Troubleshooting

Use this page when the Google Ads connection completes imperfectly, shows the wrong accounts, or does not behave the way you expect.

No Accounts Appear In The Dropdown

Possible causes:

• the wrong Google user completed OAuth
• the user does not have access to the target ad account or MCC
• the account list has not refreshed yet

What to do:

1. Re-run Authorize Google Ads with the correct Google profile
2. Confirm that user has access to the intended account in Google Ads
3. Wait briefly and retry the account selection step

The Wrong Accounts Show Up

This usually means the authorization came from a different Google profile or a broader manager view than expected.

What to do:

1. Check which Google account was used during authorization
2. If using an MCC, verify which child account should actually be protected
3. Reconnect the authorization if the list shown in ClickFortify is stale or misleading

The Selected Account Does Not Finish Connecting

What to do:

1. Retry the selection once in the same session
2. Reauthorize Google Ads if access may have expired or changed
3. Confirm the account still exists in the manager hierarchy
4. Confirm the account is not disabled, removed, or inaccessible to the authorizing user

Tracking Setup Does Not Apply Cleanly

If ClickFortify cannot complete the recommended tracking path, the issue is usually one of these:

• insufficient permissions for Google Ads changes
• a campaign or ad group has its own tracking template that overrides the account-level one
• an MCC (manager account) setting that blocks changes at the child account level
• stale account sync state

What to do:

1. Synchronize the ad account from ClickFortify
2. Review the Tracking Configuration Status in the account settings — a yellow warning means the template is missing or overridden
3. If campaigns are overriding the account-level template, clear the override (see full guide below)
4. If needed, switch to the Manual tracking mode in ClickFortify's Google Ads account settings and paste the required values directly

→ Fixing a Tracking Template Override — Full Guide

Audience-Based Protection Is Not Available

Possible causes:

• the account is not fully synced yet
• the authorization lacks the needed access
• the account setup is not ready for the audience workflow you want

What to do:

1. Confirm the account remains connected after sync
2. Recheck account permissions and authorization health
3. Finish the rest of onboarding first, then return to audience-related settings after the account is stable

Data Still Looks Incomplete After Connecting

What to do:

1. Synchronize the account after the initial connection
2. Make sure the selected account is the one actually serving campaigns
3. Expect a short delay before all account details settle between Google Ads and ClickFortify

Escalation Signals

Pause and investigate before proceeding if:

• the customer ID in Google Ads does not match the one you intended to connect
• the account keeps disappearing from ClickFortify
• tracking setup repeatedly fails after reauthorization
• the account shown in ClickFortify is a manager shell instead of the spend-driving child account

Best-Practice Recovery Order

Use this order to avoid chasing the wrong issue:

1. Confirm the correct Google user
2. Confirm the correct Google Ads account or MCC child
3. Confirm the authorization is still valid
4. Synchronize the account
5. Re-check tracking readiness
6. Continue onboarding only after the account is stable

What To Do Next

• Return to Connect Google Ads
• Review Connect Google Ads — Verification
• Continue with Install Tracking once the account is stable

Syncing After Onboarding

Once your account is connected, you may need to re-sync it when campaigns change, tracking settings need updating, or after token expiry. See the dedicated guide:

→ Syncing Your Ad Account — Full Troubleshooting Guide