Troubleshooting Budget Allocation

Use this article when an option is unavailable, a budget allocation cannot be created or updated, or the allocation group behaves differently from what you expected.

A campaign is unavailable for selection

The campaign already belongs to another allocation group

A campaign cannot belong to more than one budget allocation group. If the campaign is already included in another running or paused allocation group, it appears disabled. Hovering over it shows:

This campaign cannot be selected because it is already in a budget allocation group.

Remove the campaign from its existing allocation group before adding it to another one. At least one campaign must remain in the existing allocation group.

See Edit, pause, resume, or delete a budget allocation.

The campaign has an unsupported status

When you create a budget allocation group, the campaign selector shows only campaigns with these statuses:

Running
On Hold

Paused campaigns do not appear. This nuance can cause the number of campaigns in the selector to be lower than the number shown in Ads Manager.

The campaign belongs to another app or campaign group

An allocation group can include only campaigns from its selected app and campaign group. When editing an allocation group, campaigns from other apps or campaign groups are not available to add.

CPI or CPG is unavailable

CPI and CPG require a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) connection for the selected app.

If the app does not have an MMP connection, these KPI options are disabled. Hovering over either option shows:

No attribution partner is connected for this app. Connect one from the attributions page or select a different app.

You can:

Connect an attribution partner for the selected app.
Select another app with an MMP connection.
Select CPA, which does not require an MMP connection.

See About Budget Allocation KPIs, goals, and attribution settings.

A budget allocation group cannot be created

A required field is missing

Before the platform creates the allocation group, it checks if:

A Budget Allocation name is entered.
At least one campaign is selected.
A valid daily budget is entered.
A goal is selected for a CPG allocation group.

Complete the missing fields and click Create again.

See Create a budget allocation group.

The daily budget is below the minimum

The daily budget cannot be lower than the combined minimum required for the selected campaigns. For each campaign, the MobileAction platform uses the higher of:

Its highest Ad Group Default CPT bid.
Its highest Keyword bid.

These campaign-level minimums are added together.

If the entered budget is too low, you see:

The total daily budget cannot be updated. You cannot enter a daily budget that is less than the sum of max Default CPT bids (<default cpt bid amount>).

Increase the daily budget before continuing.

See About minimum daily budgets and bid safeguards.

The Apple Ads integration is read-only

Budget allocation groups cannot be created for Apple Ads accounts with read-only API access. Read-only API access is a permissions setting on the Apple Ads side.

If you have read-only access, you’ll see this the following message:

Your Apple Ads integration is read-only, so you don't have permission to create budget allocation for the selected campaigns.

The integration must have permission to make changes before you can create an allocation group.

An operational error occurred

If the MobileAction platform cannot complete the request because of an API or operational error, you see “The budget allocation group cannot be created. Please try again later.”

In this case, try creating the allocation group again later, and if you still get the message, contact us via live chat or your Customer Success Manager.

Changing the campaign group cleared the form

Switching campaign groups during creation resets every field.

Before the reset, you’ll see:

Campaign Group Change: Switching the campaign group will reset all applied changes.

Select Cancel to keep your current entries. Select Change only when you want to start the setup again under another campaign group.

Changing the app cleared other fields

If you change the selected app after completing other setup steps, the remaining fields reset. Complete the KPI, campaign, and budget fields again for the newly selected app.

A budget allocation group cannot be updated

The daily budget is too low

The minimum daily budget validation also applies when you edit an allocation group. Increase the amount so it meets the combined campaign minimum. See About minimum daily budgets and bid safeguards.

All campaigns were removed

A budget allocation group must always contain at least one campaign. You cannot save an allocation group with zero campaigns. Keep at least one campaign selected before saving.

The setting is locked

You cannot change these settings after creation:

App
KPI
Attribution settings

To use different values, create a new budget allocation group.

You can edit:

Budget Allocation Name
Cap type
Included campaigns
daily budget

See Edit, pause, resume, or delete a budget allocation group for more information.

Budget Scheduler shows N/A

N/A appears when the allocation group uses a monthly cap, as Budget Scheduler is available only for daily-cap allocation groups. To use Budget Scheduler, change the allocation group to a daily cap. See these articles for more information:

A schedule cannot be created or edited

A date is unavailable

You cannot create more than one schedule for the same date. After a date is used in an existing budget schedule, it is unavailable when you create another schedule. Try editing the existing schedule for that date instead.

A past schedule cannot be edited

After the dates assigned to a schedule have passed, its row becomes inactive and read-only.

You cannot change:

The daily budget amount.
The selected dates.

However, you can still delete the schedule.

Future dates are unavailable

Budget Scheduler accepts only future dates. Past dates cannot be selected when creating or updating a schedule.

See Schedule daily budget changes to learn more about the Budget Scheduler.

Automation rules stopped taking action

When a selected campaign has an automation rule with a daily budget or pause action, the MobileAction platform shows this warning during creation:

Selected campaigns already have automation rules: The selected campaigns have automation rules. Once you start budget allocation, automation rules with daily budget or pause actions will not take action for those campaigns. Are you sure you want to continue?

After the budget allocation starts, it takes over daily budget and pause decisions for those campaigns. Existing automation rules do not apply their daily budget actions or pause actions.

Budget Allocation did not change a campaign

The campaign contains an ad group under an active CPP A/B Test

Budget Allocation does not take action on campaigns that contain ad groups under an active CPP A/B Test. The creation page displays this notice:

The budget allocation will not take any actions on the campaigns that contain those ad groups under an active CPP A/B Test.

The allocation group is paused

A paused allocation group does not distribute budget across its campaigns.

To restart it, turn on the toggle in the Status column. Resuming takes effect immediately and does not require confirmation.

See Edit, pause, resume, or delete a budget allocation group.

Confirm that the campaign is included

Open the allocation group’s Details page and review the campaign count and hover over the count to see up to 10 campaign names.

If the allocation group includes more than 10 campaigns, the platform shows the first 10 names and the number of additional campaigns.

The allocated total exceeds the daily budget

This can happen when a campaign’s calculated daily budget is below its required bid minimum. The platform raises the campaign budget to the higher of:

Its highest keyword bid.
Its highest ad group default CPT bid.

The increase is not removed from other campaign budgets. As a result, the final allocated total can exceed the configured daily budget. An overage of 10% or less is treated as a minor expected variance.

When the overage exceeds 10%, review the bids for the included campaigns or increase the daily budget. To learn more, see About minimum daily budgets and bid safeguards.

A daily budget change is not visible

An edited daily budget takes effect the following day. It does not take effect immediately.

Budget Allocation recalculates campaign budgets once per day, usually at 00:00 in the campaign group’s timezone. UTC is used in rare cases where the campaign group’s timezone cannot be used.

See:

Some campaign groups are unavailable

If your account has limited-access permissions, the campaign group selector shows only the campaign groups you are authorized to view.

You can also view only one campaign group at a time. If you manage more than five campaign groups:

Open the campaign group selector.
Click View All.
Search for the campaign group by name.

For more information, see View Budget Allocation performance and status.

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.