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Seemed like Google wanted to be a platform for everything you might need to do on the web. (Which meant more vectors for data collection to fuel the revenue generator: ads.)
Now it is starting to replace Big G products with third-party integrations (Search cache, A/B testing).
Is it now Microsoft?
Google Search’s cache links are officially being retired
Google claims it’s less necessary now that internet reliability has improved.
Google is a cloud computing company. One with a robust PR department that likes to make everything a societal positive. One that needs to find profit, fast.
How do you increase cloud capacity without increasing hardware costs? You delete a bunch of stuff taking up space. Like Search cache. Or Universal Analytics data (148 days until deletion).
What will fill this space?
I’m sure some will be whatever paying customers put there. It mostly, AI.
If you want to glimpse the future of search, don’t look to Google.
In what feels a classic Amazon move, Prime Video ads launched with fixed CPMs lower than competitors.
With the added benefit of using the existing self-serve platform.
I would bet this launches it to a leading CTV ad platform position, especially with ecommerce brands selling on Amazon already.
Finished reading: John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 5: Dangerous Habits (New Edition) by Jamie Delano 📚
Asked: Test or beta?
Answered: Google has now rolled out campaign level headlines and descriptions.
You can now have the option to associate up to three headlines and two descriptions at the campaign level. “If you need to show these assets during a specific time period, such as a sale, you’ll be able to schedule specific start and end dates for them.
Also:
- Single headline responsive search ads
- Changes to account-level automated assets
Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 353,000 for the month, much better than the Dow Jones estimate for 185,000
unemployment rate held at 3.7%, against the estimate for 3.8%.
On a year-over-year basis, wages jumped 4.5%, well above the 4.1% forecast.
December and November numbers were revised up and GDP ended the year strong.
But The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged
In the last year, tech giants made massive cuts to their workforce, which didn’t just please investors — they led to sky-high profits.
Mostly good but not all rainbow farts and unicorn giggles
Ads that rhyme, stay in mind
The average believability of the proverbs in the non-rhyming condition was 5.26 on a 9-point scale, but 6.17 in the rhyming form.
That’s an improvement of 17%.
Acast is brining AI to podcast ads
Called Collections+, the AI-powered tool pulls podcast and listener data from different sources to automatically group podcasts into contextual categories. This allows Acast to package up smaller shows from Acast’s catalog of podcasts to meet advertisers’ briefs
Contextual targeting—supercharged by AI—will be the future, as personalized targeting accrues to first-party data mines.
Also, wider placement spread!
advertiser named 11 shows it wanted to buy in order to reach a particular audience. Glenday said his team used the AI tech to show the advertiser what it would look like to buy 52 shows that reached the same target demographic, but reach more scale and at lower CPMs. The advertiser’s budget did not change as a result
Going one step further on:
The grow first, monetize later playbook is what causes louder disapproval of ads.
I think personalized advertising quiets these objections back down.
#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is the extreme end of this.
Ads feel less like ads if they are perceived to provide value (by getting you to purchase, subscribe, etc).
This is also where the uncanny valley of “they’re listening to me to target ads!” arises.
If privacy advocates and regulators keep pushing, we’ll soon see if I’m right or wrong on this hypothesis.
Seems inflation makes ad-supported media more appealing
13% of consumers are opposed to ad tiers on streaming platforms, according to the survey, which polled roughly 18,000 US adults. That’s a significant decrease from last year’s 36% who said they were opposed to ads in exchange for discounted streaming.
There are some forms of media where ads are seen as normal:
- Radio (now podcasts)
- TV (now streaming)
- Publications (now digital in oh so many ways)
The grow first, monetize later playbook is what causes louder disapproval of ads.
via Marketing Brew
Finished reading: Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie 📚
Create Google search ads, with AI!
The conversational experience enables advertisers to generate relevant ad content, including creative and keywords, from a website URL.
TikTok looks to be following the Chinese social media app playbook, come hell or high water.
I don’t think an “everything app” will happen in the West. User reaction to the aggressive Shop push is increasing my confidence in this prediction.
users have complained about counterfeit and knockoff products sold on TikTok’s marketplace. Some also say the preponderance of ad-like posts from influencers is wrecking the experience.
You may have heard the Google Ads rule of thumb that you need 30 conversions before changing your bid strategy to Maximize Conversions. That’s not entirely true.
Max conversions can work on fewer than that. Target CPA or Target ROAS on the other hand, wait for 30.
per a Google Ads rep
Sending a free copy of something to garner attention?
Send 2
Make it easy to share. Make it easy to spread.
Those who want to share it will identify the right audience better than you will.
via Josh Spector
Wired: Threads?
Tired: TikTok?
Threads is continuing to grow, having tripled its downloads month-over-month in December
TikTok is still a massively popular app but its growth has started to slow amid consumer complaints that TikTok Shop is ruining the app’s experience.
via TechCrunch