Create a custom alert
A custom alert is a rule that you make yourself. It sends an alert when one signal crosses a threshold that you set. A custom alert only notifies you. It does not change your Google Ads account. To make a rule that also makes a change, see Build a custom automation.
How to create a custom alert
- Open Settings > Alerts. To open Settings, click your profile picture at the bottom of the sidebar, then click Settings.
- Go to the Custom alerts section, below the 22 built in alert types.
- Click Create custom alert.
- In Signal, select the signal to watch.
- In Campaigns, choose where the rule runs. This shows only for a rule about campaigns, keywords or ads.
- Set the rule fields. To add more conditions, click Add a condition.
- If a preview line shows below the rule, read it.
- In Where to alert me, select one or more of Email, In app, and Slack. All are selected by default. Slack shows only while Slack is connected. Connect Slack.
- In Alert name, type a name of up to 80 characters.
- Click Save alert.
The message "Custom alert created." shows. The rule is on, and it runs from the next check.
The signals
A custom alert watches one of these 13 signals:
- Spend (campaign)
- Impressions (campaign)
- Clicks (campaign)
- Click rate (campaign)
- Cost per click (campaign)
- Conversions (campaign)
- Conversion rate (campaign)
- Conversion value (campaign)
- Cost per conversion (campaign)
- Return on ad spend (campaign)
- Wasted spend (keyword)
- Daily spend (account)
- Ad approval status
LinkedIn Ads and Meta Ads show only the campaign signals. Wasted spend (keyword), Daily spend (account) and Ad approval status show on Google Ads only.
Choose the campaigns
In Campaigns, choose where the rule runs:
- All campaigns. The rule runs on every campaign of the account. This is the default.
- All except… The rule runs on every campaign but the ones that you choose.
- Only these… The rule runs only on the campaigns that you choose. You cannot save the rule until you choose one.
A keyword or an ad uses the campaign that it is in. A rule about the whole account has no Campaigns field.
The rule fields
For every signal except Ad approval status, you set these fields:
- Direction. Rises above or Falls below.
- Compared with. Its own average or A fixed value. Wasted spend (keyword) always uses a fixed value.
- Multiple of baseline or the fixed value. For Its own average, type a multiple of the baseline. For A fixed value, type a number in the unit of the signal. Money is in the currency of the account. Click rate and conversion rate are in percent. Spend, clicks, impressions, conversions and conversion value are an average for each day in the window.
- Baseline window. 14 days or 28 days. Only for Its own average.
- Baseline type. Average, Median, or Same weekday. Only for Its own average.
- Checks in a row. 1, 2, or 3. The condition must occur on this number of checks in a row before the alert fires.
Click More options to change two more settings:
- Looks at. The last day or The last 7 days. Same weekday works only with The last day.
- A minimum volume. The rule ignores a number that is based on too little data. The name of the field depends on the signal, for example Minimum clicks. Type 0 to remove it. For Cost per conversion, Return on ad spend and Conversion value, a fixed value starts with Minimum conversions set to 3.
Click Add a condition to add up to 3 more conditions in And. A condition judges one campaign number, one day at a time. Every condition must hold for the same campaign. A rule about the whole account takes no extra conditions.
For Ad approval status, you set only Alert when status becomes: approved, approved limited, area of interest only, disapproved, or unknown. Hero Marketer compares each ad's status with the status that it recorded at the previous morning's check. When Hero Marketer finds an ad for the first time, it only records the status.
Default rules
Each signal starts with a default rule. You can change the default before you save. The table shows the defaults of six signals. The other signals start from a rule of the same kind, and the form shows its values.
| Signal | Default rule |
|---|---|
| Cost per conversion (campaign) | Rises above 1.5 times its average of the last 28 days. Reads the last 7 days and leaves out the last 3 days. 2 checks in a row. |
| Return on ad spend (campaign) | Rises above 1.5 times its average of the last 28 days. Reads the last 7 days and leaves out the last 3 days. Needs at least 5 conversions in the baseline. 2 checks in a row. |
| Impressions (campaign) | Falls below 0.5 times its average of the last 14 days. Reads yesterday. Needs at least 100 impressions a day in the baseline. 1 check. |
| Wasted spend (keyword) | Spend of more than $50 in the last 7 days with no conversions. 3 checks in a row. |
| Daily spend (account) | Rises above 1.5 times its average for the same weekday over the last 28 days. Needs at least $10 a day in the baseline. 1 check. |
| Ad approval status | Status becomes disapproved. |
Preview the last 30 days
For all signals except Ad approval status, the composer shows a preview line. For example: "Would have alerted you 2 times in the last 30 days". The preview uses the data of the active account and the rule that you set. It counts each campaign or keyword on its own. Change the rule, then read the line again before you save. Ad approval status rules have no preview.
When custom alerts run
- Custom alerts on Daily spend (account) exist on Google Ads only. They run every hour from 09:00 to 22:00, in the account's time zone. With Falls below, the rule judges yesterday's whole day. With Rises above, it judges today so far.
- All other custom alerts run in the 06:00 check, in the account's time zone, on every platform.
Custom alerts run as part of the daily checks, and they do not cost more. Daily checks cost 0.25 credits a day for each connected account. One enabled custom alert keeps the daily checks and the charge on. To stop the charge, turn off every alert type that shows for the business, every automation, and every custom alert. Or disconnect the account.
Custom alerts use the same delivery rules as built in alerts. Every alert goes to the bell and the Alerts inbox. For email rules, see What alerts do.
Which account a custom alert watches
A custom alert runs on the account that is active when you save it. There is no account picker. If no account is active when you save, the rule runs on every connected account.
The Custom alerts list shows the rules of the active account. To make a rule for a different account, make that account active first. See Switch between businesses.
Turn off or delete a custom alert
- Turn off a custom alert. Click the switch at the right end of its row. Hero Marketer resolves the rule's active alerts.
- Change where a rule alerts you. Open the rule and change Where to alert me. The open rule also shows how often it would have alerted in the last 30 days.
- Edit a custom alert. Open the rule and click Edit rule. This opens the same form with the saved values. Change them and save.
- Delete a custom alert. Open the rule and click Delete. In the dialog, click Delete alert, or click Cancel to keep the rule. The rule stops at once. Its past alerts stay in the inbox.
Limits
- You can keep up to 50 custom rules. Custom alerts and custom automations count together. At the limit, Hero Marketer shows "You can keep up to 50 custom alerts. Delete one to add another."
- A custom alert does not change your Google Ads account.
- You cannot mute a custom alert for one item.
- A custom alert has no suggested action in its drawer.