Link checker timeout - what's next?

[Antoaneta Grigorova]

Hi guys, 

I know this has already been discussed, but as instructed, I am opening a new thread for better understanding the issue in question. I have a single account with 187660 ads which URLs I would like to check for 404/410 errors on a daily basis. I used the official Link checker script, which however after 181000 ads it gave up with the below message: 

Resuming work from a previous execution.
Cannot fetch more AdWords entities from iterator: exceeded limit of 50000.
Cannot fetch more AdWords entities from iterator: exceeded limit of 50000.
Exceeded maximum execution time
Exceeded maximum execution time

Of course, I tried increasing the TIMEOUT_BUFFER (to 360, to 600..) and also selecting in the timesheet only to check ads and sitelinks. However, it wouldn't start again. 

Then I created a new Link Checker script (the same code but with new timesheet), trying to reset it - again without success.  

Any ideas on how to make the Link Checker script work again? The ad links lead to a website with thousands of pages which get revamped every day and some of them get removed. I am also using DSA campaigns with dynamic product feed, but I would like to continue using regular Search campaigns with keyword targeting, without spending for clicks for ads which lead to a broken link. 

Thank you very much for your assistance! 

Kind regards,

Antoaneta

[Vincent Racaza (AdWords Scripts Team)]

Hi Antoaneta,

Based on the error message, it seems that you have already reached the entity limits. However, for the Link Checker solution script, rest assured that it will still process the unprocessed entities on the next execution of the script. You can check the "How it works" section for more information regarding this.

Since you said that you have created a new script and tried to execute it with no success, could you provide more information on the specific issue of the new script? Kindly provide your CID and script name (Reply privately to author) so I could further check this.

Thanks,

Vincent Racaza

AdWords Scripts Team

[Antoaneta Grigorova]

Hey Vincent, 

I will contact you via private message too, but I think it would be useful if you could tell me and all future users when the "next execution of the script' would be? As it is supposed to run hourly and it times out every single time for days, when it is supposed to automatically stop and start anew? I have also tried with removing scheduling and manually pressing RUN, again with the same error and timeout as above.

It says in the documentation that "Once an analysis is complete (all URLs have been checked), the script clears the label for a new analysis", however, if it keeps timing out 24/7, how is it supposed to complete the analysis?

Thanks again, 

Antoaneta

[Vincent Racaza (AdWords Scripts Team)]

Hi Antoaneta,

Based on the "How it works" section, it is stated there that "To track its progress, the script creates a label and applies it to your ads, keywords, and sitelinks after it checks them. The script can then identify checked URLs on its next run.". Basically, if you schedule the script to run hourly, then the next execution of the script is the next hour. Every execution, it will process the unprocessed entities until all the entities are being checked.

We could not say that the Link Checker script will finish its final execution after one day or after one week, since this depends on how many URLs it will check in your account. It may timeout in every execution if your TIMEOUT_BUFFER is not enough. If 600 seconds is not enough, then you may increase this value to avoid the timeout issue. However, as I have said, rest assured that in every execution, it will still continue checking other unprocessed entities until it can process everything on the final execution.

Furthermore, so I could check your issue, please provide your CID and script name (Reply privately to author).

[Vincent Racaza (AdWords Scripts Team)]

Hi Antoaneta,

A gentle follow up on this.

Could you confirm if you were able to resolve your issue in the Link Checker solution script? If you are still having issues, kindly provide your CID and script name (Reply privately to author). Also, grant me access to your spreadsheet.

[Julian Balling]

Hello Vincent, 

I'm facing the same error, but in my account aren't that many entities, that this problem should be related to. Still I can't figure it out where the problem should be. I already tried to increase the timeout buffer aswell, but still facing this error:

The Script doesn't even label any Ads/AdGroups or Sitelinks.

Thank you, 

Julian

[Hiroyuki Miyauchi (AdWords Scripts Team)]

Hello Julian,

As this is already an old thread, could you please create a new forum thread with all the details of the issue you are encountering so our team can better track this? 

Regards,

Hiroyuki

AdWords Scripts Team