# Let Piste apply Google Ads fixes without asking

> A standing approval lets Piste apply one kind of Google Ads fix itself, exact-match negative keywords, within set limits. Only the owner can switch it on.

Source: https://www.usepiste.com/docs/approvals/standing-approvals

A standing approval is the workspace owner's permission for Piste to apply one kind of Google Ads fix itself: exact-match negative keywords for searches that spent money and never sold. Piste offers one only after people have applied four of those fixes in a row, and only the owner can switch it on. Every other change still waits for a person.

> **Early access**
> Google Ads and Meta connections are in early access and aren't available to every workspace yet. Standing approvals have so far been tested only against simulated accounts, not a live Google Ads account.

## What does a standing approval cover?

A standing approval covers one kind of [ad change](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/approvals/ad-changes), and all of these must be true:

- It adds negative keywords to a Google Ads campaign.
- Every keyword is exact match.
- It's the fix Ad spend watch's search terms check computed for that campaign, for searches that spent and never sold, with exactly the keywords the check chose.
- An automation run raised it, not a conversation, and not a dry run.
- It fits the limits below.

A change that doesn't fit stays a card for a person to decide, and the card says why, starting "Not applied without asking:".

## What are the limits?

Once on, a standing approval applies a change only within these limits:

- At most 30 negative keywords in one change.
- The searches they block cost at most a monthly amount in total, on their last 90 days' average.
- That monthly amount counts everything applied under the standing approval in any 30 days.

| Account currency | Monthly limit |
|---|---|
| US dollars (USD) | 500 |
| Euros (EUR) | 500 |
| Pounds (GBP) | 400 |
| Canadian dollars (CAD) | 700 |
| Australian dollars (AUD) | 750 |
| New Zealand dollars (NZD) | 850 |

An account in any other currency isn't offered a standing approval.

## What does it never cover?

- Budgets, pauses, networks or location targeting.
- Meta.
- Phrase or broad negative keywords, or negatives on an ad group.
- Removing negative keywords, or any undo. An undo is always a person's.
- A change Piste proposed in a conversation, or one the AI model suggested rather than the check.
- A dry run.

## When is a standing approval offered?

Ad spend watch offers one when the last 4 of these fixes on the account were all applied by people, with `Undo` pressed on none of them, and:

- the first and last of the four were decided at least 7 days apart;
- the newest was decided within the last 30 days.

The offer is a card under Ad spend watch's post in Slack, titled: Apply "negative keywords for searches that spent and never sold" fixes on Google Ads without asking? It explains the limits and says that only the workspace owner can choose. Standing approval cards aren't in Needs you.

## How do I switch on a standing approval?

### 1. Find the offer

Open the card under Ad spend watch's post in Slack. Only the workspace owner can press its buttons.

### 2. Press Yes, do these without asking

Press `Yes, do these without asking`. The card shows "On · switched on by" your name and the date, with a `Switch it off` button.

To say no, press `Keep asking me`. Piste keeps asking about each fix, and doesn't offer the standing approval again for 90 days.

If someone other than the owner presses one of these buttons, Piste tells them only the workspace owner can choose, and nothing changes.

## What happens once it's on?

Ad spend watch still proposes each fix as before. When a proposal fits the standing approval entirely, Piste applies it straight away, through the same steps as a person's press: it reads the campaign again, writes once, and records what it replaced.

- The change's card says "Applied without asking, under the standing approval" with the owner's name and the date it was set.
- The card has `Undo`, and `Stop doing these without asking`, which only the owner can use.
- The [decision log](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/approvals/decision-log) records it as "Applied under a standing approval", not as anyone's click.

## How do I switch it off?

The owner can switch it off in either of these ways:

| Where | Button |
|---|---|
| The standing approval's card | `Switch it off` |
| Any change it applied | `Stop doing these without asking` |

Pressing `Undo` on any change it applied also switches it off, whoever presses it. Once it's off, the card shows `Switch it back on`, and Piste asks about each fix again.

## When does it switch itself off?

A standing approval switches itself off, and Piste asks about each fix again, when:

| What happened | The card says |
|---|---|
| Someone undid a change it applied | That person undid a change it applied, so it switched itself off |
| A change it applied failed to write | A change it applied failed to write, so it switched itself off |
| Google Ads didn't answer a change it applied | Google Ads didn't answer a change it applied, so it switched itself off |
| The Google Ads account was reconnected or changed | The Google Ads account was reconnected or changed, so it switched itself off |
| The person who switched it on is no longer the owner | The person who switched it on isn't the owner any more, so it switched itself off |

The owner can switch it back on from the card, as long as the same Google Ads account is still connected.

## At a glance

| | Value |
|---|---|
| Kinds covered | Exact-match negative keywords on a Google Ads campaign |
| Offered after | The last 4 fixes on the account applied by people, none undone, the first and last at least 7 days apart |
| Newest of those within | 30 days |
| Keywords per change | At most 30 |
| Monthly limit window | Any 30 days |
| Not offered again after `Keep asking me` | 90 days |
| Who can switch it on or off | The workspace owner |

## Related

- [Ad changes](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/approvals/ad-changes): every change Piste can propose on Google Ads and Meta.
- [Google Ads and Meta](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/google-ads-and-meta): connecting an ad account.
- [Approvals](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/approvals): what Piste does on its own, and what needs a person.

## Questions

### What can a standing approval cover?

One kind of change only, exact-match negative keywords on a Google Ads campaign, for searches that spent and never sold, proposed by Ad spend watch. Budgets, pauses, other settings and Meta always wait for a person.

### Can a teammate switch on a standing approval?

No. Only the workspace owner can switch it on, off or back on. A teammate who presses the button is told so, and nothing changes.

### How do I stop Piste applying fixes without asking?

Press Switch it off on the standing approval's card, or Stop doing these without asking on any change it applied. Undoing one of its changes switches it off too.

### Will I still see what Piste applied?

Yes. Each change is posted with its card and an Undo button, and the decision log records it as applied under a standing approval.

### Why wasn't I offered a standing approval?

Piste offers one only after people have applied the last four of those fixes on the account, over at least a week and the newest in the last 30 days, with none undone, and only for accounts in US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand dollars, euros or pounds.