PPC Activity Log
A complete audit trail of every change made to your PPC campaigns, whether by you, your bid rules, or the AI Optimizer.
Difficulty: 🔴 Advanced · Reading time: ~10 min
Open this page in your dashboard: Go to PPC Activity Log [BETA] →
BETA: The PPC Manager is currently in beta. Some features may behave unexpectedly or change based on user feedback. Please report any issues at [email protected].
📋 Overview
The Activity Log records every action taken on your Amazon PPC campaigns. Whether a change was made manually, by an automation rule, or by the AI Optimizer, it's logged here with full details including the source, old value, new value, and reason.
Think of it as your PPC black box recorder. If campaign performance suddenly improves or drops, the Activity Log tells you exactly what changed, when, and why.
Why this matters: On teams with multiple users managing PPC, the Activity Log is your single source of truth. No more guessing "who changed the bid on that keyword?", every action is attributed and timestamped.
Summary KPIs
Total Actions
Total number of recorded actions
Bid Increases
Count of bid increase actions
Bid Decreases
Count of bid decrease actions
AI Actions
Count of actions initiated by the AI Optimizer
Quick health check: Compare Bid Increases vs Bid Decreases over the last 30 days. A healthy ratio is roughly 1:2 to 1:3 (more decreases than increases), meaning your automation is actively cutting waste while selectively boosting winners. If increases far outnumber decreases, your rules or AI may be too aggressive at scaling.
🔍 Filters
Time Range
Last 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days
Last 30 days
Source
All Sources, AI Autopilot, Bid Rules, User Approved, Manual, System
All
Action Type
All Types, Bid Change, Budget Change, Campaign State, Negate Keyword, Harvest Keyword
All
Filters stack. You can combine all three filters simultaneously. For example, show only "AI Autopilot" + "Bid Change" actions from the "Last 7 days" to see exactly what the AI changed to your bids this week.
Filter Combinations for Common Investigations
"What did the AI do this week?"
Last 7
AI Autopilot
All Types
"Why did my spend spike yesterday?"
Last 7
All Sources
Bid Change
"Which keywords did bid rules pause?"
Last 30
Bid Rules
Campaign State
"What did I manually change last month?"
Last 30
Manual
All Types
"Were any new negative keywords added?"
Last 14
All Sources
Negate Keyword
"What keywords were harvested from search terms?"
Last 30
All Sources
Harvest Keyword
Activity Table
Date
Timestamp of the action
Source
Color-coded badge: AI Autopilot (purple), Bid Rules (blue), User Approved (green), Manual (orange), System (gray)
Action
Type of change: Bid Change, Budget Change, Campaign State, etc.
Entity
What was affected (keyword, campaign, ad group)
Campaign
Campaign name
Old
Previous value (strikethrough styling)
New
Updated value (color-coded: green for increase, red for decrease)
Change
Visual indicator with direction arrow and percentage/absolute change
Reason
Explanation of why the change was made
The table supports sorting, pagination, and combined filtering (time range + source + action type simultaneously).
Understanding Sources
AI Autopilot
Purple
Change made autonomously by the AI Optimizer
Bid Rules
Blue
Change executed by a scheduled bid automation rule
User Approved
Green
AI suggestion that you approved in the Approval Center
Manual
Orange
Change you made directly
System
Gray
System-level adjustment (e.g., budget cap enforcement)
Source Detailed Analysis
AI Autopilot vs User Approved: Both originate from AI suggestions, but the difference is critical. AI Autopilot changes were applied automatically (you are in Auto-Apply mode). User Approved changes went through the Approval Center and you explicitly approved them. If you see AI Autopilot actions you disagree with, switch to Manual Review mode in the Approval Center.
System actions are relatively rare. They typically occur when Amazon enforces a budget cap (your daily budget was hit and the system paused the campaign) or when a campaign's end date is reached. These are informational entries, you cannot prevent or modify them.
Use Case Scenarios
Scenario 1: Investigating a Sudden Spend Spike
Situation: Your daily PPC spend jumped from EUR 80 to EUR 140 overnight and you want to know why.
How to investigate:
Set Time Range to "Last 7 days."
Set Action Type to "Bid Change."
Set Source to "All Sources."
Sort the table by Date (newest first).
Look for large bid increases (green arrows in the Change column) on the day spend spiked.
Check the Source column, was it a bid rule, AI action, or manual change?
Read the Reason column to understand the logic behind the increase.
Common causes: A bid rule with overly aggressive increase settings (e.g., +25% on any keyword with CVR > 5%) or the AI Autopilot responding to a sudden conversion spike by aggressively bidding up.
Scenario 2: Auditing AI Performance Over 30 Days
Situation: You have been running AI Autopilot for a month and want to evaluate whether it is helping.
How to investigate:
Set Time Range to "Last 30 days."
Set Source to "AI Autopilot."
Note the total number of actions in the Total Actions KPI card.
Compare Bid Increases vs Bid Decreases, the AI should be making more decreases than increases in most cases.
Cross-reference with your campaign performance: Is ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale) trending down? Is wasted spend decreasing?
If the AI made changes you disagree with, consider switching to Manual Review mode.
Scenario 3: Preparing a Team Performance Review
Situation: You manage PPC for a team and need to report on what was done this month.
How to use the Activity Log:
Set Time Range to "Last 30 days."
Filter by Source = "Manual" to see all human-made changes.
Export or screenshot the results for your report.
Then filter by "AI Autopilot" and "Bid Rules" to show automation contributions.
Compare the ratio of manual vs automated actions to demonstrate the efficiency gains from automation.
Before/After: How the Activity Log Reveals Hidden Problems
ACoS dropped from 32% to 24%
Bid Rules decreased bids on 45 high-ACoS keywords over 3 weeks
Top keyword lost impressions
A bid rule decreased the bid 4 times in 2 weeks (rule too aggressive)
New keyword appeared in campaign
AI Autopilot harvested it from search term report 5 days ago
Campaign paused unexpectedly
System action: daily budget cap reached at 3:00 PM
Spend shifted between campaigns
Manual budget reallocation by team member on Tuesday
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Ignoring the Activity Log after enabling automation. Setting up bid rules or AI Autopilot and never reviewing the log is like hiring an employee and never checking their work. Review the log weekly at minimum. Fix: Set a calendar reminder to review the Activity Log every Monday morning.
Mistake 2: Not filtering before investigating. Scrolling through hundreds of unfiltered entries is inefficient and leads to missed insights. Fix: Always start by narrowing to a specific time range and source before analyzing.
Mistake 3: Confusing correlation with causation. A bid increase on Monday does not necessarily explain a sales spike on Wednesday : Amazon's attribution window means the cause could be older. Fix: Look at changes from 3-7 days before a performance shift, not the same day.
Mistake 4: Overlooking System actions. Budget cap enforcement actions (System source) can silently kill your campaign performance by pausing campaigns mid-day. If you see frequent System actions, your daily budgets may be too low for your bid levels. Fix: Increase daily budgets or lower bids to ensure campaigns run throughout the full day.
## Reading the Activity Log Like a Pro
Pattern Recognition Checklist
Use this checklist during your weekly Activity Log review:
🔧 Troubleshooting
Activity Log shows no entries
Are filters too restrictive?
Reset all filters to "All" and check if entries appear
Is the time range too narrow?
Expand to "Last 90 days" to verify data exists
Are any rules or AI features active?
If no automation is running and no manual changes were made, the log will be empty
Is the API connection active?
Verify your Amazon Advertising API credentials in Settings
Entries appear but are missing details
Is the Reason column empty?
Some manual changes may not have an attached reason. This is expected
Is the Old or New value blank?
For "Campaign State" actions (pause/enable), there is no numerical value, only a state change
Cannot find a specific change
Was the change made in Amazon directly?
Changes made outside SellerMagnet (e.g., directly in Amazon Seller Central) are not tracked in this log
Was the change in a different account?
Confirm you are viewing the correct marketplace/account
❓ FAQ
How long is Activity Log data retained?
Activity Log entries are retained for 90 days. After that, they are archived and no longer visible in the interface. If you need longer retention for compliance purposes, export your data regularly.
Can I export the Activity Log?
Yes. Use the export button at the top of the Activity Table to download a CSV file of the currently filtered view. This is useful for reporting, auditing, and sharing with team members.
Are changes made directly in Amazon Seller Central tracked here?
No. The Activity Log only tracks changes made through SellerMagnet (manual changes, bid rules, AI Autopilot, and system actions). Changes you make directly in Amazon's console are not captured.
I see a "System" action I don't understand. What should I do?
System actions are typically budget enforcement events. If the reason is unclear, check your campaign's daily budget and compare it to your actual spend on that day. The system may have paused a campaign that hit its budget cap.
Can I reverse a change shown in the Activity Log?
There is no one-click undo. However, you can see the Old value in the table and manually set the bid or budget back to that amount. For ongoing protection, use Manual Review mode in the Approval Center so you approve changes before they are applied.
Does the Activity Log count against any storage or API limits?
No. Logging is included in your SellerMagnet plan at no additional cost and does not consume any Amazon API quota.
➡️ What's Next?
PPC SettingsPPC AnalyticsLast updated