST_BE_UNSET: Display path 2 |
Potential causes
The following are potential causes for this error:
- Path 1 is empty because the text is too short.
- Path 1 was not configured on the template, but path 2 was configured.
Example scenario
Path 1 doesn’t exist, so path 2 must have the error. See the Text is too short section of this article
Example resolution
Check path 1 for errors and update path 1 on the ad template.
Duplicate assets
Headlines and descriptions for each template-generated ad must be unique. If template formulas attempt to generate duplicate ad headings and descriptions, an error is displayed.
Potential errors
Template type | Error |
RSA | ASSET_ERROR_DUPLICATE_ASSET |
Potential causes
The following are potential causes for this error:
- Feed data is the same in multiple feed columns that are referenced in different headline or description fields.
- The combination of feed data and static text that the formula produces results in duplicate headlines or descriptions.
- The same alternative is used for multiple headlines or descriptions, and 2 or more of these alternatives are needed to generate an ad.
Example scenario
Feed name: Feed B
Feed data:
ID | Brand | Category |
1 | Alpha | Shooting stars collection |
2 | Shoes | Shoes |
3 | Charlie | Clothing |
Scenario: An ad template has the following 2 formulas that result in the same output:
Headline: f:"Brand"
Headline: f:"Category"
Likely expected output:
Ad 1 = “Alpha. Shooting stars collection.”
Ad 2 = “Shoes. Shoes.”
Ad 3 = “Charlie. Clothing.”
Actual output:
Ad 1 = “Alpha. Shooting stars collection.”
Ad 3 = “Charlie. Clothing.”
Ad 2 can't be generated because 2 of the headlines have the same value, 'Shoes', which the advertising platform doesn’t allow.
Example resolutions
To resolve this error, do one or more of the following:
- Use different alternatives for each headline or description.
- Modify feed data to avoid duplicate values in the headline and description columns.
- Use logic functions, such as
if()
to prevent duplicate data.
Update non-managed settings via bulk edits
If your template generates an item (e.g. an ad group) with settings that conflict with related items (for example, if the template generates an ad group whose Max CPC is lower than the minimum required for related Microsoft Shopping Campaigns) and that setting is not managed by the template, then you can use a bulk edit to update the affected setting (e.g. increase Max CPC so that it meets the minimum requirement for Microsoft Shopping Campaigns).