Home 🛠️ Troubleshooting

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Camilo Aponte
By Camilo Aponte
• 79 articles

🛠️ OTTO PPC Google Ads Automation — Troubleshooting Common Issues

Use this guide to diagnose and fix the most common OTTO PPC errors — connection failures, missing ad copy, stalled reports, bid sync issues, and business setup requirements. 💳 Check Your Subscription Before Troubleshooting If OTTO PPC features are unexpectedly unavailable or greyed out, verify your subscription status under Avatar (top-right corner) → Billing. Legacy customers migrated to the new billing system should confirm their OTTO Google Ads add-on is active. Contact support if your plan appears correct but features remain inaccessible. ⚠️ Error 1: Google Ads account shows "Access Denied" or "No Account Found" Cause: The Google Ads OAuth token has expired or the connected account has insufficient permissions. 1. Go to account-level Settings (click your avatar, top-right corner of any page) → Integrations → Google Ads. This is a global account setting, not project-specific. 2. Click Delete next to your account, then refresh the page. 3. Click Add Account and log in with a Google account that has Standard or Admin access — Read Only access does not support automation. 4. Confirm the Google Ads account is active and not suspended in Google Ads. 5. Wait 5 minutes for account data to load after reconnecting. 6. If reconnection fails, contact support with your Google Ads Customer ID (the 10-digit number shown in the top-right of Google Ads, formatted as XXX-XXX-XXXX). Managing multiple sub-accounts: Each sub-account may need to be individually re-authorized. Re-authenticating the main Google Ads MCC (manager) account can resolve token failures across linked sub-accounts in some cases. If only some sub-accounts are restored after reconnection, contact support with the Customer IDs of the remaining affected accounts. ⚠️ Error 2: AI ad copy suggestions aren't appearing Cause: Ad copy generation requires campaign context and may be temporarily slow. 1. Wait up to 3 minutes — ad copy generation is slower than standard content generation. 2. Confirm a campaign and ad group are selected before requesting suggestions. 3. Add a landing page URL in generation settings — it significantly improves output quality. 4. Verify that AI ad copy is included in your plan: go to Avatar (top-right) → Billing → Plans & Top-ups, or visit our pricing page. If unsure, contact support with your account email. 5. Contact support if generation fails across all campaigns for more than 1 hour. ⚠️ Error 3: Bid changes made in OTTO PPC aren't reflecting in Google Ads Cause: Bid changes go through Google's API and aren't instant, or Smart Bidding is overriding manual bids. 1. Wait 15 minutes — bid changes are not immediate. 2. Refresh both OTTO PPC and Google Ads before comparing values. 3. Check whether the campaign uses Smart Bidding in Google Ads — Smart Bidding overrides all manual bid changes. 4. To use OTTO PPC bid automation, switch the campaign to Manual CPC in Google Ads settings. 5. Contact support with the campaign and keyword name if specific bids consistently fail to apply. ⚠️ Error 4: Campaign performance data shows "No data" or very old data Cause: The Google Ads connection may have lapsed, the date range is incorrect, or data has not yet synced. 1. Check your connection status: Left Sidebar → OTTO PPC → Connected Accounts. 2. Make sure the selected date range includes periods when campaigns were actually running. 3. Note that performance data updates every 3–6 hours — very recent data may not appear yet. 4. Reconnect the Google Ads account to force a re-sync. 5. Contact support with your Google Ads Customer ID (10-digit number, formatted as XXX-XXX-XXXX) if data has been missing for more than 24 hours. ⚠️ Error 5: Phone number extension shows a validation error Cause: Google Ads requires phone numbers in international E.164 format. 1. Format the number as +[country code][number] — example for US: +12025551234. 2. Remove all spaces, dashes, and parentheses from the number. 3. Confirm the number is a valid landline or mobile — some VoIP numbers fail Google's validation. 4. Select the correct country for your phone number when adding the extension. ⚠️ Error 6: Ad reports are stuck on a loading spinner with no data Cause: OTTO PPC reports require a business to be created or imported before they can populate. This is separate from connecting a Google Ads account or creating a campaign — if no business exists, reports show a loading spinner indefinitely, even after reconnecting the account multiple times. 1. Go to Account Settings. 2. Open the Business or Campaign section. 3. Click Create to add a new business, or Import to bring in an existing one. Once a business is created or imported, reports populate immediately — no reconnection required. ⚠️ Error 7: PMAX campaign shows Videos (0) in Google Ads despite uploading videos Cause: Uploaded videos are saved to the platform's asset inventory but may not be attached to the ad asset group in Google Ads due to a known issue. 1. Contact support with your campaign ID so the team can manually associate the uploaded video assets with the asset group in Google Ads. ⚠️ Error 8: PMAX campaign fails to launch Cause: A recently resolved platform issue may have prevented the campaign from launching. 1. Ensure your platform is up to date and retry the launch. 2. If the error persists, contact support with your campaign name and any error message displayed. 🎯 You now know how to fix the most common OTTO PPC errors, from OAuth connection failures and missing ad copy to bid overrides, stalled reports, and business setup requirements. If an issue persists after following these steps, contact Search Atlas support with your Google Ads Customer ID and a description of the problem.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ OTTO PPC: Troubleshooting PMAX Campaign Launch Errors

If you see an error when launching a PMAX (Performance Max) campaign in OTTO PPC, use this article to identify the cause and get your campaign live. Most errors trace back to incomplete asset groups, invalid campaign settings, or a disconnected Google Ads account — all resolvable in a few minutes. ⚠️ Active rollout notice: The Search Atlas team is actively rolling out a fix for PMAX launch errors and the update is expected shortly. If you complete every step below and the error persists, the issue may resolve automatically once the update is fully deployed — no further action is needed on your end. ⚠️ What Causes a PMAX Launch Error in OTTO PPC Performance Max campaigns have stricter requirements than standard Google Ads campaign types. An error at launch means one or more required fields are missing, invalid, or haven't synced correctly with your connected Google Ads account. Work through the steps below in order — most issues are resolved by Step 2 or Step 3. 🔍 Step 1: Check Your Asset Group for Missing Assets Incomplete asset groups are the most common cause of PMAX launch errors. Each asset group must meet Google's minimum asset requirements before OTTO PPC can push the campaign live. Confirm each asset group contains all of the following: - Headlines — minimum 3, up to 15 - Long headlines — minimum 1, up to 5 - Descriptions — minimum 2, up to 5 - Marketing image — at least 1 landscape image - Square image — at least 1 square image - Logo — at least 1 square logo - Final URL — a valid, reachable landing page URL After completing all fields, click Save in the asset group editor. When the asset group meets Google's minimum requirements, the validation warning banner clears and the asset group is marked as ready to publish. ⚙️ Step 2: Verify Your Campaign-Level Settings Missing or invalid campaign settings block launch even when the asset group is complete. Check each of the following: 1. In OTTO PPC, go to Campaigns and open the PMAX campaign you are trying to launch. 2. Confirm a daily budget is set to a value greater than $0. 3. Confirm at least one conversion goal is selected. PMAX campaigns require conversion tracking to optimize delivery — without it, the campaign cannot launch. 4. Verify the campaign start date is set to today or a future date. A past start date triggers a validation error. 5. Click Save after making any corrections. Once all settings pass validation, the Launch Campaign button becomes active and the inline error message clears. 🔗 Step 3: Confirm Your Google Ads Account Connection OTTO PPC pushes PMAX campaigns directly to Google Ads. A broken or expired connection causes a backend error at the moment of launch. 1. Go to Settings → Integrations → Google Ads in OTTO PPC. 2. Check that your account shows a Connected status. 3. If the status shows Disconnected or Error, click Reconnect and complete the Google OAuth authorization flow. 4. Return to your PMAX campaign and attempt the launch again. A successful reconnection displays a Connected badge next to your Google Ads account name. 📥 Step 4: Check for Manually-Added Ad Groups in Imported Campaigns If you are working with an imported campaign and you manually added a new ad group through the Edit Setup flow, this can prevent ad generation and stop the ad group from being pushed to Google Ads. A recent OTTO PPC release resolved ad generation for manually-added ad groups in imported campaigns. To clear this case: 1. Confirm you are on the latest version of OTTO PPC. 2. Open the imported campaign and review any ad groups you added manually in Edit Setup. 3. Save the ad group again to trigger ad generation. 4. Re-attempt the campaign launch. ▶️ Step 5: Retry the Campaign Launch After resolving the issue identified above, retry the launch from the campaign detail page. 1. Open your PMAX campaign in OTTO PPC → Campaigns. 2. Click Launch Campaign. 3. Confirm any preflight checklist prompts that appear. If the launch succeeds, the campaign status changes to Active. Allow up to 24 hours for the campaign to begin serving impressions in Google Ads. 🔎 Advanced Checks if the Error Persists If the error continues after completing all steps above, check the following less common causes: - Google Ads account permissions: The connected Google account must have Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account. Read-only access prevents campaign creation. - Billing status: Confirm your Google Ads account has an active payment method. Campaigns cannot launch to accounts with suspended or missing billing. - Asset policy violations: Images or ad copy flagged for a Google Ads policy violation block asset group approval. Check the Policy Status column in the asset group editor for any flagged items and replace them. - Browser cache: Clear your browser cache, reload OTTO PPC, then attempt the launch again. 🆘 Still Seeing the Error? If you have completed every step above and the campaign still fails to launch, contact the Search Atlas support team. Some PMAX launch errors are platform-side and may clear automatically as the active rollout completes. When contacting support, include the following so the team can reproduce and resolve the issue quickly: - Your Google Ads account ID - The campaign name - A screenshot of the error message (or the exact error text and any error code shown) Also reach out if the campaign status is stuck in Pending or Processing for more than 30 minutes after a launch attempt. 🎯 You now know how to identify and fix the most common PMAX campaign launch errors in OTTO PPC. For help building out your asset groups from scratch, see the Creating a PMAX Campaign in OTTO PPC article.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

⚠️ OTTO PPC Audit Section Displays N/A in the All Campaigns View

Status: Known issue — workaround available. If the Audit section in OTTO PPC shows N/A across every pillar and the AI Summary when the All Campaigns view is selected, switch to an individual campaign to restore full audit data immediately. This is a confirmed bug in Search Atlas currently under investigation. ⚠️ What the N/A Issue Looks Like The OTTO PPC Audit section defaults to an All Campaigns view designed to aggregate data across every connected campaign. The Audit section scores your campaigns across pillars — Budget, Quality Score, and Bidding are the primary examples — and generates an AI Summary of recommendations from those scores. When this issue is present: - Every audit pillar — including Budget, Quality Score, and Bidding — shows N/A instead of a score or recommendation. - The AI Summary shows N/A with no generated insights. - Switching between pillar tabs does not change the result — all tabs remain N/A. - The problem is isolated to the All Campaigns view. Selecting an individual campaign resolves the display immediately. 🛠️ How to Restore Audit Data Right Now 1. Open OTTO PPC and navigate to the Audit section. 2. Click the campaign selector dropdown — it defaults to All Campaigns. 3. Select any individual campaign from the list. 4. The audit pillars and AI Summary populate with data for that campaign. Repeat for each campaign you need to review. All per-campaign audit data is fully accessible using this method. 📋 Root Cause and Fix Status The Audit section fails to aggregate and render data when All Campaigns is selected. The audit engine returns no results for the combined view, causing every pillar and the AI Summary to fall back to N/A. Aggregated All Campaigns audit is an intended feature on the OTTO PPC roadmap — a confirmed fix has not yet shipped at the time of writing. If a new build has been released since you last loaded Search Atlas, perform a hard refresh to ensure you are on the latest version — press Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows or Cmd + Shift + R on Mac — then check the Audit section again. Note for standalone (connect-only) campaigns: OTTO PPC is actively being expanded to support standalone and connect-only campaigns across additional tabs. If you are using connect-only campaigns, Audit behaviour may differ from fully managed campaigns, and some pillars may show N/A even in the individual campaign view while the standalone rollout is ongoing. 🔑 When to Contact Support Contact the Search Atlas support team if any of the following apply after a hard refresh: - The All Campaigns view still shows N/A across all pillars and the AI Summary. - Individual campaign views also show N/A — this indicates a separate issue unrelated to this bug (unless you are on a standalone or connect-only campaign, where some N/A values may be expected during the rollout). - The campaign selector dropdown is empty or no campaigns appear in the list. When contacting support, include your workspace name and a screenshot of the Audit section so the team can investigate your specific account. 🎯 You now know how to identify the OTTO PPC Audit N/A issue, switch to a per-campaign view to recover your data immediately, and understand that aggregated All Campaigns audit is a known roadmap item. If individual campaigns also show missing data, contact Search Atlas support for a deeper investigation.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

📊 Google Ads Data Differences Across Search Atlas Tools

🔍 Overview If your Google Ads data appears incomplete or missing in Site Metrics or Site Explorer but displays correctly in Report Builder, you are not alone. This discrepancy is partly expected behavior and partly a known technical issue. This article explains how each tool handles Google Ads data, what counts as normal, and what steps to take if something is genuinely wrong. ⚙️ How Each Tool Handles Google Ads Data Search Atlas surfaces Google Ads data differently depending on the tool you are using. Understanding the methodology behind each tool is the first step to diagnosing any gap you notice. - Site Metrics (Left sidebar → Site Metrics): This tool uses a sampling methodology. It pulls data from the top 100 results for any given query or domain. Because it works with a sampled dataset rather than your full account, Google Ads metrics such as paid keywords, CPC, and ad spend estimates may appear partial or lower than expected. This is expected behavior, not a bug. - Site Explorer (within Site Metrics): Site Explorer follows the same top-100 sampling logic as Site Metrics. Paid data shown here reflects what is visible within that sample window, so coverage will always be narrower than your full account data. - Report Builder (Left sidebar → Reports): Report Builder connects directly to your linked Google Ads account via a native integration. It pulls data in full, without sampling limits. This is why the numbers here are more complete and accurate than what you see in Site Metrics or Site Explorer. ✅ What Is Expected Behavior The following scenarios are normal and do not indicate a bug or account problem: - Google Ads paid keyword counts are lower in Site Metrics than in Report Builder. - CPC or impression data is missing for some keywords in Site Explorer but visible in Report Builder. - Metrics vary between tools when your domain has a large paid keyword portfolio that exceeds the top-100 sample. - Google Search Console (GSC) performance data in Report Builder appears more granular than organic metrics shown in Site Metrics, because GSC data is pulled directly from your connected property. If your data differences match any of the above, no action is required. The tools are working as designed. 🚨 When Something Is Actually Wrong There is a known technical issue where a project saving or account-linking problem can cause Google Ads data to appear blocked or entirely absent in Site Metrics and Site Explorer, even when your Report Builder data looks healthy. Signs that you may be experiencing this bug rather than expected sampling differences include: - Google Ads data was previously visible in Site Metrics but has completely disappeared. - No paid data shows at all in Site Explorer, not just reduced numbers. - Your project appears unsaved, resets settings, or throws an error when you try to load it. - Report Builder shows healthy data, but Site Metrics shows zero paid results for the same domain. 🛠️ Troubleshooting Steps Work through these steps in order before escalating to the support team. 1. Confirm your Google Ads account is connected. Go to your account settings and verify that your Google Ads integration is active and authorized. A disconnected or expired token will affect data across all tools. 2. Check whether the issue is sampling or a true gap. In Report Builder (Left sidebar → Reports), open a report that includes your Google Ads data. If that data looks correct and complete, the difference you see in Site Metrics is likely sampling behavior, not a bug. 3. Reload your Site Metrics project. Go to Left sidebar → Site Metrics, select your project, and reload the page. If the project fails to load or resets your settings, this points to the project-saving bug described above. 4. Create a new project as a test. In Site Metrics, create a new project for the same domain. Check whether Google Ads data populates correctly. If it does, your original project may be corrupted and needs to be rebuilt or escalated. 5. Clear your browser cache and try a different browser. Session or cache issues can occasionally cause display problems that look like missing data. 6. Wait 24 hours if data was recently connected. New Google Ads integrations can take up to 24 hours to fully sync across all tools in the platform. 📋 Quick Reference: Expected vs. Bug - Lower paid keyword counts in Site Metrics than Report Builder → Expected. Sampling limit of top 100 results. - Some CPC data missing in Site Explorer → Expected. Same sampling methodology applies. - Zero Google Ads data in Site Metrics, healthy data in Report Builder → Likely a bug. Follow troubleshooting steps above. - Project not saving or resetting in Site Metrics → Known bug. Escalate to support. - GSC data more detailed in Report Builder than Site Metrics → Expected. Direct integration vs. sampled data. 🆘 When to Escalate Self-serve resolution covers most sampling-related questions. Escalate to the support team if: - Your Site Metrics project fails to save or repeatedly resets. - Google Ads data is completely absent in Site Metrics after confirming your integration is active. - The new-project test in the troubleshooting steps also shows no Google Ads data. - You have completed all troubleshooting steps and the issue persists. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

⚠️ OTTO PPC: PMAX Brand Vault Assets Tab Shows "No Assets Found"

The Brand Vault Assets tab in the PMAX Creative Assets picker currently shows "No assets found" even when your Brand Vault contains logos and images. Upload your assets directly in the Creative Assets step to complete your PMAX campaign setup without interruption. 🔍 What's Happening When creating a PMAX campaign in OTTO PPC, the Brand Vault Assets tab inside the Creative Assets picker displays "No assets found" — even when your selected business has logos and images stored in its Brand Vault. This prevents you from selecting existing Brand Vault assets and breaks the Brand Vault sync feature during PMAX campaign creation. Normally, your Brand Vault assets automatically populate in this picker (Brand Vault sync), allowing you to reuse logos and images across campaigns without re-uploading them. Who Is Affected - OTTO PPC users creating a new PMAX campaign - Any business account whose Brand Vault already contains uploaded logos or images 🛠️ Workaround Steps Skip the Brand Vault Assets tab and upload your assets directly in the Creative Assets step. Your campaign will be configured correctly — the assets simply need to be uploaded fresh rather than pulled from the Brand Vault. When you upload assets directly, they function identically to Brand Vault assets in your PMAX campaign and will sync to Google Ads normally. The only difference is they are not stored in Brand Vault for future reuse. 1. In the PMAX campaign creation flow, navigate to the Creative Assets step. 2. Skip the Brand Vault Assets tab — select the direct upload option instead. 3. Upload your required logos and images from your device. 4. Complete the remaining campaign setup steps as normal. Your uploaded assets will be applied to the campaign correctly. You will see them reflected in your PMAX campaign settings once creation is complete. 📡 Engineering Status Our engineering team is investigating this issue and developing a fix. In the meantime, use the workaround above to keep your PMAX campaigns running. 📞 When to Contact Support Reach out to our support team if any of the following apply: - The direct upload workaround does not resolve the issue for your account. - You cannot complete PMAX campaign creation even after uploading assets directly. - You continue to see "No assets found" after attempting the workaround steps above. 🎯 Our engineering team is investigating this issue — use the direct upload workaround to keep your PMAX campaigns on track, and contact support if you continue to experience problems.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ OTTO PPC Audits Stalling or Failing to Complete (Known Issue)

If an OTTO PPC audit stalls, times out, or shows as incomplete, wait a couple of minutes and re-run it from the OTTO PPC dashboard. Re-running is safe and does not affect your billing or stored account data. 🔍 What's Happening with OTTO PPC Audits OTTO PPC audits can intermittently fail to finish because a background processing worker restarts in the middle of a run. When that happens, the audit you launched may silently stall, time out, or display partial or no results instead of a finished report. This affects the following OTTO PPC audit types: - Spend Efficiency - Account Health - Keyword Performance The issue is intermittent, so the same audit often completes normally on a later attempt. Your account data and billing are never affected when an audit is interrupted. 🛠️ How to Re-Run a Stalled OTTO PPC Audit Follow these steps to recover an audit that stalled or returned incomplete results: 1. Wait a couple of minutes so the background worker pool can recover after a restart. 2. Open the OTTO PPC dashboard and re-run the affected audit (Spend Efficiency, Account Health, or Keyword Performance). 3. Run one audit at a time instead of launching several heavy audits together, which lowers the chance of an interrupted run. Re-running an audit is non-destructive: it will not change your billing or stored account data. Once the run finishes, you'll see a completed report with full results. 📡 Engineering Status for This OTTO PPC Issue Our engineering team is aware of this intermittent issue and is actively working on a fix that reduces how often the background worker restarts mid-run. Until that fix ships, the re-run steps above are the reliable way to get a completed audit. 📞 When to Contact Search Atlas Support If an OTTO PPC audit still does not complete after a couple of retries, contact Search Atlas Support. Share the audit type (Spend Efficiency, Account Health, or Keyword Performance) and the approximate time you ran it, and a specialist will investigate for you. 🌀 Your data is safe, and our team is on it. Re-running a stalled OTTO PPC audit is the quickest path to a finished report while the engineering fix is underway, and Support is ready to help if retries don't clear it.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

Meta Ads — Known Issues & What's Coming

🔍 Overview This article covers two things: minor issues you might notice in Meta Ads today (plus how to work around them), and a preview of features currently in development. We keep this page updated so you always know what to expect. ⚠️ Known Issues These are real, minor issues we are actively working on. None of them block you from running campaigns. 🏷️ Brands — Incorrect Creative Type Label In the Creative Drive section of the Meta Ads group, a creative asset may occasionally display the wrong type label — for example, a video shown as Image. This is a cosmetic issue only and does not affect how the creative performs or publishes. A fix is in progress. Workaround: Open the creative to confirm its actual format. The content itself is correct — only the label may be wrong. 📊 Analytics — Temporary Number Mismatch with Meta Ads Manager In the Intelligence group's Analytics section, performance numbers may briefly differ from what you see in Meta Ads Manager. This happens when Meta applies rate-limiting on their side, which temporarily slows down our data sync. Workaround: No action needed. The sync catches up automatically, and numbers will align on their own. If a discrepancy persists for an extended period, reach out via live chat. ⏳ Launchpad — Insight Data Delay After Connecting a New Account Right after you connect a new Meta ad account, insight data in Analytics and other Intelligence views can take a few minutes to fully load. This is expected behavior during the initial sync. Workaround: Wait a few minutes and then refresh the page. If data still has not appeared after 10–15 minutes, contact us via live chat. 🚀 Coming Soon The following features are actively in development. We are not sharing specific release dates, but we want you to know what is on the way. 🧬 Ad DNA (Meta Ads Group — Creative Drive) Ad DNA will analyze your creative assets to surface which specific traits — such as visual style, copy patterns, or format — are actually driving performance. Instead of guessing what works, you will have data-backed insight into your top-performing creative characteristics. 🗺️ Funnel Map (Intelligence Group) Funnel Map will give you a page-by-page view of where users drop off in your conversion flow — helping you pinpoint exactly where to focus your optimization efforts. ⚙️ Optimization (Meta Ads Group — Launchpad) Optimization will provide AI-recommended actions on your existing campaigns, suggesting concrete steps to improve results without requiring you to start from scratch. 📬 Additional Routines Destinations (Intelligence Group — Routines) Routines currently delivers automated reports and alerts to Slack and email. Additional delivery destinations are in development so you can receive Routines output in more of the tools your team already uses. 💬 Need Help? If you experience anything not covered here, or if a known issue is affecting your work more than expected, our team is ready to help. Open the live chat and type human teammate to connect directly with a person on our support team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

💳 OTTO Google Ads Add-On: Unexpected Monthly Charge Explained

The separate recurring charge on your account is the OTTO Google Ads (PPC) add-on — an optional, monthly recurring subscription billed independently from your core annual plan. Both charges appear in the same billing account but are separate line items. What Is the OTTO Google Ads Add-On? OTTO PPC automates Google Ads management. Every self-serve plan (Starter, Growth, and Pro) includes 1 connected Google Ads account and up to 10 campaigns; the add-on raises this to effectively unlimited account connections and up to 100 campaigns. It renews monthly regardless of whether your primary plan is billed annually or monthly. Why Is This Charge Appearing? The add-on was activated when you or a team member: - Enabled OTTO PPC from the Search Atlas dashboard. - Connected a Google Ads account and confirmed the add-on during setup. Review Your Billing History 1. Click your avatar in the top-right corner and go to Billing (Billing page). 2. Scroll to Billing History for a full list of charges with dates. 3. Look for line items labeled OTTO Google Ads or OTTO PPC. 4. The earliest occurrence marks when billing started; count the entries to determine total months charged. Cancel the Add-On 1. Go to the avatar in the top-right corner → Billing → Plans & Top-ups tab. 2. Locate the OTTO Google Ads or OTTO PPC quota row and use its Add-on button to manage the subscription. 3. Click Cancel Add-On or Manage next to the line item. 4. Confirm the cancellation when prompted. Access continues until the end of the current billing period, after which no further charges apply. If you cannot find the cancel option, contact Support via the in-app Help Widget with your billing email and the charge amount. Refund Eligibility Refunds for add-on charges are assessed case by case. Contact Support as soon as possible if the add-on was activated without your knowledge — the team can review the activation history and determine eligibility for recent charges.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

📊 OTTO PPC Campaign Visibility and Optimization Explained

🔍 Overview When you connect your Google Ads account to OTTO PPC, you may notice that some or all of your existing campaigns — including long-running ones — are not visible inside the platform. This article explains why that happens and what you can do to work with those campaigns effectively. ⚙️ Why Your Existing Campaigns May Not Appear OTTO PPC is designed to create and manage campaigns that are built directly within Search Atlas. When you link an existing Google Ads account, the platform does not automatically import campaigns that were created outside of Search Atlas. This is expected behavior, not a connection error. There are a few common reasons your campaigns may not appear: - Campaigns were created externally: Any campaign built directly in Google Ads — regardless of how old it is — is considered an external campaign and is not pulled into OTTO PPC's campaign manager. - Account linking vs. full sync: Connecting your Google Ads account grants OTTO PPC permission to launch new campaigns on your behalf. It does not perform a full two-way sync of your entire Google Ads history. - Campaign type compatibility: Some legacy campaign structures or campaign types may not be supported in the current version of OTTO PPC. 🛠️ What You Can Do With Existing External Campaigns At this time, OTTO PPC does not support direct editing or optimization of campaigns that were created outside of Search Atlas. If you need to make changes to those campaigns, you will need to do so inside Google Ads directly. However, here is how you can move forward using OTTO PPC alongside your existing campaigns: 1. Navigate to Campaigns: Go to Left sidebar → Ads → Google Ads → Campaign Hub to see all campaigns that have been created through Search Atlas. 2. Create new OTTO PPC campaigns: Use the campaign builder to recreate your best-performing strategies inside OTTO PPC. This allows you to take full advantage of AI-powered optimization, automated routines, and performance analytics. 3. Use Analytics for insights: Go to Left sidebar → Ads → Analytics to review performance data that can inform how you rebuild or restructure your campaigns within the platform. 4. Set up Routines for automation: Once your campaigns are live inside OTTO PPC, head to Left sidebar → Ads → Routines to automate bid adjustments, budget pacing, and other optimizations. 💡 Tips for Migrating Long-Running Campaigns If you have campaigns that have been running for years — such as a 12-year-old Google Ads campaign — migrating them thoughtfully will help preserve performance history and audience signals. Keep the following in mind: - Export your existing data first: Before making any changes, download your campaign settings, ad copy, keywords, and historical performance data from Google Ads. - Rebuild incrementally: Start by recreating your highest-ROI ad groups inside OTTO PPC rather than migrating everything at once. - Run campaigns in parallel: Consider keeping your legacy Google Ads campaigns active while you test new OTTO PPC campaigns. Compare performance over 30–60 days before making a full switch. - Use Keywords for keyword research: Go to Left sidebar → Keywords (Keyword Research) to find new keyword opportunities that complement your existing strategy. - Manage your brand assets: Use Left sidebar → Ads → Brands to store your brand guidelines and creative assets so new campaigns stay consistent with your established messaging. 🚀 Getting Started With a Fresh Campaign To launch a new campaign inside OTTO PPC that you can fully manage and optimize within Search Atlas: 1. Go to Left sidebar → Ads → Google Ads → Campaign Hub. 2. Click Create Campaign and follow the setup wizard. 3. Select your connected Google Ads account when prompted. 4. Define your targeting, budget, and ad creatives — or use AI suggestions to get started faster. 5. Once live, monitor performance under Left sidebar → Ads → Analytics. ❓ Frequently Asked Questions Will connecting my Google Ads account delete or affect my existing campaigns? No. Connecting your account to Search Atlas does not alter, pause, or delete any campaigns in your Google Ads account. Your existing campaigns continue running as normal. Can I import historical performance data from old campaigns? Full historical import is not currently supported. You can use the Analytics section to track performance going forward for campaigns managed within OTTO PPC. Is OTTO PPC campaign optimization available for all Google Ads campaign types? OTTO PPC currently supports the most common campaign types. Check the platform for the latest supported formats as new features are added regularly. 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔌 Why Your Google Ads Account May Not Appear

If you've connected Google Ads but can't see your account details in the dashboard, it's usually caused by one of a few common issues. Work through the checks below in order. 1. Confirm the integration is fully connected Go to Settings > Integrations. Find Google Ads in the list and check its status. If it shows as disconnected or pending, click Connect and complete the authorization flow again. 2. Make sure you granted full permissions During the Google authorization screen, all requested permission boxes must be checked. If any were skipped, Search Atlas cannot read your Google Ads data. - Disconnect the integration. - Reconnect it, and on the Google permission screen select Allow for every requested item. 3. Verify you signed in with the correct Google account Many users have more than one Google login. The account you authorize must be the one that has access to the Google Ads account you want to view. - When reconnecting, choose the Google email that manages your Google Ads. - If you use a Manager (MCC) account, sign in with the account that has access to the client accounts you need. 4. Check your Google Ads access level Search Atlas can only display accounts where your Google login has sufficient access. If you have no role on the account, ask the account owner to grant you access in Google Ads under Tools > Access and security. 5. Select the correct account inside the dashboard After connecting, you may need to choose which Google Ads account to display. - Open the relevant project or the Google Ads section of the dashboard. - Open the account selector menu. - Select the correct Google Ads account ID from the list. 6. Allow time for data to sync New connections need time to pull in historical data. If the account appears but shows no metrics, wait and refresh later. Still Not Seeing Your Account? If you've completed every step above and your Google Ads account still doesn't appear, try these final checks: - Clear your browser cache or try an incognito/private window. - Make sure your Google Ads account is active and not suspended. - Confirm the account is a live, active Google Ads account, as canceled or test accounts may not return data. When to Contact Support Reach out to our support team if: - The integration repeatedly disconnects after you reconnect it. - You see an error message during the Google authorization step. - Your account has full access and permissions but still shows no data after some time. When you contact us, please include your Google Ads account ID, the email you used to connect, and a screenshot of the integration status. Our support team can investigate the connection with you and help resolve it.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Fix OTTO PPC Google Ads Permission Errors

🔍 What Is This Error? When you attempt to create a new Google Ads campaign inside OTTO PPC, you may see a permission error that blocks the action from completing. This error persists even after refreshing the page, clearing your browser cache, logging out and back in, or waiting several hours. This article explains the most common causes and the steps to resolve them. ⚙️ Common Causes - Insufficient Google Ads account access level: Your Google account may not have the Admin or Standard role required to create campaigns via a third-party platform. - Expired or revoked OAuth connection: The authorisation link between Search Atlas and your Google Ads account may have expired or been manually revoked inside Google. - Mismatched Google account: The Google account connected to Search Atlas may differ from the one that owns or manages the target Google Ads account. - Manager Account (MCC) permission gap: If your Google Ads account sits under a Manager Account, the connected user may lack permissions at the individual account level. - Google Ads account policy hold: A billing issue or policy flag on the Google Ads side can restrict API-level actions such as campaign creation. ✅ Step-by-Step Troubleshooting 1. Verify your Google Ads access level. Log in to ads.google.com directly. Navigate to Admin → Access and security and confirm your account role is Admin or Standard. Read-only and Email-only roles cannot create campaigns. 2. Reconnect your Google Ads account in Search Atlas. Go to your Search Atlas account settings and locate the Connected Accounts or Integrations section. Disconnect the existing Google Ads connection, then reconnect it by completing the OAuth flow again. Make sure you authorise with the same Google account that holds the correct role. 3. Check for MCC permission issues. If your ads account is managed through a Google Ads Manager Account, ask the MCC admin to confirm that the user account you connected with has been granted access at the individual account level, not just the manager level. 4. Review your Google Ads account status. Inside ads.google.com, check for any billing alerts, suspended status, or policy notifications under Account → Account status. Resolve any flagged issues before retrying in OTTO PPC. 5. Test with a single campaign in Google Ads directly. Try creating a minimal campaign directly in the Google Ads interface to confirm the account itself is functional and not restricted by a policy hold. 6. Retry in OTTO PPC. Once the above steps are complete, return to OTTO PPC and attempt to create the campaign again. Use an incognito or private browser window to rule out any residual session issues. 💡 Tips to Prevent This Error - Always connect Google Ads using an account with Standard or Admin role to ensure full API permissions. - Re-authenticate your Google Ads connection in Search Atlas after changing your Google account password or revoking third-party app access in your Google security settings. - Keep your Google Ads billing information up to date to avoid account-level restrictions that block API actions. - If managing multiple clients through an MCC, verify per-account permissions before connecting each account to Search Atlas. 🆘 Still Seeing the Error? If you have completed all the steps above and the permission error still appears in OTTO PPC, there may be an account-specific configuration issue that requires investigation by our team. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Fix Google Ads Conversion Tracking Not Working

🧩 Why This Happens A common source of confusion is that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Ads use separate tracking systems. GA4 tracking a pageview or form submission does not automatically mean Google Ads is recording a conversion. Each platform needs its own correctly configured tracking to report results independently. If your Google Ads conversion tracking appears broken while GA4 is working fine, the issue is almost always in one of the areas covered below. ✅ Step 1: Confirm You Are Using the Right Tag Google Ads requires its own conversion tracking tag — not the GA4 tag. Make sure you have placed the Google Ads Global Site Tag (gtag.js) and the corresponding event snippet on your website. These are two separate code snippets: - Global Site Tag: Goes in the <head> section of every page on your site. - Event Snippet: Goes on the specific page or fires on the specific action you want to track (e.g., a thank-you page after a form submission). Do not confuse the GA4 measurement tag with the Google Ads conversion tag. They look similar but serve different purposes. ⚙️ Step 2: Check Your Conversion Action Settings in Google Ads Log in to your Google Ads account and review the conversion action itself: 1. Click Goals in the top navigation, then select Conversions → Summary. 2. Find the relevant conversion action and click its name to open the details. 3. Check the Tracking status field. It should read Recording conversions. Common status messages that indicate a problem include: - Unverified: The tag has not yet been detected. This can take up to 24 hours after installation. - No recent conversions: The tag was detected previously but has not fired recently. This may be normal if no one has converted, or it may signal a broken tag. - Tag inactive: Google cannot detect the tag on your site. Revisit your tag installation. 🛠️ Step 3: Verify Tag Installation with Google Tag Assistant Use the free Google Tag Assistant Chrome extension or the Tag Assistant companion at tagassistant.google.com to confirm your tags are firing correctly: 1. Open Tag Assistant and enter your website URL. 2. Navigate to a page where the event snippet should fire (e.g., your thank-you or confirmation page). 3. Complete the action that should trigger a conversion (submit a test form, click a button, etc.). 4. Check Tag Assistant for your Google Ads conversion tag — it should appear with a green or blue status. A red status or a missing tag confirms a tracking gap. If the Global Site Tag appears but the event snippet does not, the event snippet is either missing from that page or is not being triggered by the correct user action. 🔗 Step 4: Check for Tag Manager Conflicts If you use Google Tag Manager (GTM) to deploy your tags, verify the following: - The Google Ads conversion tag is published inside GTM — saved drafts do not go live. - The trigger assigned to the tag matches the exact action you want to track (e.g., a form submission confirmation, a specific button click, or a thank-you page URL). - You are not deploying the Google Ads tag both via GTM and hardcoded in your site HTML, which can cause duplicate or conflicting firing. ⏱️ Step 5: Account for Conversion Windows and Delays Even after fixing your tag, keep these timing factors in mind: - Tag verification delay: It can take up to 24–48 hours for Google Ads to detect a newly installed or updated tag. - Conversion delay: Conversions are recorded based on the date of the click that led to them, not the date the conversion happened. This can cause conversions to appear later than expected in your reports. - Attribution window: Check your conversion action's attribution window. If it is set to 7 days, a user who clicked your ad 8 days ago and converted today will not be counted. 🔄 Step 6: Import GA4 Goals as a Backup (Optional) If you want to use GA4 event data inside Google Ads, you can link your GA4 property to Google Ads and import GA4 conversions directly: 1. In Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions → Summary and click New conversion action. 2. Select Import, then choose Google Analytics 4 properties. 3. Select the GA4 events you want to use as conversions and import them. This is a reliable fallback, but note that imported GA4 conversions and native Google Ads conversion tags may count differently due to attribution model differences. Use one method consistently per conversion action. 💡 Quick Troubleshooting Checklist - Global Site Tag present on all pages? Confirm it is in the <head> section site-wide. - Event snippet on the correct page or firing on the correct trigger? Double-check placement or GTM trigger rules. - Conversion action status in Google Ads showing an error? Revisit tag installation. - Tag Assistant showing the tag as missing or broken? Reinstall or republish via GTM. - Waited at least 48 hours after installation? Allow time for Google to verify the tag. - GA4 linked to Google Ads if using imported conversions? Confirm the property link is active. 💬 Still Need Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Executive Summary Showing Paid Ads Data Without an Integration

📋 Overview The Executive Summary in Report Builder is AI-generated and summarizes key performance metrics and next steps for your SEO campaign. In some cases, the AI may include references to paid advertising metrics — such as CPA, paid conversions, or ad spend — even if you have not connected a paid ads integration. This is a known product limitation where the AI can hallucinate data categories that are not active in your account. ⚙️ Why This Happens The AI that generates your Executive Summary does not always restrict its output strictly to your connected integrations. As a result, it may produce recommendations or metrics related to paid advertising even when no paid ads platform (such as Google Ads) has been integrated with your account. This is not a reflection of your actual campaign data — it is an AI-generated summary that may include inaccurate or inapplicable content. 🛠️ What You Can Do At this time, the recommended workaround is to manually correct the affected content in your Executive Summary: 1. Navigate to Reports from the left sidebar. 2. Open Report Builder and open your report (the page is titled Executive Summary). 3. Locate the Executive Summary section at the top of your report. 4. Look for any available editing option within the Executive Summary or Next Steps area. 5. Remove or replace references to paid ads metrics that do not apply to your account. 6. Update the text to reflect only the integrations and strategies you are actively using. 7. Save your changes if the interface provides a save option. If you do not see a way to edit the Executive Summary directly, please contact our support team so we can assist you in correcting the content or escalate the issue to our product team. 💡 Tips for Correcting Your Summary When reviewing and correcting your Executive Summary, keep these points in mind: - Remove irrelevant metrics: Delete any references to CPA, paid conversions, or ad spend if you have not integrated a paid ads platform. - Focus on active integrations: Only retain data and recommendations from tools and platforms you actively use, such as organic search, analytics, or backlinks. - Be specific: Replace generic or inapplicable recommendations with steps that reflect your actual campaign performance. 🔄 When to Reach Out Contact our support team if: - You cannot edit the Executive Summary content directly. - The AI-generated summary continues to show paid ads data after your corrections. - You believe your integrations are set up correctly but the summary still reflects inaccurate data. Our team can review your account, confirm the root cause, and escalate to the product team if needed. If you need assistance, use the chat icon in the bottom-right corner of your dashboard to reach us. ❓ Frequently A

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔄 Smart Ads Sync Behavior with Google Ads Explained

🗺️ Overview Smart Ads in Search Atlas connects directly to your Google Ads account. When you make changes inside Smart Ads, many of those edits sync automatically to Google Ads — no separate publish button is required. This article explains exactly which elements sync, how quickly changes appear, and how to confirm your edits were applied. ⚡ There Is No Publish Button — and That's by Design If you are looking for a Publish or Push to Google Ads button inside Smart Ads, you will not find one. Smart Ads uses an automatic sync process. Once you save a change within the platform, that change is queued to sync directly to your connected Google Ads account without any manual publishing step on your part. 🔁 What Syncs Bidirectionally vs. One-Way Not every element behaves the same way. Understanding the difference prevents confusion when changes appear in one dashboard but not the other. - Bidirectional sync (Smart Ads ↔ Google Ads): Campaign status (active/paused), bids, budgets, ad group structure, and keyword changes flow in both directions. Edits made in either platform are reflected in the other after a sync cycle. - Smart Ads → Google Ads (one-way): Sitelink extensions, ad copy created through Smart Ads workflows, and AI-generated recommendations that you approve are pushed from Smart Ads into Google Ads. These changes originate in Smart Ads and are applied to your live campaign. - Google Ads → Smart Ads (one-way): Performance data — impressions, clicks, conversions, and cost — is pulled from Google Ads into Smart Ads for reporting. You cannot edit raw performance data inside Smart Ads. 🕐 Sync Timing and Refresh Requirements Sync is not instantaneous. After saving a change in Smart Ads, allow up to 15–30 minutes for the update to appear in your Google Ads dashboard. Performance data flowing back into Smart Ads is typically refreshed every few hours, depending on Google Ads API availability. If you need the latest data pulled into Smart Ads right away, you can trigger a manual refresh: 1. Go to Left sidebar → Smart Ads → Campaign Hub. 2. Click Refresh data at the top of the Campaign Hub page. 3. Wait a moment for the data to reload, then review your campaign details. Note that refreshing data in Smart Ads pulls the latest information from Google Ads into Smart Ads. It does not re-push your Smart Ads edits to Google Ads — that happens automatically when you save a change. 🔗 Sitelink Changes: When They Do and Don't Propagate Sitelink edits made inside Smart Ads are pushed to Google Ads as part of the automatic sync. If you edited a sitelink and are unsure whether it reached Google Ads, check the following: - Confirm the change was saved: After editing a sitelink in Smart Ads, ensure you clicked Save on that asset. Navigating away before saving will discard the change. - Check the timestamp in Google Ads: In your Google Ads dashboard, open the campaign or ad group where the sitelink is assigned, then view the change history. A timestamp matching the time you made the edit in Smart Ads confirms the sync completed successfully. For example, a timestamp such as 4/12/2025 on a sitelink in Google Ads means the change was received and applied — even if the Smart Ads interface does not display a confirmation message. - Sitelinks assigned at account level vs. campaign level: Google Ads allows sitelinks to be attached at the account, campaign, or ad group level. If your sitelink edit in Smart Ads targets the campaign level but you are reviewing the account level in Google Ads, the change may appear to be missing. Verify you are looking at the correct level in both platforms. - New sitelinks vs. edits to existing ones: Adding a brand-new sitelink through Smart Ads follows the same sync path. Edits to sitelinks originally created directly in Google Ads (outside of Smart Ads) may not always be reflected back inside Smart Ads due to the one-way nature of certain asset data. 🔍 Troubleshooting Timestamp Discrepancies If the Google Ads dashboard shows a timestamp on a sitelink or other asset but Smart Ads appears to show something different, follow these steps: 1. Go to Left sidebar → Smart Ads → Campaign Hub and click Refresh data to pull the latest state from Google Ads. 2. Navigate to the specific campaign and check the sitelink or asset in question inside Smart Ads. 3. Cross-reference with the Change history in your Google Ads dashboard. A matching timestamp between the two platforms confirms the sync was successful and the edit is live. 4. If the Google Ads change history shows the edit was applied but Smart Ads still appears outdated after a refresh, the display in Smart Ads may be cached. Try refreshing your browser and repeating the data refresh. 5. If the edit does not appear in the Google Ads change history at all, the sync may have encountered an issue. Check that your Google Ads account is still connected under your Search Atlas account settings, then re-save the change in Smart Ads. ✅ Quick Reference Summary - There is no Publish button — changes saved in Smart Ads sync automatically to Google Ads. - Allow 15–30 minutes for changes to appear in Google Ads after saving. - Use Refresh data in Campaign Hub to pull the latest Google Ads data into Smart Ads. - A timestamp in Google Ads change history is your confirmation that a Smart Ads edit was successfully applied. - Sitelinks created in Google Ads directly may not always be editable or fully visible inside Smart Ads. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Fix Google Ads Policy Rejections in OTTO PPC

🔍 Why Google Is Rejecting Your OTTO PPC Ads When OTTO PPC creates and pushes ads to your Google Ads account, Google may flag those ads as imported from a third-party tool or site. You may see a rejection notice referencing a domain such as joomleadpacks.com or a similar third-party identifier. This happens because Google detects that the ads were created programmatically via an external platform rather than directly inside the Google Ads interface. This is a policy compliance issue on the Google Ads side, not a bug in OTTO PPC. The good news is it can be resolved by following the steps below. ⚙️ How to Fix the Rejected Ads 1. Log in to your Google Ads account at ads.google.com and navigate to the campaign or ad group containing the rejected ads. 2. Identify all rejected ads. In the Ads view, filter by status Disapproved to see every affected ad. Note the rejection reason shown — it will typically reference a third-party import or policy violation. 3. Edit each rejected ad directly in Google Ads. Open the ad, make at least one minor edit to any text field (for example, add a period, adjust a headline word, or reorder a description line), then save it. This re-submits the ad as a native Google Ads creation rather than an external import, which clears the third-party flag. 4. Submit for review. After saving, the ad status will change to Under Review. Google typically reviews ads within one business day. Once approved, the ads will go live automatically. 5. Repeat for all 19 (or however many) rejected ads. Each ad must be edited and re-submitted individually unless you use Google Ads bulk editing tools, which can speed up the process for large volumes. 💡 Using Google Ads Bulk Editing to Save Time If you have a large number of rejected ads, manual editing of each one can be slow. Use the steps below to handle them in bulk: - In Google Ads, go to Ads & Assets → Ads and filter by Disapproved. - Select all disapproved ads using the checkbox at the top of the list. - Click Edit → Edit ads and apply a minor bulk change — for example, appending a single character to a description field, then reverting it on the next bulk pass. - Save changes. This triggers a fresh policy review for all selected ads simultaneously. Alternatively, you can use Google Ads Editor (the desktop app) to download your account, make bulk edits offline, and upload the changes — which also resets the review status. 🚀 Preventing This Issue on Future OTTO PPC Campaigns While this rejection type can occur any time ads are pushed from a third-party tool, you can reduce the likelihood of repeat incidents by keeping the following in mind: - Review ads in Google Ads shortly after OTTO PPC pushes them. Catching a rejection early means less downtime for your campaign. - Avoid making structural changes to ads in OTTO PPC immediately after they go live. Frequent re-pushes can increase the chance of the third-party flag being triggered again. - Keep your Google Ads account in good standing. Accounts with a history of policy violations may face stricter automated review. Resolving rejections promptly helps maintain a healthy account status. 📊 Checking Campaign Status After Resolution Once your ads are approved, return to Search Atlas to confirm everything is running as expected: - Navigate to Ads → Google Ads → Campaign Hub (Campaign Hub) in the left sidebar. - Open your OTTO PPC campaign and verify that the ad statuses shown in the platform reflect Active or Eligible. - If status data does not refresh automatically, try disconnecting and reconnecting your Google Ads account within the platform settings, then check again after a few minutes. 🆘 Still Seeing Rejections After Following These Steps? If you have completed all the steps above and your ads are still being rejected — or if Google is showing a different policy violation reason — there may be a deeper account-level issue that requires manual review. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛡️ Fix Google Ads Rejection for OTTO PPC Campaigns

🔎 Understanding the Rejection When Google Ads flags your OTTO PPC ads with a policy rejection related to a third-party site (such as joomleadpacks.com), it means Google has detected a reference to an unauthorised or suspicious external domain within your ad or its associated landing page. This can happen when scripts, redirects, or injected code link your landing page to a domain that violates Google Ads policies. This type of rejection blocks all affected ads simultaneously and will not resolve on its own. You must identify the source of the third-party reference, clean it, and then submit an appeal. Follow the steps below in order. 🧭 Step 1: Identify Which Ads Are Affected 1. Log in to your Google Ads account. 2. Navigate to Campaigns → Ads & assets. 3. Filter by status: Disapproved. 4. Note the policy reason listed — it should reference a third-party site or destination mismatch. 5. Record the final destination URLs attached to the rejected ads. These are the landing pages you will inspect next. 🔬 Step 2: Inspect Your Landing Page Code The most common cause is injected code on your landing page that references the flagged domain. You need to check the page source for any trace of the offending domain. 1. Open each affected landing page URL in a browser. 2. Right-click anywhere on the page and select View Page Source. 3. Use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) and search for joomleadpacks.com or any partial variation of the domain. 4. Also search for common injection patterns: <iframe, <script src=, and document.write. 5. If you find any references, note the exact lines — you will need to remove them from your page template, theme files, or CMS plugins. If you use a CMS such as WordPress, Joomla, or similar, also check installed plugins and recently modified theme files, as third-party injections frequently originate there. 🦠 Step 3: Run a Malware and Injection Scan Manual inspection may miss obfuscated code. Run an automated scan to be thorough. - Use a free tool such as Google Safe Browsing (search "Google Safe Browsing site check" and enter your domain). - Use Sucuri SiteCheck (sitecheck.sucuri.net) to scan for malware, injected scripts, and blacklist status. - If your hosting provider offers a malware scanner in its control panel, run that as well. - Address every issue flagged before proceeding to the next step. 🧹 Step 4: Clean the Landing Page and Destination URLs 1. Remove all code referencing the flagged third-party domain from your page source, templates, and plugins. 2. If a plugin or theme file was the source, delete or update it immediately. 3. Change any admin or FTP passwords as a precaution if an injection was found. 4. Verify your final destination URL does not redirect through the flagged domain at any point in the redirect chain. Use a redirect checker tool to trace each hop. 5. Republish or re-save your landing page after making changes. 6. Re-run the Sucuri or Safe Browsing scan to confirm the issue is fully resolved before submitting an appeal. 📋 Step 5: Update Destination URLs in OTTO PPC Once your landing pages are clean, confirm the destination URLs in your OTTO PPC campaigns are pointing to the correct, unaffected pages. 1. In Search Atlas, go to OTTO SEO in the left sidebar. 2. Open the relevant OTTO PPC campaign and review the destination URLs assigned to each ad. 3. If any URL previously passed through the flagged domain, update it to a clean, direct URL. 4. Save your changes. 📨 Step 6: Appeal the Rejection in Google Ads With the landing pages cleaned and URLs updated, you can now request a review from Google. 1. In your Google Ads account, go to Campaigns → Ads & assets. 2. Filter for disapproved ads. 3. Select all affected ads using the checkbox at the top of the list. 4. Click the Edit menu and choose Appeal or Request review. 5. Select the policy violation listed and confirm you have resolved the issue. 6. Submit the appeal. Google typically reviews appeals within 1–3 business days. If the appeal is denied a second time, repeat the landing page inspection steps — Google may have detected a different reference or a cached version of the page. Clear your server cache and CDN cache before re-appealing. ⚠️ Preventing This Issue in the Future - Audit all third-party scripts and plugins on your landing pages before launching new PPC campaigns. - Set up Google Search Console security alerts so you are notified immediately if Google detects malware or policy violations on your domain. - Avoid importing ad assets or landing page templates from unverified third-party sources. - Periodically re-run a Sucuri or Safe Browsing scan on your active campaign landing pages. 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔧 Google Ads Conversion Tracking Not Recording — Troubleshooting

🧭 Overview If Google Ads is showing clicks and GA4 is recording pageviews, sessions, and form submissions — but your conversion column stays at zero — the tracking code itself is rarely the problem. The most common cause is a misconfigured conversion action: the URL path or trigger condition does not match what actually happens on your site. This article walks you through the exact steps to diagnose and fix that. ✅ Before You Start: Confirm the Basics Run through this quick checklist to rule out installation issues before diving deeper: - The Google tag (or Google Tag Manager container) fires on every page of your site, not just the homepage. - The conversion action tag fires specifically on the confirmation or thank-you page — not on the form page itself. - You are not using an ad blocker or privacy extension in the browser you used to test. - The conversion window has not expired (default is 30 days for clicks). - You have waited at least 24–48 hours after a test conversion — Google Ads data is not real-time. 🔍 Step 1: Audit Your Conversion Action Settings in Google Ads This is the most frequently overlooked step. Inside Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions → Summary and click the conversion action you want to diagnose. Check each setting carefully: - Category: Confirm it matches the action type (Purchase, Submit lead form, Page view, etc.). - Conversion source: Note whether it uses a Google tag snippet or an imported GA4 goal. - Count: "Every" counts each conversion; "One" counts only the first per click. Make sure this reflects your intent. - Conversion window: If set too short, conversions from longer research cycles will be missed. - View-through conversion window: Disable this if you are not running display campaigns — it can inflate or confuse data. 🗺️ Step 2: Check URL Path Matching (Most Common Root Cause) A URL mismatch between your conversion action configuration and the actual confirmation page URL is the single most common reason conversions do not fire even when traffic is healthy. 1. In Google Ads, open the conversion action and find the tag setup section. Look for any URL or page-load condition that has been defined. 2. Copy the URL or path string that is configured as the trigger (for example, /thank-you or /order-confirmation). 3. Open your website and complete an actual test submission or purchase. 4. Check the exact URL in your browser address bar after the confirmation page loads. Common mismatches include: a trailing slash (/thank-you/ vs /thank-you), a query string appended by your CMS (/thank-you?ref=123), an https vs http difference, or a subdomain discrepancy (www vs non-www). 5. Update the conversion action URL condition to match the exact URL your site actually delivers. ⚙️ Step 3: Verify the Tag Is Firing With Tag Assistant 1. Install the Google Tag Assistant Chrome extension (or use Tag Assistant Companion). 2. Navigate to the page where your conversion tag should fire (your thank-you or confirmation page). 3. Complete a real test action — submit the form or trigger the event. 4. Open Tag Assistant and look for your conversion tag. A green status means it fired. A red or orange status means there is a firing problem — click the tag for the specific error message. 5. If using Google Tag Manager, open the GTM preview panel, complete the action, and confirm the conversion tag appears in the Tags Fired list, not Tags Not Fired. 📥 Step 4: If You Imported a GA4 Goal Into Google Ads When conversions are imported from GA4 rather than using a native Google Ads tag, there is an additional layer to check: - In GA4, go to Admin → Events and confirm the event you want to import is being recorded with the correct name (exact string match, case-sensitive). - In GA4, go to Admin → Conversions and confirm the event is marked as a conversion. - In Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions → Summary and confirm the imported GA4 conversion shows a status of Recording conversions, not No recent conversions or Unverified. - Allow up to 72 hours after marking a GA4 event as a conversion before it begins populating in Google Ads. 🧪 Step 5: Send a Test Conversion Google Ads has a built-in test tool. In your conversion action settings, click Check installation. Enter your website URL and click Send test traffic. Google will attempt to detect the tag on that URL and report whether it found it. If the tag is not detected, revisit Steps 2 and 3 above. ⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid - Tag fires on every page: A conversion tag placed site-wide (not just on the confirmation page) will over-count and can trigger data discrepancies that suppress verified conversions. - Duplicate conversion actions: If the same action is tracked both via a native tag and an imported GA4 goal, conversions are double-counted. Use one source only. - Smart bidding relies on conversion data: Until conversions record correctly, any Smart Bidding strategy (Target CPA, Target ROAS) will not optimise properly. Pause Smart Bidding and switch to Manual CPC while troubleshooting. 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Smart Ads Campaign Quota Showing Zero Incorrectly

🔍 Overview Some users have encountered a situation where Smart Ads displays a campaign quota of 0 — preventing new campaigns from being created — even though no campaigns were made during the current billing cycle. This is caused by a system sync error that incorrectly resets or misreports the campaign counter, not by the user actually reaching their plan limit. This article explains the issue, how to confirm it applies to your account, and the steps to take to get it resolved quickly. 📊 Understanding Smart Ads Campaign Quotas Campaign creation limits in Smart Ads are tied to your current plan tier. Each plan includes a set number of campaigns per billing cycle, and certain add-ons may grant additional campaign creation capacity. If your quota counter is displaying 0 at the start of a new cycle and you have not created any campaigns, this is a display or sync error — not a genuine limit being enforced. ⚠️ How to Recognise This Issue This issue is likely affecting you if all of the following are true: - You see an error message indicating you have reached your campaign limit or that your quota is 0. - You have not created any AI campaigns during the current billing cycle. - Your plan or add-on should entitle you to campaign creation. This is a known platform bug that affects the campaign counter sync. If you are experiencing this, your account counter may not have updated correctly and will require a backend correction. ✅ Steps to Take 1. Verify your plan entitlements. Go to your account billing or plan settings and confirm which plan tier you are on and whether any add-ons are active. This rules out a genuine quota limit. 2. Check your current usage. Navigate to Ads (Launchpad) from the left sidebar and review how many campaigns are listed for the current cycle. If the list is empty or shows fewer campaigns than your limit, the counter is misreporting. 3. Attempt to create a new campaign. From Ads (Launchpad) in the left sidebar, try initiating a new campaign. If the system still blocks you with a quota or limit error, the sync issue has not resolved itself on your account. 4. Contact support with your account details. Because this issue requires a backend correction to your account's campaign counter, reach out to our support team and include: your account email, your current plan name, and a screenshot of the quota error. A support agent will escalate a counter reset on your behalf. Once the reset is applied, you will be able to create campaigns immediately without any other changes needed on your end. 💬 Getting Help from Our Team If you are still blocked after following the steps above, our support team can identify the sync discrepancy on your account and apply the counter correction directly. Please contact us via the chat widget below so we can resolve this for you as quickly as possible.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

💳 Fix Google Ads Addon Billing Errors on Annual Plans

🔍 Overview Some customers on annual Search Atlas plans have reported unexpected charge attempts for the Google Ads addon — even though it is already included in their subscription. This article explains why this can happen, what steps to take immediately, and how to get the issue resolved quickly. ⚠️ Why This Happens This issue is linked to a known billing migration bug. During the transition to an updated billing system, some accounts were incorrectly flagged as missing the Google Ads addon, triggering automated charge attempts through Stripe. This can result in: - Repeated daily charge attempts of $199 to your saved payment method - Your card being blocked by your bank due to multiple declined attempts - The addon appearing as inactive inside the platform despite being part of your plan Our engineering team has identified this issue and fixes are actively being rolled out. However, if you are currently experiencing charge attempts, follow the steps below right away. 🛠️ Immediate Steps to Take 1. Do not cancel your plan. Cancelling your subscription will not stop the erroneous charge attempts and may disrupt your active campaigns and data. 2. Check your plan details. Log in to Search Atlas and navigate to Avatar (top-right) → Billing → Plans & Top-ups to confirm your current plan and included addons. If the Google Ads addon appears as inactive or missing, this confirms the billing migration issue is affecting your account. 3. Contact support immediately. This issue requires manual correction by our billing team. Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. Provide the following details so we can resolve it faster: - Your account email address - The date you first noticed the charge attempts - The charge amount shown (e.g. $199 or $201) - Whether your Google Ads addon appears active inside the platform 4. Notify your bank if needed. If your card has been blocked due to multiple failed attempts, contact your bank to explain the situation and request that the block be reviewed. Once our team corrects the billing record on our end, no further charge attempts will be made. ✅ What Our Team Will Do When you reach our support team, here is what happens next: - We will verify that the Google Ads addon is correctly included in your annual plan - We will manually correct your subscription record in our billing system to stop further charge attempts - We will confirm the addon is re-applied to your account so your campaigns and quota are fully restored - If any charge was incorrectly processed, our team will initiate a refund 📊 Verifying Your Addon Is Active After the Fix Once our team has corrected your account, you can verify the Google Ads addon is working properly by checking the following: - Your Google Ads campaigns should be accessible without a "Limit of 0 campaigns" error - Your billing summary should reflect the addon as included at no extra charge - No further charge attempts should appear on your bank or card statement If you still see errors after the fix has been applied, please reach out to support again so we can investigate further. 💡 Frequently Asked Questions Will I be charged for the addon twice? No. Our team will ensure the addon is correctly recorded as part of your annual plan with no additional fees. Are my Google Ads campaigns safe? Yes. Campaign data is not deleted during billing corrections. Once the addon is re-applied, you will have full access to your campaigns with the addon's expanded quota of up to 100 campaigns. How long does the fix take? In most cases, our billing team can correct the issue within one business day of you contacting support. What if my bank has already charged a dispute fee? Let our support team know. We will do our best to assist and document the issue for any bank communication you may need. 🆘 Still Need Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

📊 Fix Meta Conversions Not Aggregating at Campaign Level

🔍 Overview When reviewing Meta Ads performance in Search Atlas, you may notice that conversions appear correctly at the ad set level but are missing or incomplete when you view data aggregated at the campaign level. This discrepancy can make it seem like your campaign has fewer conversions than Meta Ads Manager reports — even when Meta shows a healthy total, such as 125 conversions for a campaign like Leads - 2026. This article explains why this happens and what you can do to get accurate campaign-level conversion data in Search Atlas. ⚙️ Why This Happens There are a few known reasons why Meta conversions may not roll up correctly to the campaign level in Search Atlas reports: - Aggregation fallback behavior: Search Atlas attempts to pull conversion data directly from Meta's API. If Meta's API is rate-limited or temporarily unavailable for your account, the platform falls back to its own database aggregation. In some cases, this fallback does not yet produce a complete campaign-level total. - Custom conversion events: If your campaign uses custom Meta conversion events (rather than standard Meta events like Lead, Purchase, or CompleteRegistration), these may not be fully supported in all reporting views. Some features — such as automated routines — currently support only standard Meta events. - Conversion tracking not fully configured: Campaign-level aggregation depends on Meta conversion tracking being properly set up and connected within Ad Studio. If this setup is incomplete, data may only surface at the ad set level where it is directly attributed. - Report Builder limitations: Meta Ads conversion data may not yet appear in the Search Atlas Report Builder even if it is visible in the Ads Analytics section. This is a known issue currently in development. 🛠️ How to Troubleshoot 1. Check your Ads Analytics view: Navigate to Left sidebar → Ads → Analytics. Select your campaign from the dropdown and confirm whether campaign-level conversion totals appear here. This view uses direct Meta API data and is the most reliable source within Search Atlas. 2. Verify your conversion event type: In Left sidebar → Ads → Campaigns, open the campaign in question and review which conversion event is assigned. If you are using a custom event, note that campaign-level aggregation for custom events has limited support at this time. 3. Confirm Meta conversion tracking is connected: Go to Left sidebar → Ads → Campaigns and ensure your Meta account is fully connected and that conversion tracking has been configured inside Ad Studio. An incomplete setup can cause data to appear only at the ad set level. 4. Cross-reference with Meta Ads Manager: Compare the conversion breakdown in Meta Ads Manager at both the campaign and ad set levels. If Meta Ads Manager shows the correct campaign total but Search Atlas does not, this confirms the issue is in how Search Atlas is aggregating the data — not in your campaign setup. 5. Wait and refresh: If Meta's API was recently rate-limited, data may be delayed. Wait 30–60 minutes and refresh your Ads Analytics view to see if campaign-level totals update. 📋 What Is Currently Supported It helps to understand the current scope of Meta conversion reporting in Search Atlas: - Standard Meta events (Lead, Purchase, AddToCart, CompleteRegistration, etc.) are supported for campaign-level aggregation and automated routines. - Custom conversion events have limited support — they may appear at the ad set level but not always at the campaign level in all views. - Report Builder does not yet display Meta Ads conversion data; this capability is currently in development and will be available in a future update. - Ads Analytics (Left sidebar → Ads → Analytics) is the recommended view for the most complete Meta conversion data available in Search Atlas today. ✅ Best Practices Going Forward - Use standard Meta conversion events wherever possible to ensure the broadest compatibility with Search Atlas reporting and automation features. - Always verify campaign-level data in Left sidebar → Ads → Analytics rather than the Report Builder until full Report Builder support is released. - Keep your Meta account connection active and authorised to avoid API rate-limiting that can cause aggregation fallbacks. 💬 Still Seeing a Discrepancy? If you have followed the steps above and campaign-level conversions are still not aggregating correctly in Search Atlas, our team can investigate your specific account and campaign configuration. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🚀 Why Your New Google Ads Campaign Shows No Results

🧠 What Is the Google Ads Learning Phase? When you launch a new Google Ads campaign, Google's algorithm needs time to learn who is most likely to engage with your ads. This is called the learning phase, and it typically lasts 7 to 14 days from the date your campaign goes live. During this period, Google is testing different audiences, placements, and bidding strategies to find the best combinations for your goals. Until that process is complete, your campaign will not perform at its full potential — and that is completely normal. 📋 What to Expect in the First Few Days - Low or no impressions: Google is still gathering data and may serve your ads sparingly at first. - Few or no clicks: Limited impressions mean limited click opportunities during early optimisation. - No conversions yet: Even when clicks occur, conversions can take additional days to register due to conversion lag. - Fluctuating costs: Your cost-per-click may vary significantly while Google calibrates your bids. - Incomplete data: Reporting dashboards may show gaps or zeroes while data accumulates. Running a campaign for 3 to 4 days is well within this expected learning window. This does not mean something is broken — it means the campaign is working as intended. ⏳ Understanding Conversion Lag Conversion lag is the delay between a user clicking your ad and completing the desired action — such as a purchase, form submission, or sign-up. Depending on your industry and offer, this delay can range from a few hours to several days. As a result, conversions from your first days of running ads may not appear in your reports until later in the week. This is especially common for higher-consideration purchases where users research before deciding. Do not pause or modify your campaign based on missing conversions during the first week, as doing so resets the learning phase and delays results further. 🔍 How to Monitor Your Campaign During the Learning Phase While your campaign is in the learning phase, the best approach is to observe early signals without making premature changes. Here is what you can do: - Check your campaign status in Search Atlas: Navigate to the Ads section of the platform and review the status of your active campaigns to confirm they are enabled and running correctly. - Review impression and click trends: Look at your campaign's reporting data over the first 7–14 days. Gradual increases in impressions and clicks are a positive sign that the learning phase is progressing. - Verify your targeting and budget settings: Confirm that your audience targeting, keywords, and daily budget are set as intended. Misconfigured settings are one of the few reasons it is worth intervening early. - Allow the full learning window before evaluating performance: Wait until at least 7–14 days have passed and your campaign has accumulated sufficient data before drawing conclusions or making optimisation decisions. - Do not pause or restructure the campaign early: Pausing, significantly changing bids, or editing ad sets during the learning phase resets the process and extends the time before you see stable results. If after 14 days your campaign still shows zero impressions, your ads may have a disapproval, a billing issue, or a targeting problem worth investigating. Check your campaign's status and any policy notifications in Google Ads directly. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Why Your Google Ads Campaigns Are Not Visible in OTTO

📋 Overview If you have connected and synced your Google Ads account to Search Atlas but cannot see your campaigns inside OTTO, you are not alone. This is a known platform limitation that affects all users who manage paid search campaigns through Google Ads. This article explains why this happens and what you can do in the meantime. 🔗 How Google Ads Connects to Search Atlas Search Atlas allows you to connect your Google Ads account to the platform for data integration purposes. When you link your account, Search Atlas can pull performance signals and keyword data to support your broader SEO and content strategy. However, this connection does not extend to full campaign management or campaign visibility inside OTTO. Even after a successful connection and sync, OTTO does not display your Google Ads campaigns, ad groups, ads, or paid campaign settings. This is not a sync error or a permissions issue — it is a current feature limitation of the OTTO interface. ⚠️ What OTTO Currently Supports OTTO is designed to automate and manage organic SEO tasks for your connected websites. Its current scope includes on-page optimizations, schema markup, technical fixes, and content recommendations. Paid advertising campaign management falls outside of OTTO's current feature set. - OTTO can automate on-page SEO changes and recommendations - OTTO uses data signals from connected accounts, including Google Ads, to inform organic strategy - OTTO does not display, create, pause, or edit Google Ads campaigns - Google Ads campaign visibility inside OTTO is not currently available 🛠️ What You Should Do Right Now While OTTO does not surface your Google Ads campaigns directly, you can still manage and monitor your paid campaigns using the following approach: 1. Use Google Ads directly — Log in to your Google Ads account at ads.google.com to view, create, pause, or edit campaigns. This remains your primary interface for paid campaign management. 2. Use Search Atlas keyword data to inform your paid strategy — Navigate to Left sidebar → Keywords to identify high-performing organic keywords that can be repurposed for paid campaigns. 3. Monitor organic vs. paid overlap — Use Left sidebar → Site Metrics → Overview (Site Explorer) to review your organic search performance alongside insights that help you decide where paid support is most valuable. 4. Keep your Google Ads account connected — Even though campaigns are not visible in OTTO, maintaining the connection ensures Search Atlas can continue using your paid data signals to enhance organic recommendations. 🗓️ Will This Change in the Future? Search Atlas is actively developing the platform and expanding OTTO's capabilities. Google Ads campaign visibility is a feature area the team is aware of. While no specific release date has been confirmed, improvements to paid campaign integration may be introduced in future updates. To stay informed about new features and platform updates, explore available playbooks and announcements by navigating to Left sidebar → Home and selecting Browse all playbooks. ✅ Quick Summary - Google Ads campaigns are not visible in OTTO — this is a current feature limitation, not a bug - Your Google Ads account connection is still valid and contributes data signals to your organic strategy - Manage your paid campaigns directly through the Google Ads platform - Use Search Atlas keyword and site metrics tools to align your organic and paid strategies 🙋 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔧 Fix Google Search Console and Ads Connection Errors

Overview Search Atlas integrates with Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Ads to pull your site's performance data, rankings, and campaign metrics directly into the platform. If you run into errors during setup — especially the 'no projects linked to email' message — this article explains what typically causes these issues and how to approach resolving them. Before You Start: Prerequisites Make sure the following conditions are met before attempting to connect either integration: - You are signed in to Search Atlas with the Google account that owns or has access to your GSC property. - Your domain has been added and verified in Google Search Console. Search Atlas can only pull data from verified GSC properties. - If connecting Google Ads, your Google account must have at least read-level access to the Ads account you want to import. - Pop-up blockers are disabled for the Search Atlas domain during the OAuth flow. How to Connect Google Search Console To connect GSC, navigate to the integrations or project settings area within Search Atlas and look for the option to link your Google Search Console account. You will be prompted to authorize Search Atlas via a Google OAuth window — select the Google account that has access to your GSC properties and grant the requested permissions. Once authorized, Search Atlas will display the verified GSC properties linked to that account so you can select the one matching your domain. Fixing the "No Projects Linked to Email" Error This error means Search Atlas connected to your Google account successfully, but found no verified properties in Google Search Console associated with it. This is the most common GSC connection failure and is caused by one of the reasons below. Reason 1 — Your domain is not yet added to GSC If you have never set up GSC for your domain, you must do so first. Go to search.google.com/search-console, add your property, and complete the verification steps Google provides. Once verification is confirmed, return to Search Atlas and retry the connection. Reason 2 — Your domain is added but not yet verified A pending or failed verification in GSC means the property will not appear in Search Atlas. In GSC, open your property settings and confirm your verification method is complete and active. Common methods include HTML file upload, DNS TXT record, or Google Tag Manager. After successful verification, retry the connection in Search Atlas. Reason 3 — You authorized the wrong Google account If you have multiple Google accounts, you may have granted access using an account that has no GSC properties. Disconnect the integration, sign out of all Google accounts in your browser, then re-authorize using the correct account that has your verified GSC properties. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Fix OTTO Retargeting Ads Stuck in Queue

🧭 Overview When OTTO generates retargeting ads, they go through an activation pipeline before they go live. In most cases, activation completes automatically within a few minutes. However, some ads can get stuck in the Queued for activation status for an extended period — sometimes days or even a week. This article explains why this happens and what steps you can take to resolve it. ⚠️ Why Ads Get Stuck in 'Queued for Activation' The Queued for activation status means OTTO has prepared your retargeting ads and is waiting to push them through the activation pipeline. Ads can remain in this state for several reasons: - A temporary delay or backlog in the activation queue - A connection issue between OTTO and the ad platform - Missing or incomplete account permissions for the connected ad channel - An underlying sync error that silently halted the process Waiting longer will not resolve most of these cases. If ads have been in this status for more than 24 hours, you should take action. 🛠️ How to Manually Activate Queued Ads If your retargeting ads have been stuck in Queued for activation for more than 24 hours, you can trigger activation manually. Follow these steps: 1. In the left sidebar, click OTTO SEO, then open SEO Automation inside it. 2. Locate the OTTO project that contains the stuck retargeting ads. 3. Navigate to the Retargeting Ads section within that project. 4. Find the ads showing the Queued for activation status. 5. Click the Activate button next to each queued ad (or use the bulk-select option if available) to manually trigger the activation. 6. Wait 2–5 minutes and refresh the page to confirm the status has updated. In most cases, manually triggering activation will push the ads through the pipeline immediately. ✅ What to Check Before Activating Before clicking Activate, make sure the following conditions are met to avoid the ads getting stuck again: - Ad platform connection is active: Confirm that your Google Ads or Meta Ads account is still connected and authorised inside Search Atlas. - Account permissions are correct: Ensure the connected ad account has sufficient permissions to create and publish ads. - Billing is up to date: A suspended or over-budget ad account can block activation on the platform side. - No duplicate campaigns: If a campaign with the same name already exists in the ad platform, it can cause a conflict that stalls activation. 🔄 If Ads Get Stuck Again After Manual Activation If the ads return to Queued for activation after you manually trigger them, this usually indicates a deeper sync or permissions issue that requires investigation. Do not repeatedly click Activate, as this may create duplicate entries. Instead, take note of the ad names and the connected ad account, then contact our support team for assistance. 💬 Need Further Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔧 Fix Google Ads Integration and Billing Issues

🔍 Overview If your Google Ads features are not working inside Search Atlas, the most common cause is a billing account misconfiguration on your connected Google Ads account. This can also result in unexpected charges or missed billing cycles. This article explains how to identify the problem, fix the connection, and request a billing review if needed. ⚠️ Common Symptoms - Google Ads data is not loading or showing errors inside Search Atlas - The integration status shows as disconnected or unverified - You were charged an incorrect amount in a recent billing cycle - Google Ads features are greyed out or inaccessible 🛠️ Why This Happens Google Ads integration failures are typically caused by one or more of the following: - Billing account mismatch: The Google Ads billing account linked to Search Atlas does not match the active billing profile in your Google account. - Payment method issue: Your Google Ads payment method was declined, expired, or removed, which suspends API access. - Permissions change: Standard (or Admin) access to the connected Google Ads account was modified or revoked. - OAuth token expiry: The authorisation token used to connect your Google account has expired and needs to be refreshed. ✅ How to Fix the Integration 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Go to your account Settings by clicking your Avatar Menu (👤) in the top-right corner. 3. Navigate to the Integrations section and locate Google Ads. 4. Click Disconnect to remove the current connection. 5. Click Connect Google Ads and follow the on-screen prompts to re-authorise your Google account. 6. When prompted, make sure you select the correct Google Ads account that has an active billing profile attached. 7. Confirm the connection status changes to Connected. After reconnecting, allow up to 15 minutes for your Google Ads data to begin populating inside the platform. 💳 How to Verify Your Google Ads Billing Is Configured Correctly 1. Open Google Ads in a separate browser tab and sign in with the same Google account linked to Search Atlas. 2. Click the Tools and Settings icon (wrench) in the top-right corner and select Billing & Payments. 3. Confirm that a valid payment method is on file and that the billing account status is Active. 4. Check that the billing account ID matches the account you selected during the Search Atlas integration setup. 5. If you see any warnings or a suspended status, resolve them directly in Google Ads before reconnecting to Search Atlas. 💰 What to Do If You Were Charged Incorrectly If you believe you were billed incorrectly on your Search Atlas account — for example, unexpected charges in April or May — please take the following steps: 1. Click your avatar in the top-right corner and select Billing (then use the Invoices tab) to review your invoice history. 2. Note the specific invoice dates, amounts, and any discrepancies you can identify. 3. Contact our support team directly using the live chat widget (see below) and provide the invoice details so a billing specialist can investigate and process any eligible refund. Please note: Search Atlas support can only review charges made directly through your Search Atlas subscription. Charges made directly through your Google Ads account must be disputed with Google. 🚫 Integration Still Not Working? If you have followed all the steps above and your Google Ads integration is still failing, it is possible there is an account-level configuration issue that requires manual review. Do not attempt to reconnect multiple times, as this may create duplicate token requests. 💬 Contact Support If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Fix Google Ads Campaign Publication Errors

🔍 Identify the Error Type Publication errors typically fall into three categories: authentication issues, configuration problems, or policy violations. Check the error message in the Campaign Hub to determine which category applies to your situation. 🔐 Verify Google Ads Account Connection Ensure the correct Google Ads account is connected. Navigate to Left sidebar → Smart Ads → Campaign Hub and confirm the account selector shows your intended client account. If multiple accounts are linked, disconnect and reconnect the proper one. ⚙️ Check Campaign Settings Review these required fields before publishing: - Campaign name (unique, no special characters) - Daily budget (minimum $1 USD equivalent) - Target locations (at least one selected) - Language targeting (matches ad copy language) - Bid strategy (compatible with campaign type) Missing or invalid values in any field will block publication. 📅 Validate Date and Time Settings Google Ads API v24 requires start_date_time instead of start_date. Ensure your campaign has a valid start date-time in the future. End date is optional but must be after start date if set. 📝 Review Ad Content for Policy Compliance Common policy violations include: - Excessive capitalization or punctuation in headlines - Unsubstantiated claims (e.g., "#1", "best") - Missing required disclaimers for regulated industries - Destination URL mismatch with ad content - Prohibited content categories (gambling, pharmaceuticals, etc.) Use the Campaign Audit feature under Left sidebar → Smart Ads → Campaign Audit to scan for policy issues before publishing. 🔄 Refresh and Retry Publication After corrections, click Refresh data in the Campaign Hub, then attempt publication again. The system now handles API v24 formatting automatically. 🧪 Test with a Minimal Campaign If errors persist, create a test campaign with minimal settings: single ad group, one responsive search ad, basic keywords, and a small budget. This isolates whether the issue is configuration or account-level. 📊 Monitor Sync Status After successful publication, check Left sidebar → Smart Ads → Campaign Performance for sync status. Green indicators confirm data is flowing between Search Atlas and Google Ads. 💡 Get Human Assistance If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔌 Disconnect and Reconnect Google Ads in OTTO PPC

🧭 Overview If you need to swap your connected Google Ads account in OTTO PPC — for example, to test with a different account or correct a wrong connection — this article explains what to expect and how to get the right support. Important: Because the exact steps for disconnecting and reconnecting a Google Ads account in OTTO PPC depend on your specific account setup, a member of our support team can walk you through the process directly and ensure nothing is disrupted. 🔗 Before You Begin - Have the Google login credentials ready for the new Google Ads account you want to connect. - Note the name of your current Search Atlas project and the Google Ads account currently linked, so our team can locate your setup quickly. - Be prepared to share any error messages or unexpected behavior you encountered when trying to disconnect or reconnect. 🔍 What to Expect Disconnecting and reconnecting a Google Ads account in OTTO PPC involves unlinking your current Google account authorization and re-authorizing with a different Google Ads account. The process is handled within the Ads section of Search Atlas (Left sidebar → Ads). If you have already located the relevant option in OTTO PPC but are running into issues, or if you are unsure where to find the disconnect option, our support team can guide you through each step in real time. 📋 Information to Have Ready When You Contact Support - Your Search Atlas project name - The Google Ads account currently connected (account name or ID if available) - The Google Ads account you want to connect instead - A description of what you have already tried, and any error messages displayed If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Fix Google Ads Data Not Showing in Atlas

🔍 Overview If your Google Ads account is linked to Search Atlas but no data appears — such as campaign performance metrics — this guide walks you through the troubleshooting steps our support team uses to resolve the issue. Follow each step in order before moving on to the next. ✅ Step 1: Confirm You Have Standard or Admin Access To let Search Atlas create and edit campaigns and ads, the Google account used to connect Google Ads needs Standard or Admin access in Google Ads. Read-only (or email-only) access cannot make changes. - Log in to Google Ads directly and verify the account role assigned to the Google account you used for the integration. - If the role is below Standard, ask your Google Ads account owner to upgrade the permissions, then retry the steps below. 🔄 Step 2: Disconnect and Reconnect the Integration in a Private Browser Browser cache and cookies can interfere with OAuth authentication, causing the integration to appear active while silently failing in the background. Reconnecting through a private browser clears this interference. 1. Open an incognito or private browsing window in your browser (Chrome: Ctrl+Shift+N / Cmd+Shift+N; Firefox: Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P). 2. Log in to Search Atlas in the private window. 3. Navigate to your integrations settings and disconnect the Google Ads account. 4. Wait 30 seconds, then reconnect the Google Ads account by following the on-screen prompts and granting all requested permissions. 5. After reconnecting, allow a few minutes for data to populate, then check your campaign performance data. 📊 Step 3: Check Campaign Performance Data Once the integration is reconnected, verify that data is now visible by reviewing your campaigns performance section within the platform. If metrics such as impressions, clicks, and campaign names are loading correctly, the issue is resolved. ⚠️ Step 4: If the Issue Affects Multiple Accounts or Websites If the data gap affects more than one linked account or website, the root cause may be a backend configuration issue that cannot be resolved through reconnecting alone. This type of issue requires investigation by our engineering team. In this case, please do the following before contacting support: - Note which specific accounts and websites are affected. - Record a short screen recording that shows the linked account and the missing data — this helps our team diagnose the problem faster. - Have the recording ready to share when you open a support chat. 💡 Common Reasons Google Ads Data May Not Appear - Insufficient permissions: For creating or editing campaigns, the connecting Google account needs Standard or Admin access in Google Ads. - Cached authentication: Browser cookies caused the OAuth token to be saved in a broken state. - Account mismatch: The Google account used to connect does not match the account that owns the Google Ads campaigns. - Backend sync issue: In some cases, a platform-side fix is required — particularly when the issue persists after reconnecting correctly. 🛠️ Still Seeing No Data? If you have completed all the steps above and Google Ads data is still not appearing, our specialized team can investigate and apply a backend fix. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🐛 OTTO PPC Daily Spend KPI Now Updates Correctly

A bug has been fixed in OTTO PPC where the Daily Spend KPI would not update after a campaign's budget was increased, causing the displayed spend data to appear stale or inaccurate. ✨ What's New The Daily Spend KPI now correctly refreshes and displays updated spend values whenever a campaign's budget is increased. Previously, after adjusting a campaign's budget upward, the Daily Spend KPI on the dashboard would remain unchanged, preventing users from seeing an accurate reflection of their current spend relative to the new budget. This fix ensures the KPI responds in real time to budget changes, giving you reliable data at a glance. 🛠️ How to Use It 1. Navigate to OTTO PPC in your Search Atlas dashboard. 2. Select the campaign whose budget you want to adjust. 3. Increase the campaign's budget and save your changes. 4. Return to the campaign overview to confirm the Daily Spend KPI now reflects the updated budget correctly. 📋 What to Expect No action is required on your part — the fix has been applied automatically. Going forward, the Daily Spend KPI will update as expected whenever a campaign budget is modified. If you had previously noticed discrepancies in your spend data following a budget increase, those values should now display accurately upon your next visit or refresh. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Fix OTTO PPC Campaign Zero Impressions Fast

🧭 Overview If your OTTO PPC campaign is running but showing zero impressions, there are several common causes you can check and resolve yourself before escalating to support. Work through the steps below in order to diagnose the issue. 🛠️ Step 1: Confirm the Campaign Is Active Navigate to your OTTO PPC campaign list and check the campaign's status. If the campaign is paused, disabled, or pending activation, it will not serve any ads and will record zero impressions. Enable or activate the campaign if it is not already set to active. 📋 Step 2: Check Your Budget Availability A campaign with an exhausted or zero daily budget will stop serving ads immediately. Review your budget settings to confirm a sufficient daily or total budget is allocated and that the budget has not already been spent for the current period. Increase the budget if necessary and allow time for impressions to accumulate. 🎯 Step 3: Review Your Bid Settings Bids that are set too low relative to the competitive landscape for your target keywords may result in your ads never winning an auction, leading to zero impressions. Review your keyword bids and consider raising them to a more competitive level to enter the auction. ✅ Step 4: Verify Ad Approval Status Ads that are pending review or have been disapproved will not serve. Check the approval status of the ads within your campaign. If any ads are disapproved, review the reason provided and make the required edits, then resubmit for approval. 🔎 Step 5: Check Targeting and Search Volume Overly narrow targeting or keywords with very low search volume can prevent your campaign from matching any queries, resulting in zero impressions. Broaden your targeting settings or add additional relevant keywords to increase the potential reach of your campaign. 📞 When to Escalate If you have worked through all the steps above and your campaign is still showing zero impressions, please have the following ready when you contact support: - Campaign name — the exact name of the OTTO PPC campaign showing zero impressions. - When the issue started — the date and approximate time you first noticed no impressions were being recorded. - Any recent changes — note any edits made to the campaign shortly before the issue appeared, such as changes to bids, budgets, targeting, or ad creative. - Campaign status — confirm whether the campaign is currently showing as active or in another state in your account. - Screenshots — capture the campaign overview screen and any error messages or status indicators visible in your account. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔧 Fix OTTO Pixel and Google Ads Visibility Issues

Overview Two common setup questions in OTTO PPC relate to the OTTO pixel not connecting and existing Google Ads campaigns not appearing after linking your ad account. This article explains what to have ready when reaching out to our team for each issue. Part 1: OTTO Pixel Connection Issues If your pixel is not showing as connected in OTTO PPC, our support team will need the following information to investigate and resolve the issue on your behalf: - The website URL where the pixel is installed - The platform or CMS your site uses (e.g. WordPress, Shopify, custom build) - A description of what you currently see in OTTO PPC regarding the pixel status - Any error messages you have encountered Because pixel connection issues may require backend verification, please have these details ready before reaching out so our team can investigate as quickly as possible. Part 2: Existing Google Ads Campaigns Not Showing in OTTO PPC If you have connected your Google Ads account to OTTO PPC but cannot see campaigns you previously created, our team will need to look into the account sync on the backend. Please have the following ready when you contact support: - Your OTTO PPC project name - The Google Ads account ID you connected - The names or types of campaigns that are not appearing - Any error messages or status indicators you have seen in OTTO PPC Providing these details upfront will allow our team to identify and resolve the visibility issue without additional back-and-forth. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

✨ OTTO PPC KPI Alerts and Whitelabel Fixes

The July 11 & 13 release introduces KPI Alerts in OTTO PPC to catch Google Ads campaign drift early, and closes two spots where SearchAtlas branding could appear on whitelabel accounts. ✨ What's New OTTO PPC — KPI Alerts: Advertisers now receive automatic notifications when a Google Ads campaign drifts from its target performance thresholds. Instead of discovering overspend after the fact, the alerts surface the issue early so you can take corrective action before budget is wasted. This is the first automated performance-monitoring layer built directly into OTTO PPC. Whitelabel Branding Fixes: Two locations where SearchAtlas branding could leak through on whitelabel accounts have been patched — the WordPress install wizard and a global platform element. Whitelabel accounts will now present a fully consistent branded experience to their end users in both areas. 🛠️ How to Use It KPI Alerts: The KPI Alerts feature is part of OTTO PPC and runs automatically once it is live on your account. Because full configuration details are available directly inside the platform after the feature is enabled, log in to your Search Atlas dashboard and navigate to OTTO PPC to check whether the feature is active for your account. If you do not yet see it, it may be rolling out progressively — contact our team using the instructions below. Whitelabel Branding Fixes: No action is required on your end. Both the WordPress install wizard and the affected global platform element will automatically reflect your whitelabel branding once the fix is applied to your account. 📋 What to Expect KPI Alerts run automatically in the background once configured — no manual checks required. Alerts are tied to individual Google Ads campaigns so thresholds can be managed per campaign based on its specific goals. For whitelabel users, the branding fixes apply immediately with no configuration needed; both the WordPress install wizard and the affected global element will now reflect your whitelabel branding correctly. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

⚡ Fix Meta Ads Budget Guardrails Blocking Campaign Launch

What Are Budget Guardrails? Search Atlas applies budget guardrails to Meta Ads campaigns to help protect your ad spend. These guardrails evaluate your campaign settings against available conversion data before allowing a campaign to go live. If the system determines that conversion data is incomplete or insufficient, it may block the campaign launch. This is most common with sales campaigns that include offline conversions, where purchase data may not yet be fully synced or attributed inside the platform. Why Your Campaign May Be Blocked When a Meta Ads campaign is blocked at launch due to offline sales data, the platform's budget guardrails have determined that the available offline conversion data is insufficient to validate and proceed with the campaign. This is a known platform limitation — the block is not necessarily caused by a misconfiguration on your end, and in many cases it cannot be resolved through user-side changes alone. If you are experiencing this issue, it is important to set the right expectation: resolving this block may require action from the Search Atlas team rather than a change you can make yourself in campaign settings. What to Do If Your Campaign Is Blocked Because this issue stems from a platform-level guardrail related to offline sales data, the recommended path is to escalate directly to the Search Atlas support team so they can investigate and log the request appropriately. When reaching out, please have the following ready: - Your campaign name - The date and time you experienced the block - Any error messages displayed on screen - Details about the offline sales data associated with the campaign If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

Finding and Selecting Your Business in Smart Ads

Overview When you open the Smart Ads tool, you need to select a business before you can create or manage ads. If no business appears in the selection screen, it usually means your account only contains one business or no business has been connected yet. This article explains what to expect and how to navigate to your business correctly. What to Expect on the Business Selection Screen The business selection screen lists all businesses connected to your account. If no business appears, it is likely because no business has been added to your account yet, or your single connected business needs to be accessed through the Local section rather than selected from a list. How to Access Your Business 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. In the left sidebar, click Local. 3. If you have a business already set up, it will appear here. Click into it to view and manage your profile. 4. If no business appears here either, you will need to add one before it becomes available in Smart Ads. See the section below for guidance. Adding a Business to Your Account If your account has no business connected yet, the Smart Ads selection screen will remain empty until you add one. To add a business: 1. In the left sidebar, click Local. 2. Look for the option to add or create a new business profile within the Local section. 3. Follow the on-screen prompts to connect or create your business. 4. Once your business is saved, return to Smart Ads — it will now appear for selection. If you continue to experience issues finding or selecting your business, please reach out to our support team for further assistance.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔧 Reinstating OTTO Google Ads Add-on

🔍 Why the Add-on Was Removed Your Unlimited OTTO Google Ads add-on may show a 4/10 campaign cap instead of unlimited due to a billing migration issue. During the transition to the new billing system, some grandfathered add-ons were not carried over correctly. The engineering team has fixed the underlying model, but existing accounts may still need a manual restoration. 🛠️ How to Request Restoration If your quota shows a limit instead of unlimited, you need to contact the Billing and Accounts team for a backend update. This cannot be done from the UI. 1. Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform. 2. Type human teammate to connect with a support agent. 3. Provide your account email and mention that your Unlimited OTTO Google Ads add-on was removed and shows a campaign cap. 4. Reference the $119.40 grandfathered rate if applicable. 5. The agent will escalate to the Billing and Accounts team for review (typically within 24 working hours). ✅ Confirmation of Restoration Once the backend team restores the add-on, you will see the up to 100 campaign quota reflected in your account. The support agent will confirm the change in the chat. 📋 Related Fixes Engineering has completed the following to prevent recurrence: - Modeled OTTO Google Ads entitlement into the Agency billing product with guard against double charges. - Audited and transferred legacy coupon add-ons for migrated customers. - Fixed "Limit of 0 campaigns" error despite active add-on. - Resolved duplicate Stripe subscriptions when re-activating the add-on. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔗 Fix Missing Meta Ad Accounts in Campaign Selector

🧭 Overview If a Meta ad account is not appearing in the Search Atlas campaign selector — even after confirming you have full access — this issue requires investigation by the Search Atlas support team. This article explains what information to have ready when you escalate. 🔍 Why This Happens A Meta ad account may not appear in the campaign selector for a number of reasons related to how the Meta integration is connected or what permissions and access are configured. The exact cause needs to be confirmed by the support team on a case-by-case basis. ✅ Before You Escalate Confirm the following before reaching out: - You have Admin access to the Meta Business Manager that owns the ad account. - The ad account is active and not restricted inside Meta Business Manager. - You are logged into Search Atlas with the account that holds the Meta integration. 🚫 What to Have Ready When You Contact Support Because this issue requires backend investigation, please have the following information ready when you reach out to the Search Atlas support team: - The name of the missing Meta ad account and its Meta ad account ID (if available). - The name of the Meta Business Manager that owns the account. - The exact location where the account should appear but does not (e.g., the campaign selector within a specific project). - Any error messages displayed, along with the date and time they occurred. - The email address associated with your Search Atlas account. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔗 Google Ads Connection: Different Emails & Disabled Button

Overview When connecting Google Ads to Search Atlas, you may encounter a button that appears greyed out or unclickable, or find that the Google Ads account you want to connect is registered under a different email address than the one you use to log in to Search Atlas. Understanding the Two-Email Scenario Search Atlas and Google Ads are completely separate platforms and do not need to share the same login email. For example, your Search Atlas account may use one email address while your Google Ads account is managed under a different email. This is a supported and common setup — the OAuth connection flow is designed to let you authorise any Google account you have access to, regardless of which email you used to sign up for Search Atlas. What to Try If you are having trouble connecting your Google Ads account, the issue is often related to which Google account your browser has active during the authorisation step. Before attempting to connect, make sure your browser is signed in to the Google account that actually has access to the Google Ads account you want to link, rather than the email you use for Search Atlas. Clearing any existing Google sessions in your browser and signing back in with the correct Google Ads email before starting the connection flow can help resolve conflicts. If the connection option remains unavailable after trying the above, this may require a manual review by our support team. Please have the following information ready when you reach out: - The email address on your Search Atlas account - The email address associated with the Google Ads account you are trying to connect - A description of exactly what you see when attempting to connect (including any error messages or unresponsive buttons) If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔧 Fix Google Ads Retargeting Business Profile Connection

Overview When setting up a new Google Ads retargeting campaign in Search Atlas, your connected business profile should appear automatically in the business selection dropdown. If it doesn't show up, this article explains what to check and how to escalate so our team can investigate your specific account configuration. What This Issue Looks Like You navigate to the retargeting campaign setup in Search Atlas, reach the step where you select a business profile, and the dropdown is empty or your expected profile does not appear — even though you believe your Google Ads account and business profile are already connected. What to Have Ready Before Contacting Support Because this issue involves account-level configuration between your Google Ads account and Search Atlas, our team will need to investigate on the backend. To help us resolve it as quickly as possible, please have the following information ready: - The exact name of the business profile you expect to see in the dropdown. - Your Google Ads account ID. - The email address used to connect your Google Ads account to Search Atlas. - A screenshot or screen recording showing the empty or incomplete dropdown during campaign setup. - The approximate date and time when you first noticed the issue. Next Steps This issue requires a member of our team to review your account's Google Ads connection and business profile configuration directly. Self-serve steps cannot reliably resolve it without knowing the root cause on your specific account. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔄 Fix OTTO Campaign Sync & Google Ads Mismatches

🔍 Overview A known sync issue can cause a mismatch between the campaigns shown in Campaign Hub and what is live in your Google Ads account. This article explains what is happening and what to have ready when you contact our team to get it resolved. 📊 Campaigns in Campaign Hub Don't Match Google Ads You may notice that the campaigns displayed in Campaign Hub do not match the current state of your live Google Ads account. For example, campaigns that have been paused or removed in Google Ads may still appear in Campaign Hub, or campaign data may appear outdated compared to what is live in your account. This is a known sync mismatch between Campaign Hub and Google Ads. Our team will need to investigate and resolve this on the backend — there are no self-serve steps available to fix it at this time. 📋 What to Have Ready When You Escalate To help our team resolve the issue as quickly as possible, please have the following information ready before reaching out: - The name of the affected project in Search Atlas - The name(s) of the specific campaign(s) that appear out of sync - A description of the discrepancy you are seeing (e.g., campaign appears active in Campaign Hub but is paused or removed in Google Ads) - The approximate date and time you first noticed the mismatch - Any relevant screenshots comparing what Campaign Hub shows versus your Google Ads account If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

📊 Fix Conversion Data Mismatches in Ads Reports

🔍 Overview If you notice that conversions, CPA, or other key metrics in your Search Atlas Ads reports don't match what you see inside Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads, you're not alone. This article explains the most common causes of these discrepancies and what you can do to get accurate data. ⚠️ Common Causes of Conversion Discrepancies Several factors can cause mismatches between Search Atlas reports and the native ad platforms: - Attribution window differences: Meta and Google Ads each use their own default attribution windows (e.g., 7-day click, 1-day view). Search Atlas pulls data using the API settings tied to your connected account. If those windows differ from your native platform view, totals will not match. - Conversion event selection: Your native account may be tracking multiple conversion events (purchases, leads, page views). Search Atlas reports may be pulling a different subset of those events than you're viewing in the native dashboard. - Data sync timing: Conversion data is not always real-time. There can be a delay of up to 24–48 hours before conversions reported in Meta or Google Ads are fully reflected in Search Atlas. - Date range and comparison settings: Conversion totals change when different date ranges are applied. Make sure the date range selected in Search Atlas exactly matches what you're viewing in the native platform. Comparison period deltas (e.g., week-over-week changes) require a valid comparison date range to be set — without one, delta figures may be unreliable. - Account connection issues: If your Meta or Google Ads account was recently reconnected or if token permissions changed, some historical data may not have re-synced correctly. 🛠️ How to Troubleshoot Step by Step 1. Check your date ranges match exactly. In Search Atlas, go to Left sidebar → Ads → Analytics. Confirm the date range shown matches the date range you are viewing in Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads. Even a single day's difference can produce large discrepancies. 2. Verify the correct account and campaign are selected. Inside Ads → Analytics, use the account and campaign filters to confirm you are looking at the same campaign. For Meta, ensure the campaign name (for example, Leads - 2026) is selected and not an ad set or ad-level view. 3. Compare the same conversion event. In your native Meta or Google Ads account, note exactly which conversion event is being counted (e.g., Lead Form Submit, Purchase). Check whether Search Atlas is configured to pull that same event. If the platform is summing all conversion events while you are filtering to one in the native dashboard, totals will differ. 4. Refresh the report data. On the Ads → Analytics page, use the refresh or re-sync option if available, then wait a few minutes before comparing figures again. 5. Check for a valid comparison date range. If you are reviewing period-over-period deltas or trending arrows, make sure a comparison date range is explicitly set. Deltas shown without a comparison period selected may not be meaningful. 6. Review your account connection status. Go to Left sidebar → Ads → Launchpad and check both Google Ads Campaign Hub and Meta Ads Launchpad. Confirm your accounts show as connected and active. A broken or expired connection can cause missing or zero conversion data. 📋 Known Behaviours to Be Aware Of The following situations can produce numbers that look incorrect but have a known explanation: - Zero conversions with significant spend: If Search Atlas reports 0 conversions on a campaign that shows conversions in Meta, this is typically caused by a sync issue or a mismatch in which conversion event is being tracked. Re-check your account connection and the conversion event configuration. - Conversions appearing much higher than the native platform: In some configurations, conversion events can be counted more than once if multiple event types are included. Ensure only the intended conversion actions are included in your report view. - CPA figures that look too low or too good: A CPA that appears unusually efficient compared to your native platform is often a sign that conversion counts are inflated. Cross-reference total conversions first before acting on CPA data. ✅ Best Practices for Accurate Reporting - Always use identical date ranges in Search Atlas and your native ad platform when comparing figures. - Align on a single primary conversion event per campaign before analysing CPA. - Allow 24–48 hours after a campaign change or account reconnection before comparing conversion totals. - Set an explicit comparison date range any time you want to view period-over-period performance changes. 💬 Still Seeing a Discrepancy? If you have followed the steps above and your conversion data still does not match, our team can investigate the specific account and campaign configuration with you. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Fix OTTO Pixel False Negatives and Google Ads Sync

🔍 Overview Two separate but related issues can block your OTTO setup: the pixel verification tool reporting a false negative (showing the pixel as missing even though it is correctly installed), and the Google Ads account failing to connect inside Campaign Hub. This article explains why each issue occurs and walks you through the steps to resolve both. ⚠️ Understanding OTTO Pixel False Negatives A false negative means the OTTO pixel scanner reports that your pixel is not detected, even though you have installed it correctly. This is typically caused by one or more of the following: - Third-party script collision: Another script on your site shares a similar src attribute path, causing the scanner to misidentify the pixel's origin domain. - GTM caching: Google Tag Manager caches container snapshots. If the pixel was recently added to GTM, the cached version may not yet include it, so the scanner reads an outdated snapshot. - WAF or CDN blocking: A Web Application Firewall (WAF) or content delivery network (CDN) may block the verification request before the scanner can read the pixel response. - Direct install mislabelled as GTM: The diagnostic tool may incorrectly classify a direct (hard-coded) pixel installation as a GTM-managed install, which can trigger a domain-mismatch warning. 🛠️ Steps to Resolve Pixel False Negatives 1. Navigate to Left sidebar → OTTO SEO → SEO Automation (URL: /seo-automation-v3) and open the site showing a pixel error. 2. Confirm the pixel snippet is placed in the <head> section of every page, either hard-coded directly in your theme or published through GTM. 3. If you are using GTM, publish a new container version to force a cache refresh, then wait 5–10 minutes before re-running verification. 4. Temporarily disable your WAF or CDN caching rules for your domain (or whitelist the Search Atlas verification user-agent), then re-run the pixel check. 5. If you installed the pixel directly (not through GTM), ensure no other third-party scripts on the page use a src URL that contains a similar path or domain fragment to the OTTO pixel URL, as this can cause a source collision. 6. After making changes, return to Left sidebar → OTTO SEO → SEO Automation (All Sites), select your site, and trigger a fresh verification scan. Allow up to 15 minutes for the two-tier scanner to complete both its primary and fallback checks. 📊 Understanding Google Ads Account Sync Failures in Campaign Hub If you cannot connect your Google Ads account inside Campaign Hub, the most common reasons are: - Incorrect Google account permissions: The Google account used to authorise the connection must have at least Standard access to the Google Ads account you want to link. - OAuth consent not completed: The authorisation flow was interrupted or the required permissions were not accepted. - Multiple Google accounts logged in: Browser sessions with multiple Google accounts can cause the wrong account to be authorised. - Terminology mismatch: Campaign Hub uses the term "Connect Account" rather than "Install Pixel." If you see a banner or button referencing pixel installation in the Reports tab, this is a display label and does not affect Google Ads connectivity — proceed with the account connection flow regardless. 🔗 Steps to Resolve Google Ads Connection Failures 1. Before starting, sign out of all Google accounts in your browser and sign back in using only the Google account that has Standard or Admin access to your Google Ads account. 2. Inside Search Atlas, go to Campaign Hub and select the option to connect a Google Ads account. 3. Complete the full OAuth flow — accept all requested permissions when prompted by Google. Do not close the pop-up window before it confirms success. 4. If the connection still fails, try using an incognito or private browser window to eliminate cached session conflicts, then repeat the OAuth flow. 5. Verify that the Google Ads account you are connecting is active and not suspended in the Google Ads dashboard before attempting to link it again. 6. After a successful connection, refresh Campaign Hub and confirm your account appears under connected accounts. ✅ Quick Checklist - Pixel is in the <head> on all pages and matches the correct domain - GTM container published after pixel was added - WAF/CDN not blocking the verification request - No conflicting third-party scripts with similar src paths - Single Google account with Standard access used for OAuth - Full OAuth consent accepted without interruption - Google Ads account is active (not suspended) 💬 Still Need Help? If you have followed all steps above and are still experiencing a false negative or a Google Ads sync failure, our team can review your specific site configuration and account logs. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Fix Business Missing From Google Ads Retargeting Dropdown

🧭 Overview When launching a retargeting campaign in Google Ads through Search Atlas, your business profile should appear in the dropdown automatically if it is connected. If it does not appear, the cause is almost always one of four things: a sync delay, a permission gap, a mismatched account link, or a campaign settings conflict. Work through the steps below in order to isolate and fix the issue. ✅ Step 1: Verify Your GBP Sync Status Before checking Google Ads settings, confirm that your Google Business Profile is fully synced inside Search Atlas. 1. In the left sidebar, click Local. 2. On the Local Overview page, locate your business profile in the project list. 3. Check the sync status indicator next to the business name. It should show a green Connected status. 4. If the status shows Pending or Error, click the profile, then use the reconnect option to re-authorise the Google account. 5. After reconnecting, wait up to 5 minutes for the sync to complete, then return to your Google Ads campaign setup and recheck the dropdown. 🔑 Step 2: Validate Account Permissions The Google account used to connect your GBP must also have the correct access level on the linked Google Ads account. A mismatch here is the most common cause of the dropdown appearing empty. - Google Business Profile: The connected Google account must be an Owner or Manager of the GBP listing. Viewer-level access is not sufficient. - Google Ads: The same Google account must have at least Standard access on the Google Ads account you are targeting. Admin access is recommended. - If a team member originally connected the GBP but you are now running campaigns under a different Google login, you will need to reconnect using an account that has both permissions simultaneously. To update the connected Google account in Search Atlas, go to Left sidebar → Local → GBP Projects, open the relevant project, and use the account settings to disconnect and reconnect with the correct credentials. 🔗 Step 3: Confirm the GBP Is Linked to the Correct Google Ads Account Your GBP and your Google Ads account must be linked directly inside Google. Search Atlas surfaces this link, but does not create it on your behalf. 1. Log in to Google Ads at ads.google.com. 2. Navigate to Tools and Settings → Linked accounts → Google Business Profile. 3. Confirm your business listing appears there with a Linked status. 4. If it is not linked, click Link account, enter the GBP email or listing ID, and complete the linking process. 5. Once the link is confirmed in Google Ads, return to Search Atlas and refresh your campaign setup page. Your business should now appear in the dropdown. ⚙️ Step 4: Check Your Campaign Settings Certain campaign configuration choices can filter out eligible business profiles from the dropdown before you even see them. - Campaign type: Business profile assets are only available for Search, Performance Max, and Local campaign types. Display-only or Video campaigns will not show the dropdown at all. - Geographic targeting: If your campaign targets a region that does not match the service area or address on your GBP, the profile may be suppressed. Verify the location settings match. - Ad account currency and billing: An inactive or suspended Google Ads account will prevent profile assets from loading. Confirm your billing status is active in Google Ads before proceeding. 🔄 Step 5: Force a Manual Refresh If all permissions and links are correct but the dropdown is still empty, a cached state in Search Atlas may be responsible. 1. Save any campaign progress as a draft. 2. Log out of Search Atlas completely. 3. Clear your browser cache and cookies. 4. Log back in, navigate back to your campaign draft, and reopen the business profile dropdown. 5. If the business still does not appear after a full cache clear, proceed to escalation below. 🚨 When to Escalate Escalate to the Search Atlas support team if any of the following are true after completing all steps above: - The GBP shows Connected in Search Atlas but still does not appear in the dropdown. - The GBP is confirmed linked inside Google Ads but the dropdown remains empty. - The sync status returns to Error immediately after reconnecting. - Multiple business profiles are missing, not just one. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔗 Connecting Multiple Websites to OTTO PPC

🔍 Overview OTTO PPC connects your websites to Google Ads so campaigns can be created and managed automatically. However, the number of Google Ads accounts you can connect depends on your Search Atlas subscription tier. If you see errors like "Failed to connect otto_v2" or "No service ID was returned", your current plan may not support connecting additional websites. ⚠️ Understanding the Error Messages When you try to connect a website to OTTO PPC and see one of the messages below, it is almost always related to your account's Google Ads connection limit: - "Failed to connect otto_v2" — OTTO PPC could not establish a connection for this site. - "No service ID was returned" — The system could not generate a service link for the new account, typically because your plan's limit has been reached. These errors do not mean there is a technical fault with your Google Ads account. They indicate that the platform was unable to add another connected account under your current subscription. 📋 How Account Tier Limits Work Search Atlas gates Google Ads account connections based on your subscription plan: - Standard plans — Allow one connected Google Ads account. Adding a second website that requires a separate Google Ads account will trigger a connection error. - Google Ads add-on — Unlocks the ability to connect multiple Google Ads accounts across different websites. - Grandfathered accounts — Legacy accounts that were created before the add-on was introduced may also be limited to a single Google Ads account connection, even if your plan previously allowed more. If you are trying to connect a second or third website — for example, adding Paslow Junk Removal after another site is already connected — you will hit this limit unless you have the Google Ads add-on active on your account. ✅ How to Resolve the Connection Error 1. Log in to Search Atlas and navigate to OTTO SEO using the left sidebar (or go to /seo-automation-v3). 2. Check which website is currently connected to OTTO PPC. Only one Google Ads account can be active on standard plans. 3. If you only need one site connected at a time, disconnect the existing Google Ads account first, then reconnect using the new site's account. 4. If you need multiple sites connected simultaneously, you will need to add the Google Ads add-on to your subscription (see below). 🚀 Upgrading to Connect Multiple Accounts To connect Google Ads accounts for more than one website at the same time, the Google Ads add-on must be enabled on your Search Atlas plan. This add-on removes the single-account restriction and allows OTTO PPC to manage campaigns across multiple properties simultaneously. To explore upgrade options, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team who can review your plan and activate the add-on. 💡 Tips to Avoid Future Errors - Before connecting a new website, confirm how many Google Ads accounts your plan supports. - Each website typically requires its own Google Ads account — connecting two sites to the same Google Ads account is supported, but connecting two separate Google Ads accounts requires the add-on. - After connecting a new account, allow a few minutes for the platform to confirm the connection status before attempting to create campaigns. 🛠️ Still Seeing the Error? If you have the Google Ads add-on active and are still seeing "Failed to connect otto_v2" or "No service ID was returned", the issue may require manual review by our team. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Fix 'Why This Ad Works' Error in Discover

🧩 What Is the 'Why This Ad Works' Feature? The Why This Ad Works feature appears inside the Discover section of Ad Studio. When you browse competitor or inspiration ads, you can click this option to get an AI-generated breakdown explaining what makes that specific ad effective — covering elements like copy, creative strategy, audience targeting signals, and more. ⚠️ Understanding the 'Couldn't Run That — Try Again' Error Some customers see a Couldn't run that — try again error message when clicking Why This Ad Works on ads in the Discover section. This error appears consistently across multiple ads rather than on just one, which indicates it is not caused by a single problematic ad. This issue has been identified as a bug affecting the AI analysis function within the Discover ad preview experience. Our engineering team has investigated and resolved the underlying cause. If you are still seeing this error, the steps below will help you get back on track. 🛠️ Steps to Resolve the Error 1. Refresh your browser. Close and reopen your browser tab, then navigate back to the Discover section inside Ad Studio. 2. Clear your browser cache. Cached data can sometimes cause features to behave unexpectedly. Clear your cache and cookies, then reload the platform. 3. Try a different browser. If the error persists, open Search Atlas in an alternative browser (for example, switch from Chrome to Firefox or Edge) to rule out a browser-specific conflict. 4. Try a different ad. Click Why This Ad Works on several different ads in Discover. If the feature works on some ads but not others, note which ads trigger the error. 5. Check for a platform update. The fix for this issue has been deployed. If you have had the platform open for a long time without refreshing, you may be running an older version. A full page refresh (Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows or Cmd + Shift + R on Mac) forces the latest version to load. 📍 How to Access the Discover Section If you are unsure where to find this feature, follow these steps: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Navigate to Ad Studio from the left sidebar. 3. Select Discover from the Ad Studio sub-navigation. 4. Browse the available ads and click on any ad card. 5. In the ad preview panel, click Why does this ad work? to trigger the AI analysis. 💡 What to Expect When It Works Correctly When the feature is functioning as expected, clicking Why does this ad work? will display an AI-generated explanation directly within the ad preview panel. The analysis typically covers: - The messaging strategy and tone used in the ad copy - Visual and creative elements that drive engagement - Audience relevance signals and emotional hooks - Structural or formatting choices that support performance This insight is designed to help you understand proven ad strategies so you can apply similar techniques to your own campaigns. 🔄 If the Error Continues If you have followed all the steps above and the Couldn't run that — try again error is still appearing, the issue may need to be reviewed by our team directly. Please note the browser you are using, any specific ads that trigger the error, and roughly when the problem started — this information will help us investigate faster. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔗 Fix Missing Google Ads Accounts in OTTO

🔍 Overview If OTTO is not displaying all of the Google Ads accounts you manage, the most effective fix is to disconnect and reconnect your Google Ads integration. This forces OTTO to re-fetch the full list of accounts associated with your Google credentials, including any accounts that were added after your initial connection. ⚠️ Why Accounts Go Missing There are a few common reasons why some Google Ads accounts may not appear inside OTTO: - New accounts were added to your Google Ads Manager (MCC) after the initial integration was set up. - Your Google session token has expired or lost access permissions. - The integration was originally connected with a Google account that does not have full visibility across all managed accounts. - A permission change occurred at the Google Ads account level after the connection was established. 🛠️ How to Disconnect and Reconnect Google Ads Follow these steps to refresh your Google Ads connection inside OTTO: 1. In the left sidebar, click OTTO SEO and then open SEO Automation to open the OTTO dashboard. 2. Locate the Google Ads integration section on your OTTO setup or settings panel. 3. Click the Disconnect button next to your current Google Ads connection. 4. Confirm the disconnection when prompted. This will not delete any existing OTTO configurations — it only removes the Google Ads data link. 5. Once disconnected, click Connect Google Ads (or the equivalent reconnect option). 6. You will be redirected to a Google authentication screen. Make sure you sign in with the Google account that has Admin or Manager-level access to all of the accounts you want to appear in OTTO. 7. Grant all requested permissions on the Google authorization screen. Skipping any permissions may limit which accounts are visible. 8. After authorization, return to OTTO and verify that all expected Google Ads accounts are now listed. ✅ Tips to Ensure All Accounts Appear To get the best results when reconnecting, keep the following in mind: - Use your MCC (Manager) account credentials when authenticating. Connecting with a standard account will only show accounts directly tied to that single login. - Make sure the Google account you use has been granted at least Read access to every sub-account you want OTTO to display. - If you manage accounts across multiple Google logins, you may need to consolidate access under one Manager account before reconnecting. - After reconnecting, allow a few minutes for OTTO to fully sync and populate all account data. 🔄 Still Missing Accounts After Reconnecting? If one or more accounts are still not showing after a fresh reconnection, check the following before reaching out for support: - Confirm the missing account is actively linked to the Google login used during reconnection — log in to ads.google.com and verify the account appears there. - Check that the account status is Active and not suspended or cancelled inside Google Ads. - Make sure no two-factor authentication or security alert is blocking the Google session. If everything looks correct in Google Ads but the account is still absent in OTTO, our support team can investigate further. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔧 Fix Google Ads Account Missing After Authorization

🧭 Overview When connecting a Google Ads account to OTTO Ads, you authorize a Google email address — not a specific ad account directly. If the account you just authorized does not appear in the selection dropdown, it is almost always related to the relationship between the authorized email and the Google Ads accounts. Follow this guide to understand what to check and how to escalate if needed. ⚙️ How the Connection Works OTTO Ads connects to Google Ads through Google OAuth. Here is what happens during the process: 1. You authorize a Google email address (for example, sales@bambooisbetter.com) inside OTTO Ads. 2. Search Atlas retrieves all Google Ads accounts that email address has access to. 3. Those accounts are then listed in the selection dropdown so you can choose which one to link. If no accounts appear — or the wrong accounts appear — the issue is with the relationship between the authorized email and the Google Ads accounts, not with the authorization itself. 🔍 Why Your Account May Not Be Appearing The most common reason a Google Ads account does not show up after authorization is that the Google email you authorized does not have access to that ad account in Google Ads. Authorizing an email inside OTTO Ads does not automatically grant it access to any ad account — that access must already exist on the Google Ads side before it will appear in the dropdown. Other things to verify include: - You authorized the correct email. If the ad account is managed under a different Google login, you must authorize that specific email in OTTO Ads instead. - The email has sufficient access in Google Ads. Confirm that the authorized email has been granted access to the ad account directly within Google Ads. - Manager (MCC) accounts. If the ad account sits under a Google Ads Manager account, confirm that the authorized email has the appropriate access at either the Manager account level or the individual ad account level. ✅ What to Do 1. Verify that the email you authorized in OTTO Ads actually has access to the Google Ads account by logging in to Google Ads with that email and confirming you can see the account. 2. If access is missing, have the account owner add the email as a user with the appropriate access level directly inside Google Ads, then wait a few minutes for permissions to propagate before re-authorizing in OTTO Ads. 3. Re-authorize the email in OTTO Ads after confirming access has been granted, and check whether the account now appears in the dropdown. 4. If you need to connect multiple Google Ads accounts, repeat the authorization process for each email address that has access to the respective accounts. If you have confirmed the email has access in Google Ads but the account still does not appear in the dropdown, escalate to our support team with the authorized email address, the Google Ads account ID, and a description of what you see in the dropdown. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Troubleshooting OTTO PPC Automation Issues

🔍 Overview OTTO PPC automates campaign management tasks such as keyword bid adjustments, match type settings, and campaign status changes. Occasionally, customers may encounter issues including API errors, bids not applying correctly, match type inheritance problems, or unexpected empty results for conversion actions. This article explains what causes these issues, what has been fixed, and what to do if you are still affected. ⚠️ Known Issues and Current Status The following issues have been identified and resolved in recent platform updates. If you submitted a bug report related to any of these, the underlying causes have been addressed: - API restriction error (misleading message): OTTO PPC was displaying a "Google API restriction" error that did not accurately describe the problem. This was a platform-side limitation, not a restriction from Google. The error message has been corrected to give an honest, actionable description of the limitation. - Campaign pause/activate failures: Campaigns were failing to pause or activate due to a missing required parameter in the API request. This caused an error requiring business_id, campaign_ids, or ads_account_id. This bug has been fixed and campaign status changes should now apply reliably. - Keyword bid adjustments not applying: In some cases, bid changes made through OTTO PPC were not being saved or applied to campaigns. This was related to bulk action API handling and has been resolved. - Empty conversion action list: When account-level filters excluded certain conversion actions, the results panel displayed an empty list with no explanation. This made it appear as though the account had no conversion actions at all. A fix has been deployed so that filtered results now include a clear message explaining why the list appears empty. - Campaign settings crash (type mismatch): A mismatch between expected data types (integer vs. string) in campaign status fields caused the ppc_get_campaign_settings and ppc_list_ad_groups functions to crash. This has been resolved and both functions now handle status values correctly. 📋 Common Symptoms and What They Mean Use the table below to match what you are seeing to its likely cause: - "API restriction" error appears when running OTTO PPC tasks: This was a misleading platform error. If you still see this after a recent session refresh, clear your browser cache and reload the platform. - Bid adjustments saved but not reflected in campaigns: Previously caused by a bulk action API bug. If bids are still not applying, wait 10–15 minutes and check your Google Ads account directly, as propagation can take time. - Match type inheritance errors: If ad groups are inheriting incorrect match types from parent campaigns, check that the campaign-level match type setting is explicitly defined and not left as default. - Low search volume keywords flagged unexpectedly: Google Ads itself restricts serving for keywords with very low search volume. OTTO PPC reflects this status from Google. These keywords will become active automatically if search volume increases. - Conversion action list is blank: Previously this occurred when filters excluded all rows. After the fix, you should see an explanatory message. If the list is still blank with no explanation, your account may genuinely have no active conversion actions configured in Google Ads. ✅ Steps to Resolve Remaining Issues 1. Refresh your session: Log out of Search Atlas and log back in to ensure you are running the latest version of OTTO PPC with all recent fixes applied. 2. Clear your browser cache: Outdated cached data can cause old error messages or stale campaign states to appear. Clear cache and reload the platform. 3. Re-run the affected OTTO PPC task: After refreshing, retry the action that failed — bid adjustment, campaign pause/activate, or ad group listing. Most issues will resolve after the session is refreshed. 4. Check your Google Ads account directly: For bid changes and campaign status updates, confirm in Google Ads that the change has propagated. Allow up to 15 minutes for changes to appear. 5. Verify your account connection: Go to your account settings and confirm that your Google Ads account is still properly connected and authorised. A disconnected account will cause all PPC automation tasks to fail silently. 6. Review conversion action settings: If your conversion action list appears empty, log into Google Ads and confirm that at least one conversion action is active and not filtered out by date range or status. 🚫 Understanding Platform vs. Google API Limitations Some actions in OTTO PPC are limited not by bugs, but by restrictions that exist at the Google Ads API level. These include: - Keywords with low search volume are paused by Google automatically and cannot be forced active through any third-party tool. - Certain campaign types (such as Performance Max) have limited configurability through the API and may not support all OTTO PPC automation features. - Google enforces rate limits on API requests. If you are managing a large number of campaigns simultaneously, some actions may be queued and delayed. When OTTO PPC encounters a true Google API limitation, it will now display an honest message explaining the restriction rather than a generic error. This helps you understand whether the issue requires action on your side or is outside the platform's control. 💬 Still Experiencing Issues? If you have followed the steps above and are still seeing errors, bid changes not applying, or unexpected behaviour in OTTO PPC, our team wants to know. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. When reaching out, please include: the specific campaign or ad group name, a description of the action you attempted, the error message shown (if any), and the approximate time the issue occurred. This helps our team investigate quickly.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔧 Fix Smart Ads Low Budget Spend Issues

🧭 Overview If your Smart Ads campaign has an $8 daily budget but is only spending a few dollars per month instead of the expected ~$240–$300, the campaign is not delivering as intended. This guide walks you through the most common causes and the exact steps to resolve them. ⚠️ Why Your Budget Is Not Being Spent Smart Ads spend in proportion to how often your ads are matched to active search queries. When spend is dramatically below the daily budget, one or more of the following blockers is almost always the cause: - Ad groups are inactive or paused — If the ad groups inside your campaign are paused, no impressions occur and no budget is consumed. - Too few or too narrow keywords — A small keyword list with low search volume means very few auctions are entered each day. - Bids are too low to compete — If your maximum bid sits below the competitive threshold for your keywords, your ads are rarely shown. - Campaign is not fully activated — A campaign can appear saved but remain in a draft or pending state that prevents delivery. - Geographic or scheduling restrictions — Tight location targeting or narrow ad-scheduling windows reduce the eligible audience significantly. ✅ Campaign Activation Checklist Before investigating keywords or bids, confirm the campaign is live and fully enabled: 1. Open Left sidebar → Ads (Smart Ads) and locate your campaign. 2. Check the campaign status badge. It must read Active, not Paused, Draft, or Pending Review. 3. Click into the campaign and review each ad group. Every ad group you want to serve traffic must also show Active. 4. Confirm the daily budget field shows your intended amount (e.g., $8.00) and that no end date has already passed. 5. Verify the campaign start date is in the past and the time zone matches your intended delivery region. If any ad group was paused or the campaign was in draft, toggle it to Active and allow 24–48 hours for spend data to update. 🔍 Diagnosing Expected vs. Actual Spend Use this quick diagnostic to estimate whether your spend gap is a volume problem or a bid problem: - Expected monthly spend: Daily budget × days in month (e.g., $8 × 30 = $240). - Actual spend is near zero: Almost always a keyword volume or activation issue — the campaign is not entering enough auctions. - Actual spend is 30–70% of budget: Likely a bid competitiveness issue — ads are entering auctions but losing most of them. - Actual spend is close to budget but slightly under: Normal pacing behavior; no action needed. In the case of spending only $7.96 in a full month against an $8 daily budget, the root cause is almost certainly insufficient keyword volume or inactive ad groups — not a bid issue. 🗝️ Expanding Keyword Coverage Adding more relevant, higher-volume keywords is the fastest way to increase eligible impressions and push spend toward your daily budget cap. Use the following tools inside Search Atlas: 1. Go to Left sidebar → Keywords → Keyword Magic to generate keyword ideas from a seed term related to your ad campaign. 2. Filter results by Search Volume (aim for keywords with at least 100 monthly searches) and relevance to your offer. 3. Go to Left sidebar → Keywords → Keyword Gap to identify valuable terms your competitors are targeting that you have not yet added to your campaign. 4. Go to Left sidebar → Keywords to research individual keyword metrics — search volume, CPC estimates, and competition level — before adding them to an ad group. 5. Add a mix of broad match and phrase match keywords to widen the auction pool. Relying solely on exact match severely limits impressions for small keyword lists. A healthy ad group should contain at least 10–20 keywords across different match types to generate consistent daily spend against a modest budget. 💰 Adjusting Bids and Budget Pacing Once keyword coverage is sufficient, fine-tune bids to ensure your ads are competitive: - Increase the maximum CPC bid — If the recommended or average CPC for your keywords is higher than your current bid, raise your bid to at least meet the average. You can find CPC estimates in Left sidebar → Keywords. - Enable automated bidding (if available) — Automated bid strategies adjust bids in real time to maximize clicks within your daily budget, reducing the manual guesswork. - Check budget pacing settings — Choose Standard pacing to spread spend evenly across the day. Accelerated pacing spends the budget as quickly as possible each morning, which can cause early exhaustion or uneven delivery. - Avoid setting bids far below keyword competition thresholds — Bids that are too conservative result in a very low win rate at auction, leaving most of your daily budget unspent. 📋 Quick-Reference Fix Summary - Confirm campaign and all ad groups are set to Active. - Verify the start date, end date, and time zone are correct. - Expand your keyword list to 10–20+ terms using Keyword Magic and Keyword Gap tools. - Include broad and phrase match keywords alongside exact match. - Raise your maximum CPC bid to at least the average CPC for your target keywords. - Set budget pacing to Standard for even daily delivery. - Review performance again after 48–72 hours — spend data does not update instantly. 💬 Still Need Help? If you have worked through all the steps above and your campaign is still significantly underspending, our team can review your campaign settings directly. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Troubleshooting Google Ads Campaign Audit No Data

🧭 Overview If you have connected a Google Ads account to Search Atlas but your campaign audit is returning no data, the cause is almost always one of four things: a plan or feature access restriction, an incomplete account connection, a quota limit, or a data-population delay. This article walks you through each scenario so you can identify and resolve the issue quickly. 🔒 Step 1: Check Whether the Feature Requires an Upgrade The campaign audit feature is not available on all Search Atlas plans. Before investigating your Google Ads connection, confirm that your current plan includes access. 1. In the left sidebar, click Ads, then select Campaigns. 2. Look for a purple Upgrade button anywhere on the campaign audit screen or overlaying the data area. This button is the most reliable indicator that the feature is locked behind a higher-tier plan. 3. If you see the Upgrade button, your current plan does not include campaign audit functionality. Click the button to review the plans that unlock this feature, or contact our team via the chat widget to discuss your options. If no Upgrade button is visible, your plan supports campaign audit and you can continue to the steps below. 🔗 Step 2: Validate Your Google Ads Account Connection A Google Ads account that appears connected in the platform may still have an incomplete or broken authorization. Follow these steps to verify the connection is valid. 1. In the left sidebar, click Ads, then select Campaigns. 2. Confirm that the correct Google Ads account is listed and set as active for the client you are auditing. 3. If the account appears connected but shows a warning icon, a Reconnect prompt, or a grey status indicator, the OAuth authorization has expired or was revoked. Click Reconnect and complete the Google authorization flow again. 4. After reconnecting, return to the campaign audit view and allow up to five minutes for data to begin populating. Important: Make sure you authorize with a Google account that has at least read-level access to the client's Google Ads account. Authorizing with an account that has no permissions on the Ads account will produce a successful-looking connection that returns no data. 📋 Step 3: Confirm the Correct Account and Campaign Are Selected Search Atlas supports multiple Google Ads accounts per workspace. It is easy to have the wrong account or an empty account selected. - Verify that the account ID shown in the audit matches the client's actual Google Ads account ID. - Check that the connected account contains active or paused campaigns. If the account has never run a campaign, the audit will have nothing to display. - If the client runs ads under a Manager (MCC) account, make sure you have connected the individual sub-account, not just the top-level manager account. Audit data pulls from the sub-account level. 📊 Step 4: Understand Quota Limits That Affect Audit Data Depending on your plan tier, Search Atlas applies limits to how many Google Ads accounts you can audit and how frequently audit data is refreshed. - Account quota: Your plan may cap the number of Google Ads accounts that can be connected and audited simultaneously. If you have reached this limit, additional accounts will connect but will not pull audit data until an existing account is removed or your plan is upgraded. - Refresh frequency: Campaign audit data is not real-time. Depending on your plan, data refreshes on a set schedule. A newly connected account may show no data until the first scheduled sync completes. - Historical data range: Some plan tiers limit the historical date range available in the audit. If your selected date range falls outside your plan's allowance, the report will appear empty. Try narrowing the date range to the last 30 days to confirm whether this is the issue. ⏳ Step 5: Allow Time for Initial Data Population After a Google Ads account is connected for the first time, the platform needs to retrieve and process campaign data from Google's API. This initial sync can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the size of the account. - Wait at least 15–30 minutes after connecting an account before concluding that data is missing. - For large accounts with many campaigns, historical data, and numerous ad groups, the initial sync may take longer. Check back after one to two hours. - Refreshing the page or navigating away and returning does not speed up the sync, but it will display data as soon as it is ready. ✅ Quick-Reference Checklist - No purple Upgrade button blocking the campaign audit screen - Google Ads account is connected and authorization is active (no warning icons) - Authorized Google account has at least read-level access to the Ads account - The correct sub-account (not MCC) is connected - Account quota has not been reached on your current plan - Date range is within your plan's historical data allowance - Sufficient time has passed for the initial data sync to complete 💬 Still Seeing No Data? If you have worked through every step above and the campaign audit still shows no data, there may be an account-specific issue that requires investigation by our team. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

📊 Fix Meta & Google Ads Conversion Discrepancies

🔍 Why Conversion Numbers May Not Match If the conversion counts or cost-per-acquisition (CPA) figures in your Search Atlas reports look different from what you see inside Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads, you are not alone. Several factors can cause these gaps, and most can be resolved by following the steps below. ⚙️ Common Causes of Discrepancies - Attribution window differences: Meta and Google Ads each use their own default attribution windows (e.g., 7-day click, 1-day view). Search Atlas pulls data through the platform APIs, which may apply a different window than your native dashboard default. - Conversion action selection: Your native account may count multiple conversion actions (e.g., purchases and add-to-carts), while Search Atlas may be pulling only a subset, or vice versa. - Data sync timing: Conversion data is not always real-time. There can be a delay of up to 24–48 hours between a conversion being recorded in Meta or Google and it appearing in Search Atlas reports. - Date range and comparison periods: Reports that include a comparison date range require both periods to be explicitly selected. If only one date range is set, trend or delta indicators may be absent or show zero — this is expected behaviour. - Account connection issues: If the linked Meta or Google Ads account has expired credentials or limited API permissions, Search Atlas may receive incomplete conversion data. 🛠️ Steps to Troubleshoot the Discrepancy 1. Verify your date range. In Search Atlas, go to Left sidebar → Ads → Analytics. Confirm that the date range shown matches exactly what you have selected in Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads. 2. Check attribution settings. In your native Meta or Google Ads account, note the attribution window applied to your campaign or account. Compare this to any attribution settings available in your Search Atlas report view. 3. Review which conversion actions are counted. Inside Meta Ads Manager, open your campaign (e.g., Leads - 2026) and check the Columns → Customize Columns panel to see which conversion events are included. Ensure you are comparing the same events in Search Atlas. 4. Allow time for sync. If conversions appeared in Meta or Google Ads within the last 24–48 hours, wait and refresh the Search Atlas report before escalating. 5. Reconnect your ad account. Go to Left sidebar → Ads → Launchpad and select either Google Ads Campaign Hub or Meta Ads Launchpad. Check that your account is connected and the integration status shows no errors. If you see a connection warning, disconnect and reconnect the account. 6. Check for zero-conversion reports on active spend. If Search Atlas shows 0 conversions while Meta or Google reports conversions on the same spend, this is likely a sync or permissions issue. Reconnecting the account (step 5) usually resolves this. 📋 Specific Scenario: Meta Campaign Conversions Not Appearing If conversions from a specific Meta campaign are completely absent from your Search Atlas report despite being visible in Meta Ads Manager, follow these steps: 1. Navigate to Left sidebar → Ads → Analytics and confirm the correct Meta ad account is selected in the account selector at the top of the page. 2. Ensure the campaign name (e.g., Leads - 2026) is not filtered out. Clear any active campaign filters and reload the report. 3. Navigate to Left sidebar → Ads → Launchpad, open Meta Ads Launchpad, and confirm the account connection is active. 4. If the campaign still does not appear after 48 hours, contact our support team via the chat widget. 📊 Understanding CPA Differences Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) values in Search Atlas should closely reflect native platform data once the correct conversion actions and attribution windows are aligned. If CPA looks significantly lower in Search Atlas than in Meta (for example, $86 versus $300+), the most common cause is that Search Atlas is counting more conversion events than intended — such as including micro-conversions alongside primary lead events. Audit your conversion action settings in Meta and confirm which events are being passed to the Search Atlas integration. 💡 Best Practices to Keep Reports Aligned - Always set identical date ranges in both Search Atlas and your native platform when comparing figures. - Use the same attribution window in both tools where possible. - Periodically refresh your ad account connection inside Ads → Launchpad to ensure API tokens remain valid. - Limit conversion actions to your primary goal (e.g., lead form submissions only) to avoid inflated conversion counts. 🆘 Still Seeing a Discrepancy? If you have followed all steps above and the numbers still do not align, our team can investigate at the account level. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔗 Fix UTM Parameter Overrides in Google Ads

🔍 Overview If you've noticed that your utm_campaign or other UTM parameters are being changed or removed inside Google Ads, this is most likely caused by the OTTO PPC feature automatically applying a URL prefix or ValueTrack parameter to your campaigns. This article explains why it happens and how to fix it. ⚙️ Why This Happens OTTO PPC can automatically update the Account-level URL prefix in Google Ads to enable enhanced tracking. In some cases, this process may: - Overwrite existing UTM parameters you've set manually on your campaigns or ad groups. - Apply a malformed {ignore} ValueTrack parameter that breaks the URL prefix, causing tracking to fail or behave unexpectedly. - Conflict with UTM values already defined at the campaign, ad group, or ad level in Google Ads. Google Ads applies URL parameters in a specific order of precedence — account level, then campaign level, then ad group level, then ad level. When OTTO PPC writes to the account-level URL prefix, it can silently override more specific settings you've configured lower in that hierarchy. 🛠️ How to Fix the Override Follow these steps to resolve UTM parameter conflicts between Search Atlas and your Google Ads account. 1. Check your Account-level URL prefix in Google Ads. In Google Ads, go to Admin > Account Settings > Tracking and review the value in the Tracking template or Final URL suffix field. Look for any unexpected parameters or a malformed {ignore} tag inserted by OTTO PPC. 2. Remove or correct the malformed {ignore} parameter. If you see something like {ignore}?utm_source=… or a broken URL string, delete the malformed portion and restore your intended UTM parameters. Save the changes in Google Ads. 3. Review OTTO PPC tracking settings in Search Atlas. Inside Search Atlas, navigate to your OTTO PPC dashboard and locate the Tracking or URL Settings section. Verify what value OTTO is configured to push as the URL prefix. 4. Align your UTM parameters in one place. To avoid future conflicts, define your UTM parameters at a single level — either through OTTO PPC or directly in Google Ads, but not both. If you prefer to manage UTM parameters manually in Google Ads, disable or clear the URL prefix setting inside OTTO PPC. 5. Test your tracking URLs. After making changes, use the Google Ads URL Tester (found under Admin > Account Settings > Tracking) or a tool like Google Tag Assistant to confirm your final URLs are resolving correctly with the expected UTM values. ✅ Best Practices to Prevent Future Conflicts - Use one source of truth for UTM parameters. Decide whether OTTO PPC or your Google Ads account owns UTM tracking, and stick to one approach consistently. - Audit your URL prefix after enabling OTTO PPC. Whenever you activate or update OTTO PPC for an account, immediately verify that your account-level URL prefix in Google Ads still contains the correct parameters. - Avoid duplicate UTM keys across levels. If utm_campaign is set at the account level, do not also set it at the campaign or ad level — Google Ads will attempt to apply both, which can produce unexpected results. - Document your tracking setup. Keep a record of which UTM parameters are managed by Search Atlas versus Google Ads so that any team member can quickly diagnose future issues. 💡 Frequently Asked Questions Will disabling the OTTO PPC URL prefix break my conversion tracking? No. Conversion tracking in Google Ads relies on your Google tag or Google Click ID (gclid), not on UTM parameters. Removing the URL prefix only affects UTM-based reporting in tools like Google Analytics. Does Search Atlas automatically re-apply the URL prefix after I remove it? OTTO PPC may re-apply its URL prefix setting during its next optimization cycle. If this keeps happening, disable the URL prefix feature within OTTO PPC settings or contact support for guidance on permanently excluding it. My UTM parameters look correct in Search Atlas but wrong in Google Ads — why? There is often a sync delay between Search Atlas and Google Ads. Allow up to 24 hours for changes to propagate. If the issue persists after 24 hours, follow the steps in the How to Fix the Override section above. 🆘 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🎯 Fix Cross-Client Data in OTTO PPC Campaign Audits

🔍 Overview When running a Google Ads campaign audit in OTTO PPC, selecting only the Google Ads account without also selecting a specific campaign from the dropdown can cause the audit to surface keyword recommendations from other campaigns or clients. This article explains how to filter correctly so every audit result applies to the right campaign. ⚠️ What Causes Cross-Client Keyword Recommendations OTTO PPC's campaign audit feature works at two levels: the account level and the campaign level. If you select a Google Ads account but leave the campaign dropdown unfiltered, the audit pulls data across all campaigns linked to that account connection. In multi-client environments, this can surface keyword recommendations from a completely different client's campaign. For example, if your workspace manages accounts for both Christian Counseling of Arkansas and Kids World Academy, and both are connected under the same Google Ads integration, an unfiltered audit may blend recommendations from both — producing inaccurate suggestions and creating a risk that changes could be applied to the wrong campaign. No data is pushed automatically, but acting on mixed audit results without filtering first can lead to incorrect optimisations being applied manually to the wrong campaign. ✅ How to Run a Correctly Filtered Campaign Audit 1. Open your project in Search Atlas and navigate to the OTTO PPC section from the left sidebar. 2. Navigate to Ads → Google Ads → Campaign Audit (Audit). 3. Use the Campaign Type dropdown at the top of the audit panel to choose the relevant campaign type for the client you are auditing (for example, Christian Counseling of Arkansas). 4. After selecting the campaign type, look for the Campaign dropdown — this is a second, separate filter. This step is mandatory. 5. From the campaign dropdown, select the specific campaign you want to audit (for example, the branded search campaign for Christian Counseling of Arkansas). 6. With both the Campaign Type and the Campaign selected, run or refresh the audit. All keyword recommendations, quality score alerts, and optimisation suggestions will now be scoped exclusively to that campaign. 🚫 How to Confirm You Are Viewing the Correct Data Before acting on any audit recommendation, verify the following: - The account name shown in the account selector matches the intended client. - The campaign name shown in the Campaign dropdown matches the specific campaign you are optimising. - None of the keyword suggestions reference products, services, or terms unrelated to that client's business. If you see irrelevant keywords — such as children's education terms appearing in a counselling services audit — this is a strong signal the campaign filter was not applied. 🔄 What to Do If You Already Ran an Unfiltered Audit If you ran an audit without selecting the campaign from the dropdown and are unsure whether any recommendations were acted upon, follow these steps: 1. Do not apply any pending recommendations until you re-run the audit with the correct campaign filter in place. 2. Re-run the audit following the steps in the section above to generate a clean, campaign-specific set of recommendations. 3. Compare the new results with any changes already made in Google Ads to confirm nothing incorrect was applied. 4. If changes were applied based on mixed results, revert them directly inside Google Ads Ads Manager for the affected campaign before proceeding. 💡 Best Practices for Multi-Client OTTO PPC Workspaces - Always select from the Campaign dropdown as a mandatory second step — never rely on the Campaign Type filter alone. - If you manage multiple clients in the same workspace, create separate Search Atlas projects per client to reduce the risk of account-level data mixing. - Before sharing an audit report with a client, confirm the campaign name shown in the filter matches the client's campaign. - Treat any keyword recommendation that seems off-topic as a signal to check whether the campaign filter is active. 🙋 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Smart Ads API Error Deleted Responsive Search Campaigns

🔍 What Happened On June 25, an API error in the Smart Ads system caused up to 78 responsive search campaigns to be removed from affected accounts. The issue was triggered by a combination of bugs in the Smart Ads infrastructure, including failures in the Smart Ads section endpoint, incorrect campaign count logic that included unsupported campaign types, and an INVALID_CUSTOMER_ID error that occurred when a connected Google Ads account had a missing or empty Customer ID. These issues have since been identified and fully resolved by our engineering team. ✅ What Has Been Fixed Our team deployed several fixes to address the root causes of this incident: - API stability: The Smart Ads section endpoint that was failing and displaying errors to users has been repaired. - Campaign count logic: The system no longer incorrectly counts validation campaigns or unsupported campaign types, which was causing unexpected campaign management actions. - Customer ID validation: The smart-ads-metrics endpoint no longer throws a 500 error when a Google Ads account has an empty Customer ID field. - Account recognition: An issue where Smart Ads showed "Account Not Found" after connecting an active Google Ads account has been resolved. No further automated removal of campaigns due to these bugs is expected. 🔄 How to Restore Your Campaigns If your responsive search campaigns were removed, follow these steps to check your current campaign status and rebuild if necessary: 1. Go to Left sidebar → Ads → Campaigns to view all campaigns currently associated with your account. 2. Confirm whether your campaigns are listed. If they appear with a paused or inactive status, you may be able to reactivate them directly from this view. 3. If campaigns are missing entirely, navigate to Left sidebar → Ads → Routines to check whether any automated routines were responsible for campaign creation and whether they can be re-run. 4. Go to Left sidebar → Ads → Brands and verify that your brand settings and ad assets are still intact, as these are needed to rebuild campaigns. 5. Use Left sidebar → Ads → Discover to identify high-opportunity keywords and ad groups you may want to include when recreating your campaigns. 6. Rebuild your responsive search campaigns from Left sidebar → Ads → Campaigns using your saved brand assets and keyword data. If you previously exported your campaign data or have a record of your ad copy and targeting settings, use those references to speed up the rebuilding process. 🔗 Verify Your Google Ads Connection Before rebuilding, confirm your Google Ads account is properly connected to avoid errors during campaign creation: 1. Navigate to Left sidebar → Ads → Campaigns. 2. Check that your Google Ads account is listed and shows an active connection status — not "Account Not Found." 3. If the connection appears broken, disconnect and reconnect your Google Ads account. Make sure your Customer ID is correctly populated in your Google Ads settings, as an empty Customer ID was one of the root causes of this incident. 🛡️ How to Prevent This in the Future While this specific set of bugs has been fixed, here are best practices to protect your campaigns going forward: - Export campaign data regularly: Keep a record of your active campaigns, ad copy, and targeting settings so you can quickly restore them if needed. - Monitor campaign counts: Periodically check Left sidebar → Ads → Campaigns and Left sidebar → Ads → Reports to confirm expected campaigns are active. - Verify account connections: After any platform update or reconnection, confirm your Google Ads Customer ID is correctly linked to avoid API errors. - Review Routines: Check Left sidebar → Ads → Routines to ensure no automated routines are configured in a way that could unintentionally affect live campaigns. 💬 Need More Help If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 Fixing Missing Google Ads Keywords in Site Explorer

📋 Understanding Paid Keyword Data Sources Site Explorer displays Google Ads paid keywords from connected accounts and verified data providers rather than pulling directly from Google in real time. This integration ensures accurate historical and performance-based information when accounts are properly linked. 🔗 Connecting Your Google Ads Account To populate the paid keywords section follow these steps. Navigate to Site Metrics in the left sidebar then select Keywords. Verify that your Google Ads account is connected under the account settings. If no connection exists complete the integration process to enable data flow. ⚠️ Common Reasons for Missing Data Several factors can cause paid keywords to appear missing. Check that your Google Ads campaigns are active and have recent spend. Confirm the correct property is selected in Site Metrics. Data may also require up to 48 hours to sync after initial connection or campaign changes. ✅ Verifying Displayed Information Review the Keywords page within Site Metrics to see paid traffic totals and graphs. Use the view more option on the keywords tab to expand the full paid keywords list. If graphs show data but the list remains empty refresh the page or check for applied filters that might hide results. 🛠️ Next Steps for Accurate Reporting Ensure your Google Ads integration remains active and permissions are granted for keyword reporting. Monitor the Paid Keywords card for zero values or updates after fixes are applied. Consistent data appearance confirms successful integration. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔗 Fix Search Atlas Overriding Your Google Ads UTM Parameters

🔍 Overview Search Atlas includes an Auto-UTM Tagger feature that automatically appends UTM parameters to your Google Ads URLs. While this saves time for most campaigns, it can conflict with UTM parameters you have already set manually — causing your custom values to be overwritten or corrupted. This article explains why this happens, how to identify the issue, and the steps you can take to protect your custom tracking setup. ⚠️ Why This Happens There are two common root causes for UTM parameters being overridden in Google Ads: - Auto-UTM Tagger is enabled: When this feature is active, Search Atlas automatically injects UTM parameters (including utm_campaign) into your ad URLs. If you have already defined these parameters manually, the auto-tagger will overwrite them. - Malformed URL Prefix or ValueTrack parameters: In some cases, the Google Ads URL Prefix field may be populated by OTTO PPC with an incorrectly formatted value. This can corrupt the existing query string — especially if the first query parameter in your URL is not a UTM parameter. 🛠️ How to Stop Search Atlas from Overriding Your UTM Parameters 1. Disable the Auto-UTM Tagger for affected campaigns. Navigate to your campaign settings inside Search Atlas, locate the Auto-UTM Tagger toggle, and turn it off. This prevents Search Atlas from injecting or modifying any UTM values on those campaigns. 2. Review your Google Ads URL Prefix field. Go to the campaign or account settings in Google Ads and check the Tracking Template or Final URL Suffix field. Remove any values that were inserted by Search Atlas if they conflict with your existing UTM setup. 3. Verify the order of your query parameters. If your destination URL contains non-UTM query parameters before your UTM parameters (for example, ?ref=homepage&utm_campaign=spring), restructure the URL so that UTM parameters come first. This reduces the risk of corruption caused by the auto-tagger's parsing behaviour. 4. Re-enter your custom UTM values in Google Ads. After disabling the auto-tagger and cleaning up the URL Prefix, manually re-enter your utm_campaign, utm_source, utm_medium, and any other custom parameters directly in Google Ads to ensure they are preserved. 5. Publish and verify the change reached Google Ads. After saving your settings in Search Atlas, confirm the update was applied successfully inside Google Ads. Navigate to your campaign in the Google Ads interface and check that your custom UTM values appear correctly in the Final URL or Tracking Template. Do not rely solely on the success message in Search Atlas — always verify in Google Ads directly. ✅ Best Practices for UTM Management - Use either Search Atlas Auto-UTM Tagger or manual UTM parameters — do not use both at the same time for the same campaign. - If you manage campaigns for multiple clients or accounts, audit each account's URL Prefix field after enabling or disabling the auto-tagger. - When using OTTO PPC to generate landing page URLs, check that no unexpected tokens or keys have been appended to the destination URL before publishing. - Keep a record of your custom UTM parameter values outside of Search Atlas (for example, in a spreadsheet) so you can quickly restore them if they are ever overwritten. 💬 Need More Help? If you have followed the steps above and your UTM parameters are still being overridden, or if you are unsure which setting is causing the conflict, our team is ready to help. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

Fix the "Required Playbook Not Available" Message in Google Ads

If you click Optimize Campaigns in the Google Ads (OTTO PPC) section and see the message "Required playbook not available", this article explains what it means and what to do next. What does "Required playbook not available" mean? Optimize Campaigns starts an OTTO PPC Google Ads audit and optimization playbook. The message means Search Atlas could not find that playbook in its playbook catalog at that moment. It does not mean that your Google Ads account is unavailable, and it does not mean your Google Ads add-on was not applied to your plan. Why does this happen? This error was caused by a known issue in which a renamed playbook could not be matched by its old name. A fix was made so the lookup tolerates renamed playbooks and shows a clearer "unavailable" state. The error can still appear if the platform has not yet received the latest update or if the playbook entry is missing from the catalog. What can I try? 1. Refresh the page and open your Google Ads campaigns again. 2. Try Optimize Campaigns again. If the message returns, the problem is on the Search Atlas side and cannot be fixed from your Google Ads account or settings. What should I send to the team if it keeps happening? Reach the team through live chat and include: - The name of your Google Ads account or campaign. - A screenshot showing the exact message. - The time you clicked Optimize Campaigns. This lets the team check whether the playbook is missing from the catalog for your account and fix it.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Google Smart Ads Campaigns Stuck in Setup

Overview Some users have reported that Google Smart Ads campaigns become stuck in a "setting up" or similar pending state after creation. Campaigns remain unresponsive even after multiple attempts to cancel and restart them. This issue requires intervention from the Search Atlas support or engineering team to resolve. Is This Happening to You? You may be affected if: - One or more Smart Ads campaigns have been in a setup or publishing state for several hours or overnight. - You are unable to activate, pause, or cancel the affected campaigns. - Retrying campaign creation does not resolve the issue. What You Should Do Because this issue requires platform-side intervention, the most effective path to resolution is to contact the Search Atlas support team directly. Before reaching out, try the self-serve steps below — in some cases these can unblock your campaign immediately. 1. Confirm the campaigns are genuinely stuck. If a campaign was just created, wait at least one hour to allow the system time to process it. Stuck states that persist beyond one hour are unlikely to self-resolve. 2. Refresh your browser and clear your cache. Close and reopen your browser, clear your cache and cookies, then log back into Search Atlas. Navigate back to Campaign Hub and check whether the affected campaigns now show an updated status. 3. Check your Google Ads account connection. Go to your Search Atlas integrations or connected accounts settings and confirm that your Google Ads account is still properly connected and authorized. A broken or expired connection can cause campaigns to stall in a setup state. If the connection shows an error, disconnect and reconnect your Google Ads account, then check whether the stuck campaign resumes processing. 4. Do not repeatedly cancel and recreate campaigns. Additional cancellation or recreation attempts while campaigns are in a stuck state can make the issue harder to resolve. Avoid making further changes to affected campaigns until the status updates or support has reviewed your account. 5. If the above steps do not resolve the issue, contact the Search Atlas support team. Reach out through the in-platform chat widget. To speed up resolution, have the following ready: the names of the affected campaigns and how long they have been stuck. A screen recording showing the stuck state is also helpful. Sharing this information allows the support team to escalate your case to engineering quickly. 6. Work with support to test after the fix is applied. Once the support or engineering team resolves the issue on the platform side, verify that your campaigns are now active and running correctly. Tips to Avoid Issues in the Future - After creating a new campaign, allow it adequate time to fully publish before making edits or attempting to cancel it. - Periodically verify that your Google Ads account connection is active and authorized in your Search Atlas integration settings. - If you notice a campaign entering a stuck state, contact support promptly rather than attempting repeated cancellations, as early intervention tends to result in faster resolution. If you have tried the steps above and are still experiencing this issue, please reach out to us via the in-platform chat widget and we will work to get your campaigns back on track as soon as possible.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🔍 OTTO Pixel Shows 'not_installed' — Troubleshooting Guide

Why This Happens If your OTTO pixel appears correctly in your page source but the platform still shows a not_installed status, the pixel itself is not the problem. The issue is almost always a temporary delay between installation and detection. Several factors can cause this gap: - Browser or server-side caching — Your site may be serving a cached version of the page that does not yet reflect the updated code. - CDN or DNS propagation — If your site uses a content delivery network (CDN) or recently updated DNS records, changes can take time to reach all servers. - Detection service lag — The OTTO detection service runs periodic checks. A status update may not appear immediately after installation. - Tag manager delays — If you installed the pixel through Google Tag Manager or a similar tool, the container may not have published or fired correctly on all pages. Step-by-Step Troubleshooting 1. Confirm the pixel is in the page source. Open your website in a browser, right-click anywhere on the page, and select View Page Source. Use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) and search for your OTTO pixel script. If it appears here, the pixel is installed at the code level. 2. Check on a hard-refreshed, uncached page. Press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac) to force a full reload bypassing the browser cache. Then check the page source again to confirm the pixel is still present. 3. Purge your CDN or server cache. Log in to your hosting provider or CDN dashboard (for example, Cloudflare, Fastly, or WP Engine) and purge all cached files. This forces the detection service to scan your live, updated page rather than a cached copy. 4. Verify the pixel fires on the correct pages. OTTO detection checks specific URLs associated with your project. Make sure the pixel is present on the exact pages linked to your OTTO workspace — particularly your homepage or the URL you submitted during setup. 5. Check your tag manager container (if applicable). If you used Google Tag Manager, open your GTM workspace and confirm the tag is published (not just saved as a draft) and that the trigger is set to fire on All Pages or the relevant page URL. Preview the container using GTM's built-in preview mode to verify the tag fires correctly. 6. Wait and recheck. Detection service intervals mean that even a perfectly installed pixel may show not_installed for some time after installation. If all the steps above confirm correct installation, allow some time for the status to refresh automatically before contacting support. When to Contact Support If you have confirmed the pixel is present in your page source, your cache has been purged, and the status has not updated after a reasonable waiting period, our team can investigate the detection service directly. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

Smart Ads Showing Preview URL Instead of Slug

🔍 What Is Happening After publishing a landing page for a Smart Ads PPC campaign, some users notice that the ad still shows a preview builder URL (a UUID-style link) or an incorrect SEO title instead of the correct slug and page title. This issue persists even after the landing page has been successfully published. This is a known platform sync issue where published landing pages do not automatically update their slug and metadata in the associated Google Ads campaign. ✅ How to Confirm the Issue 1. Navigate to Ads → Google Ads (Which ad platform do you want to see first?) and open the affected campaign. 2. Check whether the landing page URL displayed in the ad preview still shows a UUID or preview builder domain instead of your expected slug. 3. Confirm that the landing page itself has been fully published and is not still in draft status in your page builder. If the page is confirmed as published but the ad still shows the wrong URL or title, you are experiencing this known sync issue. ⚙️ Steps to Resolve the Issue Work through the following steps in order. Many users are able to resolve this without contacting support by completing all steps carefully: 1. Verify publish status: Make sure the landing page is in a fully published state and not saved as a draft. A page that is only previewed or saved but not published will not sync correctly. Re-publish the page if there is any doubt. 2. Unpublish and republish the landing page: Open the landing page in your page builder, unpublish it, save the change, then publish it again. This triggers a fresh sync event that can force the correct slug and metadata to update in the connected campaign. 3. Wait and recheck: After republishing, allow a few minutes before checking the campaign preview again, as metadata changes can have a short propagation delay. ⚠️ If the Issue Persists After All Steps If you have completed every step above and the preview URL or wrong title is still appearing, the issue may require a platform-side correction that cannot be triggered from within the interface. In that case, contact our support team with the following information so we can escalate to our engineering team promptly: - The name of the affected Smart Ads campaign - The expected slug or page title that should appear - A screenshot of the incorrect URL or title shown in the ad preview - Confirmation that the landing page is in a fully published state You can reach our support team directly via the chat widget in your Search Atlas dashboard. Our team will investigate and apply any necessary backend corrections to resolve the sync issue.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

📊 Fix Ad Reports Stuck Loading in OTTO Ads

🔍 Overview If your ad reports have been showing a spinning loading icon for more than a few minutes — or appear completely blank even after disconnecting and reconnecting your ad account — the most common cause is incomplete business or campaign setup inside OTTO Ads. Your ad account connection alone is not enough for reports to populate. OTTO Ads also needs an active business profile and at least one configured campaign to generate and display data. ⚠️ What Causes This Issue Ad reports in OTTO Ads pull data based on two requirements being met simultaneously: - A connected ad account (Google Ads or Meta Ads) - A completed business setup with at least one active campaign configured inside OTTO Ads If the second requirement is missing, the report has nothing to read from. This causes the loading spinner to run indefinitely and no data to appear — even if your ad account credentials are valid and the connection status shows as successful. Disconnecting and reconnecting your ad account will not resolve this issue because the account connection itself is not the problem. The missing piece is the business and campaign configuration inside the platform. ✅ How to Fix It: Complete Your Business Setup Follow these steps to check and complete your OTTO Ads business and campaign setup: 1. From the left sidebar, navigate to Ads. 2. Check whether a business profile has been created. If you see a prompt to set up a business or if the business section appears empty, complete the business setup form before continuing. 3. Once your business profile is in place, confirm that at least one campaign has been created and activated. A campaign must exist and be active for report metrics to populate. 4. After confirming both are in place, navigate to your ad reports and allow some time for data to load after initial setup, as the system needs time to sync metrics from your connected ad account. 5. If reports are still not loading, try refreshing your browser and check again. 🚫 What Will Not Fix This Issue The following actions are commonly attempted but will not resolve a loading or blank report caused by missing setup: - Disconnecting and reconnecting your ad account - Waiting longer without completing business or campaign setup - Creating a new report without first completing the business and campaign configuration If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🤖 Why OTTO Negative Keyword AI Suggestions Aren't Appearing

🔍 Overview OTTO's AI-powered negative keyword recommendations are designed to help you automatically filter out irrelevant search terms and improve your Smart Ads performance. However, the feature does not generate suggestions immediately after activation. This article explains why recommendations may not yet be visible. ⏳ Why There's a Delay After Activation OTTO's negative keyword AI works by analysing real performance data from your active ad campaigns. When you first activate the feature, the system has little or no data to analyse. Suggestions are generated only after OTTO has collected a sufficient sample of activity from your account. This means the delay you are experiencing is expected behaviour — not a bug or a misconfiguration. The AI needs time and sufficient traffic before it can make accurate, actionable recommendations. 📊 Traffic Requirements Before Suggestions Appear To trigger AI-generated negative keyword recommendations, your Smart Ads campaigns need to accumulate enough real performance data for OTTO to identify patterns. Until that threshold is reached, no suggestions will be shown. The exact data threshold is determined by OTTO automatically based on your account's activity. 🛠️ What to Do While Waiting If negative keyword suggestions have not yet appeared in your account, this is generally expected during the early period after activation. There is no specific action required on your part beyond ensuring your campaigns remain active and continue serving ads normally. Once OTTO has gathered enough data from your account, recommendations will begin to appear. If you have been running active campaigns for an extended period and suggestions still have not appeared, this may warrant further investigation by our support team. When reaching out, please have the following ready: - Your project or account name in Search Atlas - Approximately when you activated OTTO for Smart Ads - A description of your current campaign activity (e.g. whether campaigns are actively serving) If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

📊 Fix Ad Reports Stuck on Loading

🔍 Overview If your ad reports have been showing a spinning loading icon for 24 hours or more — with no data appearing even after disconnecting and reconnecting your ad account — the most common cause is incomplete business setup in Search Atlas. Your ad account connection alone is not enough; the platform also needs a fully configured business profile before it can pull and display report data. ⚙️ Why This Happens Search Atlas links your ad data to a specific business project. If that business project is missing key setup details, the system cannot complete the data request and the report remains stuck in a loading state. Disconnecting and reconnecting your ad account will not resolve this issue because the root cause is the missing business configuration, not the ad account connection itself. 🛠️ How to Fix It Follow the steps below to complete your business setup and unblock your ad reports. 1. Locate your business project. Navigate to your business projects and open the project that is connected to your ad account. 2. Review your business profile details. Check that all required business information is filled in and saved. Look for any sections with empty fields and complete them. 3. Return to your ad reports. After completing your business setup, navigate back to your ad reports and reload the page. Allow some time for the data to begin populating. ✅ Tips to Avoid This Issue To avoid this issue in the future, make sure every new business project has a complete business profile before you connect an ad account. Ensuring your business details are fully filled in upfront allows the platform to immediately match your ad data to the correct project. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. Additional Notes At least one campaign must be created and activated inside OTTO Ads — a campaign must exist and be active for report metrics to populate. This is a second requirement beyond just a completed business profile.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🚀 Fix Google Ads Publication Errors

🔍 Common Publication Error Causes Google Ads campaign publication fails when required fields are missing, policies are violated, or API settings are outdated. The most frequent causes include invalid start date format, policy violations in ad copy, incorrect targeting settings, and OAuth account mismatches. ⚙️ Verify Campaign Settings Before Publishing 1. Navigate to Left sidebar → Smart Ads → Campaign Hub. 2. Select the campaign showing the error. 3. Check that all required fields are complete: campaign name, budget, bidding strategy, target locations, and language. 4. Ensure the start date uses the correct format. Recent API updates require start_date_time instead of start_date. If you see a date-only field, update it to include time (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS). 5. Confirm ad groups have at least one responsive search ad with headlines and descriptions that meet character limits. 6. Verify keywords are added to each ad group and match the targeted language. 🛡️ Check Google Ads Policy Compliance - Review ad copy for prohibited content: misleading claims, trademark misuse, adult content, or restricted products. - Ensure landing pages comply with Google's destination requirements — functional, relevant, and transparent. - Confirm ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets) follow policy guidelines. - Use the Campaign Audit tool at Left sidebar → Smart Ads → Campaign Audit to auto-detect policy issues before publishing. - 1. Go to Left sidebar → Smart Ads → Campaign Hub. 2. Click Refresh data to force a fresh sync with Google Ads. 3. If the issue persists, disconnect and reconnect your Google Ads account through the integration settings. 4. Verify the correct manager account (MCC) and client account are selected during reconnection. - 1. In Campaign Hub, click Create new campaign. 2. Set a daily budget of $5, one target location, one language, and a single ad group with one responsive search ad. 3. Use generic, policy-safe ad copy (e.g., "Quality Services | Free Consultation"). 4. Publish and monitor for errors.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ OTTO PPC Tracking Parameters in Imported Campaigns

🔍 What Happened Some customers noticed unexpected otto_prod parameters added to their Google Ads campaign tracking templates after connecting their accounts to OTTO PPC. These parameters were injected automatically by OTTO PPC and were not added manually by you or your team. This was caused by a bug in which OTTO PPC incorrectly applied its internal tracking tokens to imported campaigns — campaigns that should have remained untouched. Search Atlas has identified this issue and deployed fixes to prevent it from happening going forward. ✅ What Has Been Fixed Our engineering team has resolved the underlying issue. OTTO PPC no longer incorrectly injects otto_prod tracking parameters into campaigns that were imported into OTTO PPC rather than created by it. ⚙️ How to Audit Your Campaigns Even with the fix in place, we recommend auditing your Google Ads campaigns to confirm no unexpected tracking parameters remain. Follow these steps: 1. Log in to your Google Ads account. 2. Navigate to Campaigns and select each campaign you manage through OTTO PPC. 3. Review the tracking template settings for any values containing otto_prod that you did not add yourself. 4. If you find any unexpected parameters, manually remove them or update the tracking template to your preferred value and save the changes. 5. Repeat this check at the ad group and individual ad level, as tracking templates can be set at multiple levels in Google Ads. 🚫 How to Prevent This in the Future The platform-level fix described above is your primary protection. In addition, consider this best practice: - Review tracking templates after connecting a new account: Any time you connect a Google Ads account to OTTO PPC, check your tracking templates in Google Ads to confirm no unintended changes were made. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

Fix Cross-Client Keywords in OTTO PPC Audit

What Is the Cross-Client Keyword Issue? When running an OTTO PPC Campaign Audit, you may notice keyword recommendations that reference a different client's account name. This is a known issue within the OTTO PPC audit engine and our engineering team is actively investigating the root cause. What Should You Do? If you encounter this issue, follow these steps: 1. Verify the account you are auditing. Double-check that you selected the correct client account when launching the audit. 2. Review each keyword recommendation individually. Evaluate every suggested keyword, negative keyword idea, and performance observation on its own merits. The keyword data itself may still be relevant to your account even though the client name label is incorrect. 3. Apply only recommendations that make sense. Cross-check each suggestion against the client's actual industry, business type, campaign structure, and location. Skip any recommendation that does not align with the account you are auditing. 4. Document the details. Record the name of the client account you were auditing, the incorrect client name that appeared in the recommendations, the specific keywords affected, and the date and time you ran the audit. 5. Report the instance to our team. Share the details you gathered so engineering can investigate and resolve the issue faster. Is a Fix on the Way? Yes. Our engineering team is actively working on resolving this known issue. We appreciate your patience while we address it. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Smart Ads API Deletion Bug and Account Downgrade

🔍 What Happened A confirmed bug affected Smart Ads accounts, resulting in an API-related deletion issue and an unintended account downgrade. This was not caused by any user action — both issues stem from an internal platform problem that our engineering team is aware of. Because this issue involves backend systems and API-level operations, resolution requires direct action by our support and engineering team. Self-service restoration is not available for this type of issue. 📋 What This Bug May Affect If your account has been impacted, you may notice one or both of the following: - Deleted campaigns: Google Ads campaigns may have been removed without any action on your part. - Account downgrade: Your Search Atlas account may have been downgraded unintentionally. Both of these issues require backend intervention by our team to investigate and correct. How to Escalate This Issue To help us investigate and resolve this as quickly as possible, please have the following information ready when you reach out to our team: - Your Search Atlas account username or email - The approximate date and time you noticed the issue - A description of what changed (e.g., which campaigns appear to be affected, or what account tier change you observed) - Any error messages you received in Search Atlas or Google Ads If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Google Ads Campaign Stuck: Support Handoff Guide

🚦 What a Stuck Campaign Looks Like A Google Ads campaign is considered stuck when it does not move forward as expected. Common signs include: - The campaign stays in a Pending, Processing, or Draft state for longer than expected. - Changes you saved do not show up in your Google Ads account. - The campaign shows as approved but is not serving ads or spending budget. - An error message appears when you try to launch, edit, or resume the campaign. 🔎 Quick Checks Before You Contact Support These checks solve many stuck campaigns in a few minutes. Working through them also gives our team useful details if you still need help. 1. Confirm your Google Ads connection. Make sure the Google account linked to Search Atlas is still active and has access to the correct Google Ads account. If the connection looks broken, reconnect it. 2. Check billing in Google Ads. An expired card, a failed payment, or a suspended billing profile can stop a campaign from running. 3. Look for disapproved ads. In Google Ads, review the ad and asset status. Policy issues such as restricted content or a landing page that does not load can block delivery. 4. Review budget and schedule. Check that the daily budget is above zero, the start and end dates are correct, and the campaign is not paused. 5. Refresh and retry. Reload the page, sign out and back in, then try the action again. Wait a few minutes after saving, since changes can take time to sync. 💬 How to Reach a Human Teammate If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team. 🔄 How Ticket Handoff Works You do not have to wait for one specific person to resolve your issue. If you started a conversation with a teammate who is offline or in a different time zone, another teammate can review the conversation history and continue from where it stopped. - Your history stays with your conversation. A teammate who picks it up can see what you already shared, so you should not need to start over. - Ask for a handoff. If you have been waiting, say so in the chat. For example: "I have been waiting on my earlier conversation about a stuck campaign. Can someone else pick this up?" - Reply in the same conversation when possible. This keeps all details in one place and helps the next teammate act quickly. 🧩 What to Do If You Have Multiple Conversations Sometimes a single issue ends up in more than one conversation, for example after being routed to a different teammate. This can slow things down because details are split across threads. 1. Open the chat widget and type human teammate. 2. Tell the teammate you have more than one conversation about the same Google Ads issue. 3. Ask them to review your earlier conversation and combine the details so only one thread stays active. 4. Continue the discussion in that single conversation. 🌍 Handling Time Zone Gaps If you and a teammate keep missing each other, a few habits can help close the gap: - Share everything in your first message. Include what you tried, what you expected, and what happened, so the next teammate can act without waiting for your reply. - Tell us your availability. Mention your time zone and the hours you are usually online. - Pre-approve actions. If you are comfortable with it, say so in the chat. For example: "You may reconnect my Google Ads account or relaunch the campaign without checking with me first." - Request a fresh pickup. If your conversation has gone quiet, start a chat during your working hours and ask for it to be reassigned. 📝 What to Include in Your Message Complete details help any teammate resolve the issue faster, and they reduce the need for repeated follow-ups. - The campaign name and the Google Ads account it belongs to - The status you see in Search Atlas and in Google Ads - When the problem started and what you changed beforehand - Any error message, copied exactly or shown in a screenshot - The steps you already tried from the checklist above - A brief reference to your earlier conversation, if there was one ✅ Tips to Avoid Future Delays - Keep your Google Ads connection and billing details up to date. - Fix ad disapprovals as soon as Google flags them. - Make one change at a time, then wait for it to sync before making another. - Keep follow-ups in a single conversation. - Include full details in your first message so any teammate can take over. Most stuck campaigns come down to a connection, billing, or ad approval issue, and a clear message with the right details helps any member of our team pick up your case at any time of day.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🚀 Fix Ads Publishing Failures

🔍 Why ads may fail to publish Search Atlas sends your campaign details to Google or Facebook for validation and publishing. A campaign can fail when the destination account, permissions, payment setup, ad content, or platform connection is not ready. Publishing may also remain pending while the destination platform reviews the request. This review can take longer than expected, especially when an account has recently changed its billing, permissions, business details, or advertising settings. ✅ Check the campaign status 1. Open the campaign in Search Atlas and review its current status. 2. Look for an error, warning, or pending message associated with the failed ad. 3. Confirm that the campaign, ad group, creative, audience, budget, and schedule are complete. 4. Check whether the ad was created as a draft instead of submitted for publishing. If an error message is shown, save the exact wording. It helps identify whether the issue is caused by Search Atlas or by Google or Facebook validation. 🔐 Verify account access - Confirm that the connected Google Ads or Facebook advertising account is the intended account. - Make sure the user who connected the account still has permission to create and publish ads. - For Facebook, verify access to the correct Business Manager, ad account, page, pixel, and payment profile. - For Google, verify access to the correct Ads account, customer ID, billing profile, and conversion resources. - Reconnect the advertising account if its authorization expired or access was recently changed. Do not disconnect an account if doing so could remove an active connection or interrupt running campaigns. Confirm the account and permissions first. 💳 Check billing and platform restrictions Google and Facebook can reject publishing when an account has an unpaid balance, failed payment method, spending limit, disabled account, business verification issue, or policy restriction. Review the destination platform directly for alerts, account notifications, or requests for verification. Search Atlas cannot override a rejection, account suspension, payment failure, or policy decision made by Google or Facebook. 📝 Review ad content Check the headline, description, images, landing page, targeting, and destination URL. Common rejection causes include unsupported claims, restricted products, misleading content, broken landing pages, missing disclosures, or content that does not match the platform’s advertising policies. Make sure the landing page loads correctly, uses a secure connection, and is accessible to the intended audience. Remove unsupported characters or incomplete fields, then save the ad and submit it again. 🔄 Retry publishing safely 1. Correct any missing fields, permissions, billing issues, or policy warnings. 2. Save the campaign and wait for the updated status to appear. 3. Submit the campaign again once the destination account is ready. 4. Check the destination platform to confirm whether the ad was published, rejected, or duplicated. 5. Avoid repeated submissions while a request is pending, since this can create duplicate drafts or make the status harder to interpret. ⏳ When publishing stays pending A pending status does not always indicate a Search Atlas error. The request may be waiting for platform review, account synchronization, or a response from Google or Facebook. Allow time for the destination platform to process the request before submitting it repeatedly. If the status has not changed after a reasonable processing period, collect the campaign name, destination platform, account identifier, error text, submission time, and a screenshot. Do not share passwords or payment details. 🛠️ When to contact support Contact support when the campaign remains stuck after you verify access, billing, content, and destination-platform alerts; when Search Atlas shows a technical error; or when the status does not match the status shown in Google or Facebook. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Fix the Required Playbook Not Available Error

When you try to turn on Optimize Campaigns for a Google Ads account, you may see the message Required playbook not available. This article explains what the message means, the most common reasons behind it, and the steps to fix it. ❓ What Does This Error Mean? Optimize Campaigns relies on a set of automated instructions, called a playbook, to review and improve your campaigns. The error means the platform could not find or load the playbook it needs for your account. This is usually a setup, connection, or account-eligibility issue, not a problem with your campaigns themselves. 🔎 Common Causes - Google Ads is not fully connected. The connection may be missing, expired, or only partly authorized. - Permissions are limited. The Google account you connected may not have enough access to the Google Ads account you selected. - The wrong account is selected. A manager (MCC) account may be chosen instead of the individual ad account that runs campaigns. - Data is still syncing. A newly connected account can take some time to import campaigns and settings. - The account has no eligible campaigns. If there are no active or recently active campaigns, there may be nothing for the playbook to optimize. - The feature is not enabled on your plan or project. Some playbooks may only be available to certain plans or after a project is set up. ✅ Step-by-Step Fixes Work through these steps in order. Check Optimize Campaigns after each one. 1. Refresh the page. Reload the platform or log out and back in. This clears many temporary loading issues. 2. Check your Google Ads connection. Open your Google Ads integration settings in the platform and confirm the account shows as connected. If it shows an error or expired status, disconnect and reconnect it. 3. Approve all permission requests. When reconnecting, sign in with a Google account that has Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account, and accept every permission Google asks for. 4. Select the correct ad account. Make sure you chose the individual Google Ads account that contains your campaigns, not only the manager account above it. 5. Confirm you have active campaigns. In Google Ads, check that the account has at least one enabled campaign with recent activity. 6. Wait for the sync to finish. If you just connected the account, give it some time to import your data, then reload the page and try again. 7. Try activating again. Open Optimize Campaigns for the correct project and turn it on. 💡 Tips to Avoid the Error - Connect Google Ads using the same Google login that manages your ad account. - Do not remove or change access for the connected Google user after setup. - Reconnect the integration if you change your Google password or security settings. - Make sure the project you are working in is linked to the correct Google Ads account. 📋 What to Share If You Still See the Error If the message remains after the steps above, contacting our team will resolve it faster if you have these details ready: - The name of the project where you see the error - The Google Ads account ID you are trying to optimize (the 10-digit number in Google Ads) - Whether the account is a manager account or an individual ad account - The email address of the Google user who connected the integration - A screenshot of the error message 🙋 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🚀 Troubleshoot OTTO PPC Retargeting

🔍 Why a business may not appear OTTO PPC retargeting only shows businesses that meet the campaign requirements and are available in your current Search Atlas account. A business may be missing or unavailable when: - The business is not connected to the correct Search Atlas project. - The project is inactive, incomplete, or still being processed. - Your account does not have the required access to the business or advertising account. - The required advertising connection, audience, or tracking setup is missing. - The business is already assigned to another campaign or is not eligible for retargeting. - Recent project or connection changes have not finished syncing. 🛠️ Check the project and business 1. Open Search Atlas and select the correct project. 2. In the left sidebar, open OTTO SEO. 3. Confirm that the project is active and that the business details, domain, and location are correct. 4. Open the OTTO PPC retargeting campaign setup and review the available business list. 5. If the business is listed, select it and continue the campaign setup. 🔗 Verify account connections Confirm that the advertising account and required retargeting resources are connected to the same business and project. Check that: - You are signed in with an account that has permission to manage the advertising account. - The selected advertising account belongs to the intended business. - Audience or tracking resources have been created and are available for use. - No connection is paused, expired, disconnected, or awaiting authorization. 🔄 Refresh the available businesses If you recently added a business, changed permissions, or connected an advertising account, allow time for the information to sync. Then refresh the page, reopen the campaign, and check the business list again. Avoid creating duplicate projects while the existing project is syncing. ⚠️ If the business is still unavailable 1. Confirm you are working in the correct Search Atlas workspace and project. 2. Check whether the business is inactive or already used by another retargeting campaign. 3. Reconnect or reauthorize the relevant advertising account if the connection shows an error. 4. Make sure the business has valid details and an eligible website or audience. 5. Record the project name, business name, advertising account, and any error message before requesting help. If the business remains unavailable after these checks, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026

🛠️ Can't Pause Imported Trial Google Ads Campaigns

🔍 What This Issue Looks Like After connecting your Google Ads account, you may see campaigns in Search Atlas that you don't recognize or don't want to run. When you try to pause, edit, or change the budget or dates, you see this message: - Cannot modify dates, budget or status of a trial campaign. This message comes from Google Ads, not from Search Atlas. It means the campaign is a trial campaign, which Google Ads locks against changes made from outside its own Experiments tool. 💡 Why It Happens Trial campaigns are created by Google Ads as part of an experiment. An experiment lets an advertiser test a change against an original campaign, such as a new bidding strategy or new settings, before applying it. While the experiment exists, Google Ads controls the trial campaign's status, budget, and dates. Search Atlas imports the campaigns it finds in your connected Google Ads account, so trial campaigns can appear in your list. Because Google blocks changes to them, Search Atlas cannot pause them for you. Trial campaigns usually appear for one of these reasons: - Someone with access to the Google Ads account (you, a colleague, or an agency) set up an experiment. - The experiment was created from a Google Ads recommendation or a guided setup flow. - An older experiment was scheduled, and it started running on its start date. ✅ How to Stop a Trial Campaign The trial has to be ended inside Google Ads. Follow these steps: 1. Sign in to Google Ads with an account that has admin or standard access to the affected account. 2. Make sure you are viewing the correct account, especially if you manage more than one. 3. In the left-hand menu, open Campaigns, then select Experiments. If you don't see it, look for Drafts and experiments or All experiments, depending on your account view. 4. Find the experiment that matches the trial campaign name you saw in Search Atlas. 5. Open the experiment and select End experiment. If the experiment hasn't started yet, select Remove instead. 6. Confirm your choice. The trial campaign will stop serving ads and spending budget. Ending the experiment does not change your original campaign. Do not choose Apply unless you want the trial's settings to replace your original campaign's settings. 🔄 Refresh the Campaign List in Search Atlas Once the experiment has ended in Google Ads, return to Search Atlas and refresh the page. Wait a few minutes for the data to sync with your Google Ads account. The trial campaign should show as ended or removed. If it still appears as active after a while, check Google Ads directly to confirm it has stopped. ⚠️ Things to Check If You Can't Find the Experiment - Account access: Experiments are only visible with sufficient permissions. Ask the account owner to upgrade your access level if needed. - Correct account: Confirm the Google Ads account ID matches the one connected to Search Atlas. - Date filters: Widen the date range or status filters on the Experiments page so ended or scheduled experiments are included. - Agency or team activity: Ask anyone else managing the account whether they created a test. They can end it or tell you which one it is. 💰 Protect Your Budget in the Meantime A running trial campaign can spend part of your budget. While you work on ending it, you can: - Check spend for the campaign in Google Ads under Campaigns. - Lower the budget of the original campaign in Google Ads if you need to limit total spend. - Review billing and spend alerts in your Google Ads account settings. 🛡️ How to Avoid This in the Future - Review the Experiments page in Google Ads regularly to catch tests you didn't plan. - Be cautious when accepting Google Ads recommendations that create experiments automatically. - Agree with your team or agency on who creates and ends experiments. - Review your imported campaigns right after connecting your account so you can spot unexpected ones early. 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team. To help us resolve things faster, include the campaign names and the Google Ads account ID in your message.

Last updated on Oct 26, 2026