Amazon Advertising Feed Error 99026: How to Fix Channel Exclusion Issues
Error 99026 blocks an entire advertising feed when a SKU has “EXCLUDE” in both SponsoredProducts and SponsoredBrands columns. In a 5,000‑SKU upload, 120 rows caused a full rejection. Correcting one column to “INCLUDE” or leaving it blank resolves the issue.
Overview
Amazon’s Error 99026 appears when a seller’s advertising feed tries to exclude a product from every available ad channel at once. The validation block stops the entire feed from processing, delaying campaign launch. Fixing the issue quickly restores the product’s eligibility for sponsored placements.
Key Points
- Both channels cannot be excluded — Setting the exclusion flag in both the “Sponsored Products” and “Sponsored Brands” columns triggers Error 99026 because Amazon requires at least one active channel per SKU.
- Channel values dictate placement — The values you enter in the channel columns tell Amazon whether to show the item on Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, or both.
- Feed is blocked until corrected — The error is fatal; the system rejects the whole upload until every offending row is amended.
- Preview tools catch the problem early — Using the feed‑preview feature in Seller Central highlights rows with dual exclusions before you submit the file.
- Blank cells default to inclusion — Leaving one or both channel cells empty automatically opts the product into the default advertising channel, preventing the error.
How the Validation Works
- Upload preparation — You create a tab‑delimited or Excel feed that lists each SKU together with two channel columns (e.g.,
SponsoredProductsandSponsoredBrands). Example: SKU 12345 has “EXCLUDE” in both columns. - Row‑level evaluation — Amazon’s ingestion engine reads each row and checks the channel flags. If both flags equal the exclusion keyword, the row violates the rule that a product must appear in at least one channel. Example: The engine flags SKU 12345 as invalid because both columns read “EXCLUDE.”
- Error aggregation — When the engine encounters any such row, it stops processing the entire file and returns Error 99026, listing the offending line numbers in the response file. Example: The error report shows “Row 27 – both channels excluded.”
Analysis & Recommendations
Why This Matters
A blocked feed prevents new ads from launching, delaying product launches and seasonal promotions. For example, 120 dual‑exclusion rows stopped 5,000 SKUs from entering Sponsored Products or Sponsored Brands, impacting sales momentum.
Key Takeaways
- Error 99026 occurs when both channel columns contain the keyword EXCLUDE for a SKU.
- In a 5,000‑SKU bulk upload, 120 rows with dual exclusions caused the entire file to be rejected.
- Blank cells or a value of INCLUDE in at least one channel column prevent the error.
- Seller Central’s feed‑preview tool flags rows with both exclusions before submission.
Recommended Actions
- →In Seller Central, open Advertising > Bulk Upload > Feed Preview, run the preview and fix any rows flagged with both channels set to EXCLUDE.
- →Add a conditional formatting rule in Excel to highlight rows where SponsoredProducts and SponsoredBrands both equal EXCLUDE.
- →Run a pre‑upload Python script that scans the feed for dual EXCLUDE values and outputs a pass/fail report.
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