What is the issue?

You may encounter the following error message(s) within the Platform when uploading ad URLs or keyword URLs:
 

What causes the issue?

The above error is triggered when there are spaces in one of the uploaded URLs, which are rejected by Google. It can also be caused by spaces in the URL tracking parameters.

Typically the error message indicates which URL includes the space. Here is an example:

• "Error Error: GOOGLE, INVALID_CHARACTER_FOR_URL, operations[56].operand.ad.displayUrl. These characters are not allowed: [space], en_US"
• The above error message means that the illegal space is in the Display URL of the uploaded creative.

Also remember to check to see if the space is within the tracking parameters in URL Builder:

• Click Admin in the upper-right, then click the Revenue sub-tab, and finally choose URL Builder from the left-hand menu.
• Check the Required Parameters or Redirect URL field for spaces. You can also check the tracking parameters for spaces from this same settings page.

How to fix the issue

• Remove trailing spaces from URLs by deleting the spaces or performing a “Find and Replace” in Microsoft Excel by following these steps:

1. Select the URL column.
2. Hold down Control+H.
3. Enter a space in the Find what field.
4. Leave Replace with blank.

• You can also fix the issue in the following way:
  • To keep spaces in URLs, encode the URL by replacing the space with “%20”. For example:
    www.URLwithspaces.com/example with spaces 
  • Would need to change to:
    www.URLwithspaces.com/example%20with%20spaces
• You can also perform a "Find and Replace" for encoding the spaces:

1. Select the URL column
2. Hold down Control+H.
3. Enter a space in the Find what field.
4. Enter %20 in the Replace with field.

Once you take the steps, re-upload the file and it will process successfully.

Note: If Excel is not a viable alternative, you can also make the required changes with an advanced text editor such as Notepad++ or Sublime Text.

• You can also simply delete the sync error objects from the application or perform an edit on the URL.