What do the tracking statuses in the UTM Manager mean?
What each status in the UTM Manager lists means, from Tracking and Missing to Overridden, Link Broken and Stale Ad ID, and how to fix it.
The Meta and TikTok lists
On the Meta and TikTok tabs, every row in the list titled Track Tag (UTM) Manager has a status in the Status column. Some rows also get an extra badge next to the status.
A row is red when it has an Incoherent Reporting or Stale Ad ID badge, orange when its link or its URL parameters are broken, and green when it is marked Tracking without any of these problems. When the code is missing, the row has no colour and the status sits in a red box.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking | TrueROAS found the tracking code in the ad. That is trueroas={{ad.id}} in the ad's URL parameters or website link, the ad's own ID after trueroas=, or {{ad.id}} after a parameter that other tracking tools use, such as utm_content. Hover over the badge to see the URL parameters, or the link when the ad has none. | Nothing. To check your website as well, use Test Reporting, described below. |
| URL Tag Broken, with Remove the first '&' character from URL tags | The ad's URL parameters start with &. | In Meta, delete the & at the start of the URL parameters. |
| Link Broken, with Too many question marks in URL | The link the ad points to contains more than one ?. | Keep only the first ? in the link and start every other parameter with &. |
| Can't Check UTMs, with a reason under it | TikTok only. TikTok does not share the link of this ad, so TrueROAS cannot check it. | Add the code in TikTok Ads Manager yourself. See How do I add the tracking code to my TikTok ads?. |
Missing {{ad.id}} on Meta, Missing __CID__ on TikTok | No tracking code was found. The row shows the ad's link, cut short, with the full link when you hover over it, and the line Add trueroas={{ad.id}} to URL Parameters, or Add trueroas=__CID__ to URL Parameters on TikTok. Meta rows also have an Open in Ads Manager button. | Add the code. See How do I add the TrueROAS tracking code to my Meta ads? or the TikTok article. |
| Incoherent Reporting, an extra badge | The value after trueroas= in the ad's link is neither {{ad.id}} nor this ad's own ID, so its sales would be credited to something other than this ad. | Replace the value with {{ad.id}}. |
| Stale Ad ID, an extra badge | The ad's link has a fixed number that starts with 23 after trueroas=, instead of {{ad.id}}, for example because the link was copied from another ad. The status next to the badge is usually Tracking, and Incoherent Reporting shows too when the number is not this ad's own ID. The badge also shows when the number happens to be this ad's own ID. | Replace the number with {{ad.id}}. |
An orange status shows whether or not the ad has the code, in place of Tracking or the Missing status. After you fix the link or the URL parameters, check the row again to see whether the code is there.
The message above the Meta list
Attribution is how TrueROAS decides which ad gets the credit for a sale. To give a sale to the exact ad, TrueROAS needs the ad's ID from the tracking code.
When the Meta list has finished loading and holds at least one ad, a message shows above it:
- In red, Some of your ads do not have the tracking tag. This may be the reason you see "Facebook/Organic" or "Instagram/Organic" tracked instead of your ads., with The TrueROAS AI requires the ad id from the tracking tags to accurately attribute to the exact ad, adset and campaign. It shows when at least one ad has no code and neither a broken link nor broken URL parameters.
- In green, All your ads are reporting the TrueROAS tracking tag! Well done! in every other case.
The green message can show while some rows still have an orange status, Incoherent Reporting or Stale Ad ID. Check the rows as well.
Test Reporting
On a row marked Tracking, the small Test Reporting link checks that the page your ad leads to records visits in TrueROAS. It tests your website, not the code in the ad.
- Click Test Reporting. The ad's link opens in a new browser tab, with a test value added to it.
- Let the page load in that tab. Back in TrueROAS, a spinner shows in the row.
- About 5 seconds after your click, TrueROAS looks for that test visit in your store.
- If it finds the visit, the row shows a green tick and the link followed by is reporting!. If it does not, after about 15 seconds in total the row shows a red cross, a message that the link is not reporting, a reminder to check that the TrueROAS app or plugin is installed, and a link to the page where you can install the tracking script by hand.
TrueROAS looks for the visit once, so a page that loads slowly can fail the test. Run it again before you change anything. If it keeps failing, check whether your store records visits at all, as described in What does the setup card at the top of the Dashboard mean?. On Shopify, also see How do I turn on the TrueROAS Tracker app embed and Always on in Shopify?.
A row marked Tracking that has no website link TrueROAS can test, for example an ad without a website link, shows Trouble tracking this ad? Contact us in chat. instead of Test Reporting.
The Google Ads list
On the Google Ads tab, each campaign in the list has one of three statuses, with a short line next to it.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking, with Set on this campaign or Set account-wide | The tracking template or final URL suffix that applies to the campaign carries a campaign ID or ad ID that TrueROAS reads, such as trueroas={campaignId} or trueroas={creative}. The line says whether the campaign's own setting or your account-wide setting carries it. | Nothing. |
| Overridden | The campaign has its own tracking template or final URL suffix without the code, and it replaces your account-wide setting, which has the code. The line reads This campaign has its own tracking setting without trueroas, so it ignores your account-wide one. Edit the campaign's tracking template. | Edit the campaign in Google Ads, as described under Fix campaigns marked Overridden in How do I add TrueROAS tracking to my Google Ads campaigns?. |
| Missing trueroas | The setting that applies to the campaign has no code, and neither has your account-wide setting. The line reads Add {lpurl}?trueroas={campaignId} to this campaign's tracking template, or set it account-wide. | Use Add tracking or add the code by hand, as described in the Google Ads article. |
Rows are green when the campaign is tracking and red otherwise. Hover over a status to see the tracking template that applies to the campaign, or No tracking template when there is none.
Good to know
- The statuses show your ads as the ad platform has them when the list loads. After you change an ad, click Update at the top of the list on the Meta or Google Ads tab, or reload the page for TikTok.
- Tracking means the code is in the ad now. What that means for sales you already have is explained in Why do sales from my ads show as untracked or organic?.
- For a Meta ad with several website links, only the first link is checked.
- Incoherent Reporting and Stale Ad ID look at the ad's website link only, not at its URL parameters. If you copied an ad, also check its URL parameters in Meta for a fixed number after trueroas=.
- Test Reporting is only on rows marked Tracking, so it is not on the TikTok tab.
- The statuses come from your ad accounts, so everyone who checks the same ad account sees the same statuses. You cannot hide a status or mark an ad as fine by hand.
- If a list stays empty or shows an error, see Why is the ad list in the UTM Manager empty or not loading?.