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Reporting API Returns Success with Null Download URL Since Feb 28

FindLaw Tech 5 Reputation points
2026-03-04T20:23:31.7666667+00:00

Issue Summary: The Microsoft Advertising Reporting API v13 has been completely broken since approximately February 28, 2025. ALL report requests return Status: "Success" but ReportDownloadUrl remains permanently null, making it impossible to download any reports.

Timeline:

  • Last Successful Report: February 27, 2025
  • Issue Started: ~February 28, 2025
  • Code Changes: NONE - no changes made to our integration
  • Current Status: Unable to retrieve reports for 3+ days

Behavior: Every report submission succeeds and returns a ReportRequestId. However, when polling, the response consistently shows:

{"ReportRequestStatus":{"Status":"Success","ReportDownloadUrl":null}}

This persists indefinitely across 30+ polling attempts with 3-5 second delays between each attempt.

Comprehensive Testing Performed:

Working:

  • Authentication (successfully obtaining access tokens)
  • API validation (API correctly rejects invalid requests)
  • Submit endpoint (returns ReportRequestId)
  • Poll endpoint (returns Status responses)

Broken:

  • Download URL generation (always returns null despite "Success" status)

Test Variations (ALL produce same null URL result):

  • Multiple different account IDs
  • Different report types: AccountPerformanceReportRequest, CampaignPerformanceReportRequest
  • Different time ranges: Yesterday, Last14Days
  • Different formats: Csv, Tsv
  • Different aggregations: Daily, Summary
  • Minimal requests vs full requests with all optional parameters
  • Integer vs string account IDs in request

Sample Failing Report Request IDs:



419265281112678402_1772491832606
419259810389778433_1772490528291
419259813837484033_1772490529110

Example Minimal Request (still fails):


{

Verified:

  • Status page (https://status.ads.microsoft.com/) shows no reported issues
  • GitHub SDK issues show no similar recent reports
  • Using correct account IDs that were working on Feb 27
  • Issue reproduces across multiple accounts

Impact:

  • Production data pipeline completely blocked
  • Unable to retrieve ANY reports via API since Feb 28
  • No workaround available

Questions:

  1. Is anyone else experiencing this issue?
  2. Is there a known service disruption not reflected on the status page?
  3. Is there any workaround while this is being investigated?

This appears to be a backend service bug where report generation completes successfully but the download URL generation is broken, while incorrectly returning "Success" status.Issue Summary:

The Microsoft Advertising Reporting API v13 has been completely broken since approximately February 28, 2025. ALL report requests return Status: "Success" but ReportDownloadUrl remains permanently null, making it impossible to download any reports.

Timeline:

  • Last Successful Report: February 27, 2025
  • Issue Started: ~February 28, 2025
  • Code Changes: NONE - no changes made to our integration
  • Current Status: Unable to retrieve reports for 3+ days

Behavior: Every report submission succeeds and returns a ReportRequestId. However, when polling, the response consistently shows:


{"ReportRequestStatus":{"Status":"Success","ReportDownloadUrl":null}}

This persists indefinitely across 30+ polling attempts with 3-5 second delays between each attempt.

Comprehensive Testing Performed:

Working:

  • Authentication (successfully obtaining access tokens)
  • API validation (API correctly rejects invalid requests)
  • Submit endpoint (returns ReportRequestId)
  • Poll endpoint (returns Status responses)

Broken:

  • Download URL generation (always returns null despite "Success" status)

Test Variations (ALL produce same null URL result):

  • Multiple different account IDs
  • Different report types: AccountPerformanceReportRequest, CampaignPerformanceReportRequest
  • Different time ranges: Yesterday, Last14Days
  • Different formats: Csv, Tsv
  • Different aggregations: Daily, Summary
  • Minimal requests vs full requests with all optional parameters
  • Integer vs string account IDs in request

Sample Failing Report Request IDs:


419265281112678402_1772491832606
419259810389778433_1772490528291
419259813837484033_1772490529110

Example Minimal Request (still fails):


{

Verified:

  • Status page (https://status.ads.microsoft.com/) shows no reported issues
  • GitHub SDK issues show no similar recent reports
  • Using correct account IDs that were working on Feb 27
  • Issue reproduces across multiple accounts

Impact:

  • Production data pipeline completely blocked
  • Unable to retrieve ANY reports via API since Feb 28
  • No workaround available

Questions:

  1. Is anyone else experiencing this issue?
  2. Is there a known service disruption not reflected on the status page?
  3. Is there any workaround while this is being investigated?

This appears to be a backend service bug where report generation completes successfully but the download URL generation is broken, while incorrectly returning "Success" status.

Microsoft Advertising API
Microsoft Advertising API

A Microsoft API that provides programmatic access to Microsoft Advertising to manage large campaigns or to integrate your marketing with other in-house systems.

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  1. MS Advertising - John Mark 230 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-03-04T22:35:23.6433333+00:00

    Hi FindLaw Tech,

    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Advertising Learn Q&A Platform!

    We have received your report regarding the reporting API returns success with null download URL. We understand the impact this issue has on your reporting workflows and want to assure you that your case will be supported.

    While there is no similar reported case on https://status.ads.microsoft.com/ this would not confirm if this were an isolated or a widespread issue.

    Possible workarounds

    Using the Bulk API to pull campaign and performance data.

    Exporting reports manually from the Microsoft Advertising UI.

    Checking whether Change History reports or other endpoints can temporarily substitute for the missing data.

    To ensure we can investigate thoroughly and address the problem effectively, we’ll need to review account-specific information related to your API calls. For your privacy and security, we will send a private message to your inbox requesting those details. Once we receive the requested information, we’ll proceed with further review and keep you updated on our findings.

    Our support teams are happy to discuss your account in more detail via phone, chat or email to provide review assistance, please see our support page to reach out! 

    Kind regards,

    John | Microsoft Advertising Support Specialist | 1-800-518-5689

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  2. Q&A Assist
    2026-03-04T20:23:45.8633333+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    The behavior described matches a documented case where Status is Success but ReportDownloadUrl is null when no data is available for the submitted report parameters.

    From the Reporting API v13 documentation:

    Even when the report Status is set to Success, the ReportDownloadUrl element can be nil if no data is available for the submitted report parameters. If performance data is visible in the Microsoft Advertising web application for the same date range and filter criteria, contact support with details.

    Key points based on the documented behavior:

    1. Status = Success with ReportDownloadUrl = null is an expected API pattern when the report contains zero rows for the specified parameters (date range, scope, filters, etc.).
    2. The API does not return an error in this case; instead, it signals success but omits the download URL.
    3. If the same criteria show data in the Microsoft Advertising UI, this is treated as a backend issue that must be investigated by Microsoft support.

    Given the scenario:

    • Multiple report types, accounts, and date ranges all return Success with null URL.
    • The behavior started suddenly without integration changes.

    Actions to take:

    1. Explicitly validate whether the same accounts, date ranges, and filters show non-empty data in the Microsoft Advertising web UI reports.
    2. If data is present in the UI but the API still returns ReportDownloadUrl = null, open a support case with Microsoft Advertising. Include:
      • Example ReportRequestId values (such as those listed).
      • Exact report types, scopes, and date ranges used.
      • Confirmation that UI reports for the same criteria contain data.
    3. Continue polling logic as documented, but treat Success + null ReportDownloadUrl as “no data” in application code until support confirms a backend issue.

    The documentation does not provide any additional workaround beyond contacting support when there is a mismatch between UI data and API output.

    References:

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