ReferenceMicrosoft Advertising tracking error
Tag inactive
Tag inactive means Microsoft Advertising has received no activity from the UET tag in the last 24 hours, and every conversion goal on that tag shows the same status. Check that the tag code is still on the live site, test a page with UET Tag Helper, and if the code is there, check whether the account still has access to the tag.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- In the Tracking status column on the UET tag page under Conversions, and on every conversion goal that uses the tag.
- What stops
- Conversions and remarketing audiences from the site stop recording while it stands.
- How serious
- No penalty, but bidding that optimizes on conversions is working without them.
- How long
- Microsoft counts the last 24 hours, so a fix shows within a day.
What it means
A UET tag has three tracking statuses: Unverified, Tag active and Tag inactive. Tag inactive means the tag worked at some point, since it is no longer unverified, and Microsoft has heard nothing from it for 24 hours.
Conversion goals take their status from the tag. While the tag is inactive, each goal on it reads Tag inactive too, whatever its own setup. Only when the tag is active again can a goal read Recording conversions or No recent conversions.
What actually triggers it
The site was rebuilt, redesigned or moved
A new theme, a new website builder or a move to a new host often drops code that was pasted into the old template. Microsoft's only instruction for this status is to make sure the tracking code is still on the website.
A Tag Manager change removed or paused the tag
Not on Google's help page
When the tag is loaded through a tag manager, a tag paused, deleted or left out of the published version stops it on every page at once, with nothing on the site itself looking different.
The account lost access to the tag
Not on Google's help page
Microsoft's API reference has a status the interface does not show by name: the account no longer has access to the UET tag, because permissions to a tag in another manager account were removed, or the account was transferred and lost a tag in its previous manager account. By default it is reported as Tag inactive.
The site has no visitors for a day
Not on Google's help page
The tag only reports when someone loads a page. A small site with no traffic for 24 hours, or one that was down, can read inactive with the code intact.
A consent banner blocks the tag
Microsoft asks for Consent Mode or the Transparency and Consent Framework for visitors from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. A banner that blocks the tag until consent, with few visitors consenting, can starve it.
Fix it in this order
- Go to Conversions, then UET tag, and note the Tag ID on the inactive tag.
- Open the live site in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome with the UET Tag Helper extension switched on, and refresh the page.
- If no number appears on the helper's icon, the tag is not on the page. Put the code back on every page, or publish the tag manager version that holds it.
- If a number appears, select the helper and compare its Tag ID with the one on the UET tag page. A different ID means the site carries another tag; change the site or the goal so they match.
- If the right tag is on the page and the status still reads inactive, check in the manager account whether this account still has access to the tag, and share it again if it was removed.
- Check the status again a day later.
The status changes to Tag active once activity arrives, and each conversion goal moves to Recording conversions or No recent conversions from there.
Running Microsoft Advertising beside Google is one of the things we sell, and the tracking goes in before any budget is spent. A status like “Tag inactive” is the kind of problem we fix as part of it.
Often confused with
Microsoft has never heard from the tag. Tag inactive means it has, and then stopped.
The tag is active and the goal recorded no conversion in seven days. The problem is the goal or the traffic, not the tag.
Google's nearest status for its own tag. The two tags are separate, so one can be fine while the other is down.