Automations execution and behavior

Once an automation is set to Active, it begins evaluating its conditions on the schedule you defined and takes action whenever those conditions are met. This page explains the core rules that govern how automations evaluate conditions, handle data, and interact with other MobileAction tools.

Condition evaluation and action timing

After an automation is activated, it starts checking conditions according to its check frequency. When conditions are met, it takes action according to its action frequency.

After the first action is taken, all future actions follow the defined action frequency. This means an automation may check conditions more often than it acts, which is by design. It prevents changes from happening too frequently and helps maintain stability in your campaign performance.

To adjust how often your automation checks or acts, see Create an automation from scratch.

Automations use live data

Automations always evaluate the most up-to-date metrics available, not the data currently displayed in Ads Manager.

This is important to understand in two situations:

General metrics - If you notice a difference between what Ads Manager shows and what triggered your automation, the automation was using live data at the time it ran. The values may no longer match what you see in the interface.
MMP data - Ads Manager shows the previous day's MMP data as the latest available. Automations, however, use the live MMP feed. This means an automation may act on MMP data that has not yet appeared in Ads Manager. This is expected behavior, not an error.

Paused entities

By default, automations will not take action on paused entities, campaigns, ad groups, or keywords that are currently paused.

The only exception is the Activate action. An automation with an Activate action can reactivate paused entities.

Once a paused entity is reactivated by an automation, other automation rules, such as bid changes, will then apply to it from that point forward.

This behavior also makes it possible to create two sequential automations: one with a Pause action and one with an Activate action. This setup is used for controlled experiments, such as ad group, custom produt page testing or incrementality testing, where entities need to be switched on and off in a structured way.

Interactions with other MobileAction tools

Automations respect other active optimization tools in MobileAction and will not interfere with entities they are managing. Specifically:

Smart Bidding: If a keyword is managed by an active Smart Bidding setup, automations will not apply bid or pause actions to that keyword.

Budget Allocation: If a campaign is managed by an active Budget Allocation setup, automations will not apply daily budget or pause actions to that campaign.

CPP A/B Testing: If an ad group is participating in an active CPP A/B test, automations will not apply default Max CPT or pause actions to that ad group.

These restrictions are automatic. You do not need to configure them manually.

Need more help?

If you have further questions on the process, contact your dedicated Customer Success Manager or contact the support team via live chat!