"Keyword has been Deleted and Can Not be Modified"

When editing keywords via bulk upload, you may encounter the following error message:

Keyword has been deleted and can not be modified

What Causes The Issue?

This issue is most commonly caused by at least one of the keywords in the bulk sheet having a status of Deleted. Any keyword that has been deleted from the platform cannot be edited, so the platform will display the error message seen above.

How To Fix The Issue

You can fix the error in the following way:

  1. Open your original bulk sheet and remove all of the rows that contain deleted keywords.
  2. Re-upload your bulk sheet and the edit should succeed.

If you do not know which of the keywords are deleted, or the volume is too high to manually remove rows, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Keywords and use the Status column to filter for All but deleted.
  2. Apply any other filters you need to drill down to the keywords you'd like to edit.
  3. Ensure that the Account, Campaign, Group, Keyword and Match Type columns are present.
  4. Use the Export button above the grid to create a one-time report.
  5. Download the report by using the Navigation Bar to navigate to Reports < Completed, and use it as your new bulk sheet.

Important Information

  • If you do not specify a Match Type, the default Match Type of Broad will be applied. Failing to specify a Match Type can cause the error message above.
  • Unlike in Google Ads, encasing your keyword in square brackets ([keyword]) or quotes ("keyword") will not designate the keyword's Match Type. Rather, this will cause Marin to incorporate the brackets or quotes into the keyword text and the keyword will still default to Broad match.
  • You can find out more about deleted objects by reading the help article Modifying Deleted Objects.

Written by Marketing @ Marin Software

Last published at: December 20th, 2023