Common Errors

This page lists common errors and provides tips on preventing and handling them. For a complete list of errors, review the error references. For further support, visit our forum.

AdError
CANNOT_USE_AD_SUBCLASS_FOR_OPERATOR
Summary	This operator cannot be used with a subclass of Ad.
Common causes	You've tried to modify attributes other than status of the ad.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Once an ad is created, it cannot be modified. If you would like to modify the ad, you must make a new ad and then remove the old one. The status of the ad is, however, modifiable using MutateAdGroupAds
INVALID_INPUT
Summary	One of the fields in an ad contains invalid characters.
Common causes	Using special characters in URLs
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Validate URLs in your application before making a request to the API.
LINE_TOO_WIDE
Summary	One of the lines in an ad was longer than the maximum allowed length. The length limits are documented in the Google Ads Help Center.
Common causes	Incorrectly specifying empty default text in an ad parameter tag. Use {param1}, not {param1:}.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Validate the length of the line before making the request.

AdGroupAdError
AD_GROUP_AD_LABEL_ALREADY_EXISTS
Summary	This label is already associated with some of these ads.
Common causes	You’ve tried to associate the label with ads that already have them associated.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Check first if the label to be added is already associated with the ads.
CANNOT_OPERATE_ON_REMOVED_ADGROUPAD
Summary	An operation attempted to update a removed ad.
Common causes	Once an ad is removed, it can no longer be updated (including changes to its status).
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Ensure that your code does not attempt to update removed ads.

AdGroupCriterionError
INVALID_KEYWORD_TEXT
Summary	The keyword text contains invalid characters. A list of valid characters is available on the Google Ads Help Center.
Common causes	The keyword text contains invalid characters.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Validate the keyword text in your application before making a request to the API.

AdGroupError
DUPLICATE_ADGROUP_NAME
Summary	An ad group is being added or renamed, but the name is already being used by another ad group.
Common causes	Creating a new ad group with the name of an existing active or paused ad group.
Recommended handling tips	Log the error and/or present an error message to the user, optionally suggesting a unique ad group name or showing the list of names in use.
Prevention tips	N/A

AuthenticationError
CLIENT_CUSTOMER_ID_INVALID
Summary	Client customer ID is not a number.
Common causes	You've specified your client customer ID incorrectly.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	123-456-7890 should be 1234567890. Visit our Quickstart for details.
CLIENT_CUSTOMER_ID_IS_REQUIRED
Summary	Client customer ID was not specified in the HTTP header.
Common causes	You've not specified your client customer ID in the HTTP header.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Client customer ID is required for all cases except for when using CustomerService.GetCustomer. Therefore, make sure you've specified it in the HTTP header. Consider using our client libraries, as they handle this for you.
CUSTOMER_NOT_FOUND
Summary	No account found for the customer ID provided in the header.
Common causes	Trying to access an account that was just created before the account is established in the backend.
Recommended handling tips	Wait an initial five minutes, then retry every 30 seconds.
Prevention tips	Wait a few minutes after the account is created before issuing requests against it.
GOOGLE_ACCOUNT_COOKIE_INVALID
Summary	The access token in the request header is either invalid or has expired.
Common causes	The access token has been invalidated.
Recommended handling tips	Request a new token following these guidelines. If you're using one of our client libraries, consult its documentation on how to refresh the token.
Prevention tips	Store and reuse access tokens until they expire.
NOT_ADS_USER
Summary	The login used to generate the access token is not associated with any Google Ads account.
Common causes	The login information provided corresponds to a Google account that does not have Google Ads enabled.
Recommended handling tips	Make sure to log in with a valid Google Ads account (typically your manager account) for the OAuth flow.
Prevention tips	N/A
OAUTH_TOKEN_INVALID
Summary	OAuth access token in the header is not valid.
Common causes	Your access token passed with the HTTP header was not correct.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Make sure you've passed the correct access token associated with your account. It's sometimes confused with refresh tokens and authorization codes. If you would like to get a credential that can access all client accounts under a manager account, make sure you get the refresh token for the manager account. Review our guide for details about access token and refresh token. For more details, consult the OAuth2 Authentication guide.

AuthorizationError
DEVELOPER_TOKEN_PROHIBITED
Summary	The developer token is not allowed with the project sent in the request.
Common causes	Each Google API Console project can be associated with the developer token from only one manager account. Once you make a Google Ads API request, the developer token is permanently paired to the Google API Console project. If you do not use a new Google API Console project, you'll get a DEVELOPER_TOKEN_PROHIBITED error when making a request.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	If switching to a developer token under a new manager account, you'll need to create a new Google API Console project for Google Ads API requests that use the new manager's token.
USER_PERMISSION_DENIED
Summary	The authorized customer does not have access to the operating customer.
Common causes	Authenticating as a user with access to a manager account but not specifying login-customer-id in the request.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Specify the login-customer-id as the manager account ID without hyphens (-). Client libraries have built in support for this, or see our guide.

BiddingError
BID_TOO_MANY_FRACTIONAL_DIGITS
Summary	The bid value is not an exact multiple of the minimum unit of the account's currency. For example, US$0.015 (15000 in micros) is not a valid bid.
Common causes	N/A
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Verify that bids are multiples of the minimum unit for the account's currency.
BID_TOO_BIG
Summary	The error is returned even though the bid is within the campaign budget.
Common causes	N/A
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Check if the account is participating in Google Grants for Google Ads. If so, restrict CPC bids to the maximum prescribed by the program.

CampaignBudgetError
MONEY_AMOUNT_LESS_THAN_CURRENCY_MINIMUM_CPC
Summary	The budget amount is too small.
Common causes	N/A
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Verify that budget amount is greater than or equal to the minimum unit for the account's currency.
NON_MULTIPLE_OF_MINIMUM_CURRENCY_UNIT
Summary	The budget amount will have too many significant decimal places when converted from a micro amount to an amount in the account's currency.
Common causes	N/A
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Verify that budget amount is divisible by the minimum unit for the account's currency.

CampaignError
DUPLICATE_CAMPAIGN_NAME
Summary	A campaign is being added or renamed, but the name is already being used by another campaign.
Common causes	Creating a new campaign with the name of an existing active or paused campaign.
Recommended handling tips	Log the error and/or present an error message to the user, optionally suggesting a unique campaign name or showing the list of names in use.
Prevention tips	N/A

CriterionError
KEYWORD_HAS_INVALID_CHARS
Summary	Adding / editing keywords that contain invalid characters.
Common causes	Use special characters like ! @ % * in the keywords.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Make sure you don’t use any unallowed characters in the keywords. Consult the Add keywords Help Center article for more information.

DistinctError
DUPLICATE_ELEMENT
Summary	The request contains two parameters that are identical and redundant.
Common causes	N/A
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Remove duplicates (operations, parameters, list elements) before making the request. Look for fields that have the DistinctElements constraint.

InternalApiError
INTERNAL_ERROR
Summary	Something unexpected happened while processing the request.
Common causes	The API isn't functioning correctly due to a bug.
Recommended handling tips	Wait for about 30 seconds, then retry the request. If this error occurs frequently, post the details to the forum for further troubleshooting.
Prevention tips	N/A

NotEmptyError
EMPTY_LIST
Summary	A required list is empty.
Common causes	Passing in an empty list of operations to a mutate method.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	N/A

QuotaError
RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED
Summary	A system frequency limit has been exceeded.
Common causes	Sending too many requests in a short period of time.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Set up short delays between requests or combine more operations in fewer requests.

RangeError
TOO_LOW
Summary	A value was lower than the minimum allowed.
Common causes	Forgetting to specify an ID, which results in a value of 0 being passed in.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	Note any range limitations documented in the API reference.

RequestError
INVALID_INPUT
Summary	The request is malformed.
Common causes	The URL is malformed or the contents of the request are malformed.
Recommended handling tips	N/A
Prevention tips	N/A

RequestError
REQUIRED_FIELD_MISSING
Summary	The request is missing required information.
Common causes	Missing required fields when attempting to add an entity.
Recommended handling tips	Log the error and/or present an error message to the user. The fieldPath attribute of the error indicates which field is missing.
Prevention tips	Read the API reference to find out which fields are required.