What is happening?
The Budget Optimiser has detected a data overlap. It has found spend data within your "Custom Spend" source that belongs to an ad platform already connected via a direct API (e.g., Google Ads or Meta).
Error: Custom spend channels contain spend from other ad platforms. Custom spend channels should not contain spend from other platforms; the channels should be exclusive to custom spend.
Why did this happen? To prevent "double-counting" your marketing investment, Alvie requires a strict separation between Platform Spend (automatic) and Custom Spend (manual). This error occurs when:
Duplicate Data: You have manually added spend for a channel like "Google Ads" into your custom sheet, but you also have the Google Ads connector active in Alvie.
Incorrect Mapping: A channel in your custom source is named identically or contains data that overlaps with a platform-connected account.
Multi-Channel Sheets: Your custom spend file includes every marketing channel, but some of those channels should be handled exclusively by Alvie’s direct connectors.
Solution Follow these steps to resolve the issue:
Navigate to Settings: Open the Budget Optimiser configuration and check the list of Connected Ad Platforms.
Locate the Source: Open your custom spend data source (e.g., your Google Sheet or BigQuery table).
Action: Audit the "Channel" or "Source" column in your manual data:
Remove direct platforms: Delete any rows or columns that contain spend for platforms already connected to Alvie (Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, etc.).
Reserve for "Others": Only include spend for channels that cannot be connected via API (e.g., Influencers, OOH, Podcasts, or smaller niche platforms).
External Steps: Ensure the channel names in your custom spend source are unique and do not conflict with the official platform names used in the Alvie connectors.
Verify: Save your changes in the custom spend source. Either request a re-run of the model or wait to turn green on the next daily run. The status should turn Healthy (Green) once the duplication is removed.
Prevention & Tips To avoid seeing this error again:
Channel Exclusivity: Treat Alvie connectors as the "Source of Truth" for major platforms. Only use Custom Spend as a "Catch-all" for everything else.
Standardized Naming: Use clear, distinct names for custom channels to avoid accidentally triggering a match with platform data.
Still need help? If you believe your data is unique but the system is still flagging a conflict, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Alvie support team.
If you encounter any further issues or need additional assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Alvie support team.