"Resource was not found" when I try to create a campaign with the conversion goal "CONTACT~CALL_FROM_ADS"

[Marlon Gómez]

Hello Google Team, I tried to create a campaign with the conversion goal CONTACT~CALL_FROM_ADS and got the error "Resource was not found."

RequestID: 26kAo7lsK2zJ-qtK7qxc1w

These are the operations I do:
[
{
"updateMask": "biddable",
"update": {
"resourceName": "customers/{customerID}/campaignConversionGoals/{campaignID}~DOWNLOAD~APP",
"biddable": false
}
},
{
"updateMask": "biddable",
"update": {
"resourceName": "customers/{customerID}/campaignConversionGoals/{campaignID}~CONTACT~CALL_FROM_ADS",
"biddable": true
}
},
{
"updateMask": "biddable",
"update": {
"resourceName": "customers/{customerID}/campaignConversionGoals/{campaignID}~GET_DIRECTIONS~GOOGLE_HOSTED",
"biddable": false
}
},
{
"updateMask": "biddable",
"update": {
"resourceName": "customers/{customerID}/campaignConversionGoals/{campaignID}~CONTACT~GOOGLE_HOSTED",
"biddable": false
}
},
{
"updateMask": "biddable",
"update": {
"resourceName": "customers/{customerID}/campaignConversionGoals/{campaignID}~PHONE_CALL_LEAD~CALL_FROM_ADS",
"biddable": true
}
},
{
"updateMask": "biddable",
"update": {
"resourceName": "customers/{customerID}/campaignConversionGoals/{campaignID}~CONTACT~WEBSITE",
"biddable": true
}
}
]

When checking the customer's conversion actions, there is indeed a conversion action with this category and origin, but I don't know why it's giving me the error:

"conversionAction": {
"resourceName": "customers/customerID/conversionActions/conversionID",
"status": "ENABLED",
"type": "SMART_CAMPAIGN_AD_CLICKS_TO_CALL",
"category": "CONTACT",
"id": "conversionID",
"name": "Smart Campaign Ad Call Clicks",
"origin": "CALL_FROM_ADS",
"primaryForGoal": true
}

[Marlon Gómez]

This is the full error returned by the API:

{

  "error": {

    "code": 400,

    "message": "Request contains an invalid argument.",

    "status": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",

    "details": [

      {

        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.ads.googleads.v18.errors.GoogleAdsFailure",

        "errors": [

          {

            "errorCode": { "mutateError": "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND" },

            "message": "Resource was not found.",

            "location": {

              "fieldPathElements": [{ "fieldName": "operations", "index": 1 }]

            }

          }

        ],

        "requestId": "26kAo7lsK2zJ-qtK7qxc1w"

      }

    ]

  }

}

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi,

Based on the provided request Id, I observed that you are trying to perform an update mutate operation on multiple campaign conversion goals but are encountering a RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND error. As per the Common Errors document, the troubleshooting steps that you should follow are:-

• Use a search request to retrieve the resource name for an existing resource before submitting a mutate request. 
• Review our client library guides, which include documentation on how to construct valid resource names in every supported language

I have followed the first troubleshooting step and can confirm that the resource name of the campaign conversion goal provided as the second value which is at index 1 is not present in the account. GAQL query executed by me is as follows: 

SELECT campaign_conversion_goal.resource_name FROM campaign_conversion_goal WHERE campaign_conversion_goal.resource_name = 'customers/{customerID}/campaignConversionGoals/22752233926~CONTACT~CALL_FROM_ADS' 

I received an empty response as this resource name was not present in the account. This is the reason you are encountering RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND error.

I hope this clarifies your concern. Feel free to reach out for any further concerns/ queries. You can send the details related to any further concerns via Reply privately to the author option, or direct private reply to this email.

Thanks,
 

Google Ads API Team

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[2025-07-03 23:09:21Z GMT] This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!500Ht01rhBBK:ref" (ADR-00317015)

[Marlon Gómez]

Hello Google Team

The first problem is solved. By marking the campaign conversion goals as biddable or not, I can ensure they exist, as you said.

But now I have a new problem with another client:

When I retrieve the campaign conversion goals, I get this:

[

  {

    campaignConversionGoal: {

      resourceName:

        "customers/customerID/campaignConversionGoals/22752999764~PAGE_VIEW~GOOGLE_HOSTED",

      category: "PAGE_VIEW",

      origin: "GOOGLE_HOSTED",

    },

  },

  {

    campaignConversionGoal: {

      resourceName:

        "customers/customerID/campaignConversionGoals/22752999764~GET_DIRECTIONS~GOOGLE_HOSTED",

      category: "GET_DIRECTIONS",

      origin: "GOOGLE_HOSTED",

    },

  },

  {

    campaignConversionGoal: {

      resourceName:

        "customers/customerID/campaignConversionGoals/22752999764~CONTACT~GOOGLE_HOSTED",

      category: "CONTACT",

      origin: "GOOGLE_HOSTED",

    },

  },

  {

    campaignConversionGoal: {

      resourceName:

        "customers/customerID/campaignConversionGoals/22752999764~ENGAGEMENT~GOOGLE_HOSTED",

      category: "ENGAGEMENT",

      origin: "GOOGLE_HOSTED",

    },

  },

];

The client chooses the CONTACT~GOOGLE HOSTED action as the specific goal of the campaign, so I did this:

[

  {

    "updateMask": "biddable",

    "update": {

      "resourceName": "customers/customerID/campaignConversionGoals/22752999764~PAGE_VIEW~GOOGLE_HOSTED",

      "biddable": false

    }

  },

  {

    "updateMask": "biddable",

    "update": {

      "resourceName": "customers/customerID/campaignConversionGoals/22752999764~GET_DIRECTIONS~GOOGLE_HOSTED",

      "biddable": false

    }

  },

  {

    "updateMask": "biddable",

    "update": {

      "resourceName": "customers/customerID/campaignConversionGoals/22752999764~CONTACT~GOOGLE_HOSTED",

      "biddable": true

    }

  },

  {

    "updateMask": "biddable",

    "update": {

      "resourceName": "customers/customerID/campaignConversionGoals/22752999764~ENGAGEMENT~GOOGLE_HOSTED",

      "biddable": false

    }

  }

]

And we get this error

{

  "error": {

    "code": 400,

    "message": "Request contains an invalid argument.",

    "status": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",

    "details": [

      {

        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.ads.googleads.v18.errors.GoogleAdsFailure",

        "errors": [

          {

            "errorCode": {

              "conversionGoalCampaignConfigError": "EMPTY_CONVERSION_GOALS"

            },

            "message": "The campaign is using campaign override goals but has no goals configured.",

            "trigger": { "int64Value": "22752999764" },

            "location": {

              "fieldPathElements": [{ "fieldName": "operations", "index": 0 }]

            }

          },

          {

            "errorCode": {

              "conversionGoalCampaignConfigError": "EMPTY_CONVERSION_GOALS"

            },

            "message": "The campaign is using campaign override goals but has no goals configured.",

            "trigger": { "int64Value": "22752999764" },

            "location": {

              "fieldPathElements": [{ "fieldName": "operations", "index": 1 }]

            }

          },

          {

            "errorCode": { "requestError": "UNKNOWN" },

            "message": "The error code is not in this version.",

            "location": {

              "fieldPathElements": [{ "fieldName": "operations", "index": 2 }]

            }

          },

          {

            "errorCode": {

              "conversionGoalCampaignConfigError": "EMPTY_CONVERSION_GOALS"

            },

            "message": "The campaign is using campaign override goals but has no goals configured.",

            "trigger": { "int64Value": "22752999764" },

            "location": {

              "fieldPathElements": [{ "fieldName": "operations", "index": 3 }]

            }

          }

        ],

        "requestId": "9EO1cdDj_bUNKPXbdvqd8A"

      }

    ]

  }

}

Why is this happening?

Another question, or maybe it's also related to the error. The client checked their Google Ads Manager UI, and when changing a campaign to specific goals, only GET DIRECTIONS appears. Why aren't the rest listed?

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi,

I would like to inform you that the error 'EMPTY_CONVERSION_GOALS' indicates that the campaign is using campaign override goals but has no goals configured. Please be informed that when you override the customer-level goals for a campaign by issuing a CampaignConversionGoalOperation or using a custom goal, Google Ads will no longer apply future CustomerConversionGoal changes to any of the campaign's CampaignConversionGoal objects. The CampaignConversionGoal objects are completely independent from that point forward and will remain so unless you transition the campaign back to using customer-level goals by updating its conversion goal campaign configuration as described in this document.

Kindly note that when you set biddable true for CONTACT~GOOGLE_HOSTED and biddable false for all other GOOGLE_HOSTED conversion goals, you are essentially telling Google Ads that for this specific campaign, you want to override the account-level conversion goals and only bid on CONTACT~GOOGLE_HOSTED. The error EMPTY_CONVERSION_GOALS suggests that even though you've made CONTACT~GOOGLE_HOSTED biddable, Google Ads is perceiving the overall configuration for this campaign's goals as "empty" or invalid.

When you set campaign-level conversion goals, Google Ads expects a complete specification of all goals that should be considered for that campaign. By setting some to false and one to true, you are essentially defining the entire set of campaign-level goals. If the combination of your true and false settings results in a state where Google Ads determines there are no valid or applicable goals for the campaign to optimize for (other than the CONTACT one), it can trigger this error. I would suggest you refer to the guide Campaign goals to get more information. 

Also, please be informed that the GET_DIRECTIONS~GOOGLE_HOSTED is the only Google-hosted conversion action that is currently properly configured, enabled, and considered eligible for conversion tracking within your client's Google Ads account, or specifically for the location assets associated with this campaign. Google Ads only shows conversion actions that are relevant and active for the account and campaign type.

I hope this helps! Feel free to get back to us in case of any further queries.
 

Thanks,
 

Google Ads API Team

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[2025-07-07 03:08:39Z GMT] This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!500Ht01rhBBK:ref" (ADR-00317015)

[Marlon Gómez]

Hello Google team,

Thank you very much for the explanation. I now have a better understanding of the configuration flow for a campaign's conversion goals. However, I still don't quite understand how I could fix this issue to prevent the error from appearing for our user:

- How can I know when a conversion goal configuration will be valid and not empty/invalid before the user performs the operation?

- How can I know which conversion goals are valid/relevant/active in my client's account and show them only that? (In this case, only show GET_DIRECTIONS~GOOGLE_HOSTED, as the Google Ads Manager UI does, to avoid invalid configurations).

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi,

Please find the answers below for your queries.

• How can I know when a conversion goal configuration will be valid and not empty/invalid before the user performs the operation?

To ensure a valid configuration and prevent this error, you need to:

1. Understand Campaign Goal Independence: When you override customer-level goals with a CampaignConversionGoalOperation, the campaign's CampaignConversionGoal objects become completely independent from customer-level changes. Future changes to customer-level goals will not affect this campaign unless you transition it back to using customer-level goals.
2. Provide a Complete and Valid Set: When setting campaign_conversion_goals, you are defining the entire set of campaign-level goals. This implies that if a campaign is overriding goals (i.e., goal_config_level is CAMPAIGN), its campaign_conversion_goals list must contain all the desired goals for that campaign, with their correct biddable status, in such a way that the resulting configuration is not considered "empty" or insufficient by the Google Ads system. This means you cannot leave the campaign with effectively no goals to optimize for, even if you intend to only bid on one specific type. The API expects a comprehensive declaration of the campaign's specific goal set.

• How can I know which conversion goals are valid/relevant/active in my client's account and show them only that?

1. Retrieve all ConversionAction resources: You can query ConversionAction resources for your customer account to see what conversion actions exist and their status. For example, the sources show a conversion action with status "ENABLED."
2. Check for CampaignConversionGoal existence: As learned from your first problem, even if a ConversionAction is enabled and primary for a goal, its corresponding CampaignConversionGoal resource for a specific campaign might not exist, leading to a RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND error if you try to update it.
3. Your resolution to the first problem was to understand that marking goals as biddable ensures their existence.
4. This implies that you first need to ensure the CampaignConversionGoal objects themselves exist for the campaign.
5. You successfully retrieved a list of existing CampaignConversionGoal objects in your second problem.

I hope it helps.

Thanks,
 

Google Ads API Team

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[2025-07-07 17:46:05Z GMT] This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!500Ht01rhBBK:ref" (ADR-00317015)