With elections looming, are brands right to be worried about the secret political leanings of their paid influencers? Also: TikTok is literally giving products away. Meta plays a confusing reverse Uno card. And Instagram copies a Snapchat feature. I know — who'd have guessed?! Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free …

DTC sales are slowing. Is it the economy? The products? No, but there are three reasons for it. Has Google given up on AI Overviews in Search? Instagram has a nice update for brands that post a lot of images. And the Self-Proclaimed Saviour of Free Speech shuts down an advertising coalition that spoke freely. Links to today's stories Rate and Revie…

An apparent glitch promises advertisers millions in Google ad credits. The glitch is fixed, but could Google be on the hook? Also: A report says Google broke its own ad policies for a big budget advertiser. A new way to avoid Facebook jail. And how to sponsor entire LinkedIn newsletters. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Ge…

Two prices, one answer — where do you put your discount? Media buyers rethink X after the platform sues an advertiser coalition. Questions about how effective the latest brand safety tech really is. And what Shopify sees in the forecast for the months ahead of consumer spending. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our fre…

The U.S. declares Google an illegal monopoly. What's next for one of the world's biggest ad platforms? Netflix's ad prices keep dropping. Apple has another privacy feature your web site isn't going to like. And why you might have paid for your competitor's ads last week. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily …

The risks of jumping on board a fast trend. Amazon's warning could fortell a slow quarter for us all. Google hates tax laws, and you'll pay because of it. And LinkedIn has a new badge you can't even ask for. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-…

Zuckerberg is coming for your ads — and he wants your hands off the steering wheel. The ad business is still growing, just a lot slower than before. TikTok has a new app marketplace for small businesses. And paging dr. tweets — emergency emergency! Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertisin…

Back to the drawing board — Meta kills celebrity chatbots. The Performance Max change we all wanted is here. New data on where young people start their online purchasing journey. And NBC spent $7 billion on the Olympics. Has it paid off in ad revenue? We have the numbers. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily…

A big loss for Amazon as an American regulator gives the company the news it didn't want. SurveyMonkey pushes out a big update. X's financial position is in rougher shape than anyone thought. And teens on Facebook; Boomers on TikTok? What is this world coming to?! Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newslet…

The untold story behind the slow decline of Google network revenue. Reddit launches Lead Gen Ads. A massive acquisition in the influencer marketing space. And Elon Musk is siphoning your brand's content for fun and profit; we'll tell you how to turn off the tap. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newslette…

Influencers are charging more — and it's partly your budget's fault. TikTok brings the update many wanted, but few actually need. And Apple takes on Google on one of the most important platforms on the web. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-M…

Take 2: TikTok tries its hand at ecommerce in Europe. Yelp upgrades its Request a Quote service. A new spend limit on Google Ads. And here's how you stack up against others on social media. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us…

The great cookiepocalypse is cancelled. What does that mean for marketers now? The two-letter solution to improving your Google search ranking. Europe is coming after Meta again. And Amazon plays hardball. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Ma…

It was the blue screen heard around the world — how did today's massive global computer outage affect marketers? Google kills off yet another product and that might mean more work for your web admin. The companies Microsoft will keep your ads away from. And Google's AI will be all over the Olympics. What could possibly go wrong? Links to today's st…

Ads are coming to Threads but will media buyers care? A shocking development in the agency world. Has Google given up on AI summaries? And why Instagram comments are disappearing after 3 days. Links to today's stories Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow…

Google Ads now default to Broad Match. Facebook's new AI tool could spell trouble for brands that get a lot of comments. Another door into TV ads has opened for small businesses. YouTube's Shorts get a small upgrade; Google Docs gets a big nerdy one. And the world's worst ads will soon appear on one of the world's most trusted brands. Links to toda…

Outrageous greed — that's what the U.S. government calls Amazon's Prime Days, in light of its estimate that almost half of the company's warehouse workers will get injured in the next two days. Also: Instagram's new ad product requires a lot of trust — from you... LinkedIn supercharges its sponsored articles... and Elon says X should sue a large gr…

A behind-the-scenes look at how one of the world's most successful ad campaigns almost didn't happen. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyVon Tod Maffin

The untold story of what many believe is the best television ad of all time. Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: ✅ Listen ad-free ✅ Back catalog of 20+ marketing…

The untold story of one of the original acoustical earworms. Rate and Review Us • Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us GO PREMIUM! Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade: ✅ Listen ad-free ✅ Back catalog of 20+ marketing science intervi…

The hack nobody wanted: How a leading two-factor authentication app used by marketers worldwide is now exposed. Plus TikTok slows down, a deep-dive into Google's changes to its ads platform, and the clever technique consumers are using to see if you are gouging. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Re…

A big design tool pulls its AI features... the slow recovery from a Google algorithm update... Meta makes a big change to a small tag... and YouTube's new service will be powered by the magic of human eyeballs. We think. Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us on social medi…

For many Meta ad buyers, June was a month full of bugs and volatile performance. Is this the new normal? We check in with our Meta ads correspondent Andrew Foxwell for a gut check. Contact Us 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us GO PREMIUM! Get these ex…

Your Facebook ads might soon cost more — but there is a way out. Google's search ranking apparently considers how busy your business is. Wordpress admins get a new and peculiar tag insert. And the end game of civilization has arrived — Meta's influencer bots. Did anyone ask for this?! Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsl…

Typos are coming to your ad reports — here's why you'll like that. TikTok tries to pre-empt Amazon's big sale. An verification tool used by major platforms left its users' government IDs practically unlocked. And Meta expands the content tool that keeps your fans quiet. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Adverti…

Amazon's response to the discount Chinese ecommerce sites? To become them. Also: Why social media platforms would rather you forget all about that whole "social media" thing. GA4 will import other platforms' data. And a nice update for people who track ROAS. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach …

We've known it was coming for years, so why do marketers feel even LESS ready for the cookiepocalypse than they did before? Also: Pinterest wants your board content on TikTok. Ad agencies are swimming in AI. And Threads gets even more connected to the fediverse. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Re…

There are many decisions to make when you're posting an ad on social media for your brand — the placement, the timing, the audience, the hook, the creative. But one factor that doesn't get talked a lot about is the comments. After all, social media ads are mostly just posts with a budget behind them — posts that can include comments. That's great i…

Did you use AI to make that product image? No? Then why is Meta telling everyone you did? Also: Local Service Ads expand to Maps, whether you want them to or not... unboxing goes big... YouTube editing goes long... and a dispute over programmatic ads heats up with advertisers caught in the middle. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our fre…

A crazy new bug on Meta's ad platform is selling products at big discounts — and the merchants have no idea it's happening. Also: Sorry, why can't I exclude past buyers from my Facebook ad campaigns any more? Amazon's huge sales database is being put to work. And Instagram expands its livestreaming by letting you restrict it. Contact Us • Links to …

Government regulators sound the warning on AI spokespeople, as the marketing industry and social media platforms scramble to ramp up their avatar game. Also: LinkedIn goes B2C, consumers prefer year-round Pride support, and more on Google's decision to force many companies off using credit cards to buy ads — today, an insider's view. Contact Us • L…

Google won't let some companies pay for ads by credit cards any more, in a move that could cost businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight. Also: A dispute between two big ad players could shake up video inventory. Threads releases its API and makes it free. And YouTube's plans to let regular people add corrections to your brand's videos…

Has the final gauntlet been thrown? A technical change to how YouTube ads are delivered may break ad blockers for good. Meta backs down on AI training. LinkedIn's new promotional tools will cost you. And Spotify's latest announcement — is it bad news for digital agencies? Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Adver…

Dumb it down — new research says the simpler you make your headlines, the more people will click on them. Also: Instagram's latest ad format is just as irritating as it sounds. A huge player exits the ad business entirely. And podcast listeners might just be the nicest people ever! Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newslett…

Brand safety tools claim platforms they measure are '99% safe.' But can marketers trust those numbers? Probably not. Also: YouTube adds the single biggest item from marketers' wish lists. TikTok's new search feature could sell more of your products. And garbage in, garbage out — the sad and dangerous state of AI search summaries. Contact Us • Links…

The app that wanted the world to be more authentic has been acquired. Google says the next search update might restore some penalized sites. Why marketers are starting to be wary of ad verification platforms. And is it the return of the hashtag? Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of …

It's happened again. This time, Adobe scrambles to reassure marketers it's not going to steal their work in the service of AI training. But can its track record be trusted? That, plus updates to Meta's Conversions API, LinkedIn pulls one of its most effective ad targeting tools, and much more. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free da…

Deepfakes are the next challenge for brand safety. Reddit's Ads API is out, barely. LinkedIn has a new video ad product. Instagram updates carousels. And the toggle switch inside Microsoft's ads platform you might want to turn off. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Deci…

Why is Google dumping up to three-quarters of your ad results into an unmarked bucket? HubSpot is about to get more expensive. Finally, a framework for data deletion requests. And Microsoft's change to shopping campaigns is coming whether you want it or not. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach …

A nasty cyberattack is targeting big TikTok accounts — and all you need to do for your account to be compromised is read a DM. Also: Why Google may stop indexing your brand's web site next month. Which products sell more when you use an animated banner ad. And podcast audiences may have been massively undercounted. Contact Us • Links to today’s sto…

Enshittification comes to the Instagram feed — how will users react to the new ad format which stops them from scrolling through content? Also: Google slows way down on its AI search results... SEO pros figure out how to get their brand into those results... and Shopify's acquisition could mean a huge bill for you. Contact Us • Links to today’s sto…

The new Instagram test that ignores your current fan base. Why your favourite marketing tool might stop working next week. Link previews are now pay-for-size. And bad news for marketing departments as their share of corporate budget continues to fall. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousan…

What's next for the relationship between Google and the marketing industry after a huge leak exposes Google's SEO secrets. The news is not good for brands that rely on Facebook for traffic. Instagram is adding its strongest mute button yet. And another Google tool heads to the graveyard — this one, a messaging tool used for business. Contact Us • L…

It seems ridiculous — asking people to buy something from you as you're refunding them from a previous purchase. But researchers say — it works. Also: PayPal is planning a big splash in the ad pool. And Instagram has a new "just add meme" button. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of…

It's the biggest leak in Google's history — and the documents in it detail thousands of previously secret factors that decide how high you rank in their search engine. What are those factors, and have we been being lied to all this time? We have extensive coverage today in this special episode. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free d…

Is Hubspot about to sell to Google? Pinterest has summer trends for your content marketing. Amazon's AI-based ads seem to be performing well. And Snapchat gives us exactly what we marketers want: crazy clown faces. Contact Us • Links to today’s stories 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Fol…

Two big players in the design space have a new offering for large brands and agencies. Snapchat has a new CAPI partnership. Yes, Bing was offline today. And Google's deal with the devil: What happens when you use the world's largest shitposting forum as a main AI training source? Exactly what you think. Links to all of today’s stories here 📰 Get ou…

The marketing announcements are plenty — so why can't any of us actually use these cool new things? TikTok to lay off a big chunk of their support team. Meta adds video to catalog ads. And the science behind offering a dollar discount or a volume discount — which performs better depends on what you sell. Links to all of today’s stories here 📰 Get o…

Google’s annual event for advertisers was full of AI buzzwords, but lacking in anything beyond the expected obsession over AI and some incremental updates to existing marketing products. GO PREMIUM! 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us Links to all of t…

JOIN US for the Unofficial Google Marketing Live Tailgate event. Tuesday May 21 at 11am ET: YouTube or LinkedIn 📰 Get our free daily newsletter 📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers 🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us Links to all of today’s stories here Our Sponsors: Check out Dynadot: https://dynadot.com/marketing Chec…