ReferenceMicrosoft Advertising tracking error
Unverified
Unverified means Microsoft Advertising has never received activity from the UET tag. A new tag can take up to 24 hours. If it still reads Unverified after that, the code is not on the site, is installed incorrectly, or the site carries a different tag. UET Tag Helper on a live page tells which.
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
- Nothing has started: no conversions or audiences are recorded from the site.
- How serious
- No penalty, but campaigns that bid on conversions have nothing to learn from.
- How long
- Microsoft says verification can take up to 24 hours.
What it means
Creating a UET tag in Microsoft Advertising gives a tag ID and a block of code. Nothing is verified until that code runs on a page someone visits. Until then the tag reads Unverified, and so does every conversion goal attached to it.
Microsoft gives a day for the first activity to arrive. Past that, it names three likely causes: the tag is not on every page, it was not added correctly, or the wrong tag was added.
What actually triggers it
The code was created and never placed
Creating the tag in the account does not install it. The code has to go into every page of the site, or into a tag manager that loads it, and that step often waits on whoever edits the website.
The site carries a different UET tag
An older tag from a previous setup or another account is on the site, so activity arrives under its ID and the new tag never hears anything. UET Tag Helper shows a green number with a Tag ID that does not match.
The code was pasted incorrectly
A snippet cut short, pasted into a text block that shows it as words, or edited by a word processor does not run. UET Tag Helper shows a yellow or red number, or none.
The tag manager version holding it was never published
Not on Google's help page
A tag added in a tag manager workspace stays off the site until that version is published.
The pages tested are not the pages tagged
A tag added to the home page only, or to a landing page that is not live yet, verifies only once someone visits that page.
Fix it in this order
- Wait until 24 hours have passed since the tag was created and placed.
- Go to Conversions, then UET tag, and copy the Tag ID.
- Install UET Tag Helper in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, open a live page of the site, switch the helper on and refresh the page.
- No number on the icon: add the code to every page, or publish the tag manager version that holds it.
- A green number: select the helper and compare the Tag ID with the one copied. If they differ, use the matching tag on the site or in the goal.
- A yellow or red number: select the helper and follow its instructions for the issue it names.
Once activity arrives the tag reads Tag active, and its goals move to Recording conversions or No recent conversions.
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 “Unverified” is the kind of problem we fix as part of it.
Often confused with
The tag worked once and has been silent for 24 hours. Unverified means it never reported.
The tag is active; the goal recorded nothing in seven days.
Your Google tag wasn't detected on your website
Google's test for its own tag. A site can carry the Google tag and not the UET tag, or the reverse.