If you notice that one or more of your Sponsored Products (SP) campaigns cannot be managed by Adspert, or that no bids or targeting options appear in Amazon Ads, it may be due to the campaign being outdated.
This article explains what outdated SP campaigns are, why they occur, and how to fix the issue.
What Are Outdated Sponsored Products Campaigns?
Outdated SP campaigns are legacy Amazon Ads campaigns-typically created before 2016-that are no longer compatible with Amazon's current advertising systems and API structure.
Such campaigns may still appear active in your Amazon Ads account but can't be optimized or updated properly by Adspert or any other API-based tool.
Symptoms
You might have an outdated campaign if you notice one or more of the following:
The campaign has no visible targeting objects (no keywords or products you can set bids on).
Bid adjustments are unavailable - you can't set or change bids in either Adspert or Amazon Ads UI.
Performance data appears incomplete or inconsistent, showing deleted or missing criteria.
The campaign was created many years ago (e.g., 2015 or earlier).
Why This Happens
Amazon has updated its campaign structures and API several times since 2015.
Older Sponsored Products campaigns use formats or identifiers that are no longer recognized by the current Amazon Ads API, which means tools like Adspert cannot access or modify their bids, targeting, or performance data.
Even though these campaigns might still technically exist, they are not supported by the latest API endpoints.
How to Fix It
The only effective solution is to create new Sponsored Products campaigns.
We recommend the following steps:
In Amazon Ads, duplicate the old campaign (using the same ad groups, keywords, and products if possible).
Launch the new campaign, ensuring it follows the current Amazon Ads structure.
Once the new campaign is running, pause or archive the outdated one.
Adspert will then automatically recognize the new campaign and you can follow the usual process for the new campaign.
Key Takeaway
Outdated Sponsored Products campaigns - especially those created around 2015 or earlier - cannot be managed by Adspert or any API-based tool due to technical incompatibility with the current Amazon Ads API.
To ensure optimal performance and full functionality, we recommend creating new campaigns following Amazon's latest structure.