Introduction

The Marin Platform stores its own copy of each client's campaign structure separate from the publisher. When changes are made within the application, they must be synchronized with the content in the publishers' databases in order to achieve symmetry in both locations.

After making changes to campaigns using the application, you have the option to send changes to the publisher immediately, or wait until the application automatically sends them via its nightly sync with each publisher.

Similarly, our application must be kept in sync with changes that are made directly within the publisher. If changes are made in a publisher-specific editing tool such as Google AdWords Editor, a sync with our application is required in order to update the data.

This article will explain how to post changes from the Platform to the publishers. To find out out more about syncing changes to the Platform from the publisher, please read our Support article on that topic. 

Posting Local Changes to the Publishers

Local edits within the application are denoted by a blue pencil icon.

Once an edit has been made, the number of changes, as well as the option to post those changes, will become visible on tabs at the top right of the application. Changes made in the application are then queued up into the Activity Log.

From the Activity Log, you can:
 

• Cancel the changes (undoing them)  

  Note: You cannot cancel a job once it has been posted.
   

• Hold the changes
   
• Immediately post changes to the publisher(s).
   

If no action is taken, the changes will be queued as To Be Sent and pushed to the publishers in the application's nightly synchronization process at 8:00pm local time. ​However this can be delayed pending on other processes like bidding jobs. Any errors incurred, including errors made within the application and errors sent back by the publisher, will also be posted on this page.
 

Note: If you load a file into the account that contains objects and object details that already exist in the Platform and the publisher, there will be no corresponding child operation to be posted to the publisher. The reason is because there are no actual changes to be made on the publisher's end.
 

Posting some or all changes from the Activity Log

Hold or Cancel

To hold an item, simply check the items and use the Hold button. Held items are so noted in their status field.

• Held items cannot be posted with Post All Now -- select the item explicitly and use the Post Now button. 
   
• Because users may not remember to visit the Activity Log page and post, those items that are not on Hold will be sent automatically at the end of every day, so if you really want something held, you must put it on Hold explicitly.

To cancel an item, simply select the items and click Cancel. Note: You cannot cancel a job once it has been posted.

Filtering the Activity Log

The Activity Log can accumulate a large number of records, as it displays several weeks of publisher interactions. You can narrow down what you are looking for based on its current status, the user who created the change, or the date, by adjusting the filters on the left side of the page.

Reviewing Errors

Most errors will be visible in the Activity Log as they occur. However, some errors can only be detected after changes have been posted to the publisher. This process happens in the background.

1. Periodically check the Activity Log for errors in order to identify next steps.
    
2. If the application is unable to complete a requested change, the item or action will be marked with a red warning triangle. Reasons for this type of error may include publisher editorial issues, or the publisher API may be down.
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3. Review such actions for any needed adjustments. These errors can be seen when either 1) opening the Errors file attached to the job and/or 2) clicking into the actual Activity Log ID.

Note: You can also check for errors by clicking on the red triangle sync error icon next to any object in the grid. This will take you to the Activity Log operation and will display the error in question.
 

For the quickest resolution, most errors found in the Activity Log can be searched for and resolved using the Support Center.

Precedence

The last change made to the same object in the application will prevail within the publisher. For example, if a keyword's destination URL is modified in the application at 1 PM and was not immediately pushed out, and the same URL was modified again at 2 PM, the 2 PM modification would be sent to the publisher. Additionally, pushing a change from our application to the publisher will overwrite a value that was made directly in the publisher's UI.
 

As an example, if a campaign's end date is set to January 20, 2020 in Google AdWords and then changed to February 10, 2020 in the application, the two entities will be out of sync. Synchronizing changes from AdWords (manually or automatically), will overwrite the change made in the application. However, if the change is sent to the publisher via the application, it will overwrite the change at the publisher.

Possible status messages

Here are the possible statuses that an object may display:

Useful Links

How to Cancel Jobs in the Activity Log