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said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on a call discussing the results with investors. “Over the long term, advertisers will basically just be able to tell us a business objective and a budget, and we’re going to go do the rest for them. We’re going to get there incrementally over time, but I think this is going to be a very big deal.” 

Digital marketers have been speculating this as a potential future, now Zuck has said it out loud. Based on Google’s PMax experience, advertisers won’t like it.

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A new study reveals the promise and limitations of interactive TV advertising. The key findings:

  • 36% stronger unaided brand recall vs. standard video ads
  • 95% of viewers prefer adding products to cart over immediate purchase
  • Higher CPMs: 10-15% above industry standards
Anu Adegbola

The real question is: will people want to shop from their TV?

In a sense we already do this when we buy a movie, but that feels different than buying a shirt, etc.

Google and Amazon (and Paramount (via Walmart)?) get an immediate advantagege since they can drive you to an app where you are logged in and already shop.

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The best way to provide value to your stakeholders is to provide value to your customers.

Notice that the wording of this does not confuse those two groups as the same.

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People may be spending less time on Facebook (just the blue app, not Instagram), but it certainly isn’t going anywhere.

The number of Gen Z Facebook users in the US is expected to jump from 49.0% of the cohort (33.9 million users) in 2024 to 56.9% (40.5 million users) in 2028, per our forecast.

Facebook's features outside of direct social communication—such as event organizing, niche community groups, and Facebook Marketplace—make it a useful tool. Among Gen Z Facebook buyers (ages 15 to 26), 75.0% made a purchase on Marketplace in the past 12 months.
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This is an excellent guide to Meta’s Audience Segments powering Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASCs) from Foxwell Digital.

Includes audience types to use for each and ways to not try to keep the system from over indexing on existing customers now that the cap feature is gone.

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YouTube is a powerhouse but also still somehow underrated as a marketing channel (video is the hardest asset to create). But this is very interesting

the company’s foray into short form content boasts between 1 to 3% click-through rate on ads, compared to .45% for TikTok ads and .24% CTR on longform YouTube.
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Turns out Meta is removing detailed targeting exclusions and the leaked announcement wasn’t a bug, just a month early.

You can still use alternative exclusion products including Custom audienceexclusions. You can also use the audience controls in your Advertising settings to restrict audiences based on brand protection or employment.
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Sounds like clickbait: an idea so wild it just might work!

The idea is that the US would require Google to make its search index publicly available for anyone to use.

Wouldn't this be taking something that belongs to Google, though?

Not really. The search index is a collection of keywords and other data from websites created by other people and other companies — not Google.

This would be interesting, and API access could be a revenue stream. But it feels unlikely.

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This vibes with what I’ve been seeing in reporting

Intent is building, evidenced by improved CTR and CPCs - but conversion behavior isn't there yet. Low CvR and ROAS plagued the industry last week. This signals a movement in a "thinking about buying" direction. Something about the post-vacation late days of summer have us thinking about the future. 

People are trying to sneak in some summer before it ends. Back to life, back to reality after Labor Day.

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As TikTok and Instagram unseat Google in the realm of local search, I see a realm of possibilities for [things like] Meta Maps and SnapMap.

👀

image via The Verge

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Google wanted advertisers to turn everything over to the algorithms with Performance Max, advertisers pushed back and asked for a peek inside the black box. Big G blinked.

Based on your feedback, we’re starting to roll out conversion metrics to Performance Max asset reporting for all advertisers globally to help you understand what’s working well and further optimize your creative.

YouTube video placement reporting for Performance Max is now rolling out as well, helping you ensure that your ads appear in brand-suitable places.

Oh yeah, and more AI.

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I love this from Sidekick Books:

Award-winning publisher of hybrid and experimental multi-author treasuries and pamphlets. We believe the most interesting place to start is at the edges, on the borders between things.

Clear and concise.

Prominently displayed on the homepage.

No confusing what they do or what they’re about.

And they are making it clear they aren’t for everyone. Not for the mainstream.

Are you comfortable cutting out as many as you invite in with a simple sentence? Are you this clear about what you do?

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So what keeps us going?
For some, it’s fear.
But for most of us, it’s belief in our actions.
And that belief is fueled by visceral signs of impact.

Every business operates on goals and metrics.

What if “visceral signs of impact” was a KPI?

What is the impact you are trying to make? What is a sign you’re making it?

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US mortgage rates plummeted this week after weaker-than-expected employment data raised the odds of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next month.

The standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.47% this week.

That’s down substantially from last week’s average of 6.73% and marks the lowest level since May 2023.

This plus price index reports could be good news.

Or it could be a sign the vibecession is turning into a recession.

Not sure I’d call it until after the election.

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Last month, the price of a USPS stamp increased 5 cents to 73 cents. A change that may further squeeze businesses looking to minimize shopping costs as much as possible in the age of free shipping.

Postage increases used to be pegged to inflation, usually going up at most once a year. But Sunday will mark the sixth increase in three years, during which first-class stamp increases rose 10 percentage points faster than overall inflation.
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More Meta insights from my (really good) rep.

Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns can handle up to 150 different ads, but what about “normal” campaigns?

It depends on budget (always), but my rep recommends 15 ads per ad set.

With 60-70% of those being video assets. Ideally with vertical versions.

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How do you set a budget for Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns?

According to my (really good) Meta rep, the rule of thumb is:

$100 per ad per day

ASC with 5 active ads = minimum of a $500 daily budget

This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but these campaigns definitely benefit from higher budgets.

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Netflix will charge advertisers CPMs (cost per thousand viewers) between $20 and $30 for some of its ad inventory, the buyers said. Netflix will charge $20 for a 15-second ad slot and $25 for a 30-second ad slot, one buyer said

The streaming platform initially came to the market with $65 CPMs in 2022

The bigger barrier for running streaming TV ads now is making the video asset as platform ad prices continue to come down.

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Originally mentioned back in May, Apple is leaning in to Safari being the anti-Chrome.

Safari is getting a new feature. Distraction Control allows users to get rid of distracting elements from a webpage.

they can click on an element of the webpage, and it will be removed from view.

but only for elements that don't regularly change. Since website advertising often refreshes regularly, Distraction Control will still allow ads to show.
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A federal judge ruled that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in the search and advertising markets.

The advertising portion seems specific to “general search text advertising,” so YouTube shouldn’t be at risk.

We’ll see where this goes, but my guess is Big G won’t be buying default status anymore.

The prospect of losing tens of billions in guaranteed revenue from Google — which presently come at little to no cost to Apple — disincentivizes Apple from launching its own search engine when it otherwise has built the capacity to do so