Once you have tagged items in your account with Dimension values, you can use the Actions by Dimension feature to carry out a number of time-saving bulk operations, including:

• Regularly updating the Status of particular objects.
• Regularly updating Live Ad parameter values for both Google and Microsoft.

Note: The Actions by Dimension feature requires that all objects are tagged at the same level (i.e. group, keyword, creative, etc.).

An Example Of Actions By Dimension

Imagine that a retailer has created a dimension named ‘Shoes’ that they have used to tag thousands of Groups. They wish to:

• Update the prices of all their ‘Jogging’ and ‘Running’ ads.
• Pause/temporarily stop bidding on any Groups tagged 'Walking'.
• Remove any prices previously set on keywords within Groups tagged 'Walking'.

The user can use Actions by Dimension to achieve this bulk upload:

Notice in the above chart, that using Actions by Dimension requires just four rows of data, rather than the thousands of rows that would be necessary to change each individually. In this way, Actions by Dimension can help save a lot of time, especially when campaigns require similar changes on a regular basis.

How To Use Actions By Dimension

You can use this feature to make various changes to your dimension-tagged objects, including:

• Status Changes
  Since Status exists at all levels (campaign, group, keyword, creative, etc.), using this feature to manage Status updates requires that dimension values are consistently tagged at only one level across your Marin client account. The Group level is strongly recommended. If items are tagged at multiple levels, Status will not be updated and there will be an error returned with no action taken.
• Live Ad Param Changes
  Live Ad Params exist at the keyword level for both Google and Microsoft. They let you dynamically change numeric data like prices, inventory numbers, and percentages within your ad text. To reset a Live Param value that has already been set, enter ‘NULL’ in the bulk sheet.

Formatting Bulk Files For Actions By Dimension

The formatting of your bulk sheet in order to use this feature is similar to a regular upload, with a few column header changes. You can include the following column headers:

• Dimension
• [Status]
• [Live Ads Param 1]
• [Live Ads Param 2]
• [Param 2 (Microsoft)]
• [Param 3 (Microsoft)]

All of these columns are optional, but the file needs to have one Dimension column and at least one Action (status/parameter) column.

File types must be tab-delimited Unicode text files or CSV files.

Uploading Your Bulk Sheet

Use the Marin bulk upload functionality, to upload your newly created bulk sheet.

Uploading Via FTP

FTP is also supported. Files must begin with one of the prefixes listed below, FILENAME can be replaced with any text to make the file easily identifiable.

• Dimensions_FILENAME.txt To be Sent: Items will be held in the Activity Log until nightly sync or manually posted.
• Dimensionsauto_FILENAME.txt Sent: Changes will be sent automatically.
• Dimensionsheld_FILENAME.txt Held: Items will be held in the Activity Log until manually posted.

Learn more about FTP uploads by reading How to Add or Edit Objects via FTP.

Things To Remember

• When the operation fails, you may encounter such an error message: Operation failed with error: Dimension XXXXXXXX was found at multiple levels. e.g. Keyword: XXXXXX Ad Group: XXXXX
• Using this feature to manage status updates requires that dimension values are consistently tagged at only one level across the client. The group level is strongly recommended. If items are tagged at multiple levels, the status will not be updated and there will be an error returned and no action taken.
• If no changes are actually made, you will receive the error: No Action Required. If all rows in your upload receive this error, the entire Activity Log job will fail.