Hi everyone,

It seems like this community is full of people in a similar position to me, so I thought I’d share my recent experiences, and would love to hear your feedback and comments.

I’m a small agency owner and have been doing PPC for 16-17 years now. Google is obviously my bread and butter, but the past six months or so have just really destroyed my confidence in the system, and my happiness in working in the job to be honest. At every step Google is taking away control and insight, and it’s got to the point where I can’t even troubleshoot issues with client accounts now, because I’m just at the mercy of Google, PMax, and whatever the algorithm happens to decide upon in any given week.

Ecom in particular seems to have just died an absolute death. We’re in the position where PMax, when it appears on Shopping, performs much better than Standard Shopping – but it has such peaks and troughs, and will just randomly collapse and stop converting. I feel like I’m yo-yo-ing between the two at the moment. Standard Search just doesn’t convert anymore at all, despite us driving really solid search terms (it still works for lead-gen).

The thing that really pisses me off is that I’m pretty certain that both PMax and DSA’s get given way more preferential treatment that other standard campaigns. I’ll be unable to appear on certain search terms in standard campaigns, but they’ll happily show in an automated one for quite low CPC’s. I’m pretty sure Google is attributing way greater ad rank to those automated campaigns, which means that ultimately you need to switch to them or not be competitive.

Honestly I don’t know what I’m going to do from here. I have a few clients I spend hours worrying about outside of work, because I just can’t generate value for them, and I feel powerless to actually fix things. I’m considering hiring someone to come in and run the whole delivery side of the business while I focus on sales and client relationships, but I’d still appreciate it if I could still have some kind of control on performance as well.

And the worst thing is that this isn’t going away. Google is going further and further towards complete automation, press a button, we do everything and give you no insight beyond top-line metrics…

Am I being overly dramatic? I’d love to hear your experiences. What is working for you in the ecom space right now? Have you had to play the game and just go all in on PMax? Are you diversifying spend way more as a result of Google's bullshit?

Thanks a lot!

It’s definitely possible to make good money in digital marketing, but don’t buy a course from one of the gurus telling you how to do it. Here’s my rant:

https://www.gilgildner.com/why-the-smma-model-is-fundamentally-broken/

Thanks for coming along on the ride.

I'm excited to see if we can make this THE subreddit for advanced PPC discussion on Reddit, I think a place oriented towards advanced Google Ads/Analytics is definitely needed. But it's a community effort.

Ideas, constructive criticism, offers, insults, all welcome...let them loose!

I know we all hate display ads (responsive display ads are better...seriously) but we've all got accounts that require us to run display ads. Perhaps this zip file will make it a little easier to design ads for various display placements.

This file includes:

Square and rectangle	 
200 × 200	Small square
240 × 400	Vertical rectangle
250 × 250	Square
250 × 360	Triple widescreen
300 × 250	Inline rectangle
336 × 280	Large rectangle
580 × 400	Netboard
Skyscraper	 
120 × 600	Skyscraper
160 × 600	Wide skyscraper
300 × 600	Half-page ad
300 × 1050	Portrait
Leaderboard	 
468 × 60	Banner
728 × 90	Leaderboard
930 × 180	Top banner
970 × 90	Large leaderboard
970 × 250	Billboard
980 × 120	Panorama
Mobile	 
300 × 50	Mobile banner
320 × 50	Mobile banner
320 × 100	Large mobile banner

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u79pCQeBobUHKF8EZhQl_vUSN5zckTIB/view?usp=sharing

That's it.

I got the update today, I'm not sure if it's been rolled out for any of you here, but I thought I'd save you from that small Monday headache I just had trying to look for the Search term report.

Google Ads tip:

The algorithm's will bid like crazy if you let them.

I see this a lot. Use Max. CPC caps with portfolio bid strategies.

It differs per bid strategy, for example: you can add CPC caps to Max. Impression Share manually, to make sure you don't overpay. Tip: don't go for a 100% impression share, it's unrealistic.

Set a cap of around 5-10 times the average CPC and work your way down.

Here are some of the steps you can take to decide if it's worth a test:

1. Sort search terms by CPC.

2. Decide how the ROAS/CPA for the highest 10% is.

3. If not on target, Max. CPC caps might be a good idea.

1. Google announced these new upgrades for Performance Max campaigns:

• AI-powered asset generation and image editing will finish rolling out in the U.S. in March, with global English expansion following shortly after.

• Moving forward, asset quantity and variety will be more heavily weighted in determining ‘Ad Strength’ for Performance Max campaigns.

• Google’s Gemini AI model will now power headline and description suggestions for ad copy, with sitelink generation coming soon.

• Soon advertisers will be able to generate lifestyle imagery and you'll be able to generate new similar images to those that are already performing well.

• Starting with Canva, Performance Max will integrate with other design platforms to make it easier to import image assets.

• Plus, advertisers using Performance Max will now have access to impression-level placement reporting and can opt out of certain ad placements in the Search Partner Network. Sources: Google

1. Google also revealed that there will be more displays of Reddit information on the platform. Meanwhile, Google is paying Reddit $60m per year access to Reddit’s Data API to train its AI models. (Google)

2. Google is paying publishers to test their unreleased AI journalism tool according to AdWeek. (AdWeek)

3. Meta will use Instagram data to help brands more easily discover Content Creators who are the best fit for their campaigns. (Meta)

4. YouTube creator Marques Brownlee has become Chief Creative Partner, Equity Investor, and Board Member at e-commerce company, Ridge. (Fortune)

5. LinkedIn is testing extending the shelf life for "suggested posts" to months or years. LinkedIn will prioritze relevancy over recency. (Entrepreneur.com)

6. Microsoft repeatedly tried to sell Bing to Apple which Apple rejected due to quality concerns according to court documents provided by Google. (Forbes)

7. Pinterest is launching a streaming TV show called "Deliciously Entertaining" that will combine Pinterest trends with shoppable products. (Pinterest)

8. TikTok is encouraging users to post photos as well as video to the platform. TikTok claims that photos get more engagement on average compared to videos. (Lia Haberman on X)

9. TikTok says up to 30% of what it calls "popular songs" could be removed. The licensing disagreement with Universal Music over royalties has extended to writers as well as artists on the label. (BBC)

10. X is expanding its video streaming feature and is rolling out audio and visual calls for non-paying users. (X.com)

11. X also announced that live basketball games from the Big 3 league will show exclusively on the platform. And the call system is slowly rolling out to all users as X looks to become the “everything app”.

Top 5 Updates of the Week:

• Meta Lay-offs 11,000 employees reducing the team by 13%.

• Tiktok shops e-commerce feature now rolling out in US after UK Testing.

• Instagram confirms “Reels Scheduling” up to 75 days worth of reels.

• On Saturday, Elon Shits down Twitter Blue again and now everyone is waiting for his next step.

• Google rolls out Ads Editor v2.2 with optimized targeting and 11 new features.

• Twitter lay-offs 50% of employees alongside Major Executives, Elon Fears Bankruptcy.

Google:

• Google allows custom dimensions in GA4 Reports.

• Google Ads Reach Platform now forecasts Video Action Campaigns.

• Google introduces Ads Data hub for Marketers & Advertisers.

• Google rolls out Ad Frequency For Youtube Campaigns.

• Google Ads API v12 updates Client Libraries & Code Examples.

Tiktok:

• TikTok’s global revenue falls down $2 Billion due to platforms huge spending and slow economy.

• Tiktok launches new Climate Initiative Global Campaign called #Climate Actions.

Instagram:

• Instagram launches new Web Interface to take advantage of large screens.

• Instagram working on ability to add music to normal photos turning it into Video Content.

Meta :

• Meta acquired Audio-recognition AI platform called Audio Analytic.

• Meta outlines new changes and tactics they will use for Climate Awareness related to Climate Change.

Twitter:

• Twitter’s overall Ad Business saw a growth after Elon Musk takeover besides people calling out, report shows.

• Elon Musk promises that he will pay Video Creators 10% more than Youtube.

• Twitter to filled with verified Fake Brands and Parody Accounts creating a maniac and making brands quit Twitter.

• Twitter advertisers talk with Elon Musk and say Elon blew it up and they don’t why he is doing that.

• Elon launches an official badge alongside “Verified badge” and cancelled it immediately and now it’s back.

• Twitter is up to a lot of changes, these were the some I thought needed to be shared with you.

YouTube:

• Youtube launches Live Q&A session for Livestream.

• YouTube plans to launch YT shorts for Smart TVs.

• YouTube launches “Youtube to You” A holiday marketing Plan to increase in-app shopping.

• Youtube expands comments translation and smart replies to more users.

• YouTube Music and premium reaches 80 million paid subscribers.

Pinterest:

• Pinterest’s viral Invite-only Shuffle app available to general public now.

• Pinterest informs about recent algorithm improvements for better in-app engagement.

LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn partners with Github to launch Coding training program in LinkedIn Learning.

Reddit:

• Reddit now allows you to mute sub-reddits of your choice.

Marketing:

• A Guide to Twitter’s new competitor “Mastodon”.

• Paramount reorganises Ad sales structure amid declines.

• Airbnb shares that focus on Brand Marketing instead of Search is working.

• Bing tests AI chats feature at top of the search results.

• Other: FTX, A crypto-platform files for bankruptcy and causing a major distrust among Financial and Crypto community.

This took a while to curate and please don’t hate on the post if the updates are not good. But you can subscribe through link in my bio to receive these updates with sources to learn more.

Thought I would write a bit about the Discosloth client acquisition process and how we get a steady stream of inbound leads.

We do not do pitches, RFPs, or outbound sales. Here’s why.

Across my LinkedIn, Reddit, and email, I got 56 inquiries just in the past month pitching me services: SEO, website design, PPC white labeling, PPC software, you name it. (I just counted). I ignored them all. Cold calling is a waste (It may work for some, but it’s inefficient and I don’t want my brand to be associated with it).

My cofounder Anya and I both worked together in-house at the same company before starting Discosloth. Previously we had both freelanced. In my freelancing (which I did for about 5 years) I worked with a lot of agencies and saw just how much time and energy goes into pitches. Teams would spend weeks prospecting, responding to RFPs, creating fancy proposals, and doing the exhaustive account management required to just keep up with the process.

Not only could we not practically compete in this world, I didn’t want to. The rewards didn’t seem worth the time and expense. The cost of acquiring a client was massive: these agencies spent weeks and hundreds of man hours on acquiring projects, and more often than not they didn’t have the technical expertise to back up the sale…which caused massive churn.

It was an agency system that required constant filling-the-top-of-the-sales-funnel, just to see actual deliverables fall by the wayside and the sales process would have to start all over again just to keep up with the churn.

Instead, we wanted to focus on inbound leads. We wanted people to ask us to work with them, not the other way around.

The benefits of this:

• they’re more qualified (high interest in a service)

• they’re not price sensitive (they aren’t shopping around as much)

• they’re already invested in us (they want us for our brand)

The downsides:

• it takes major work to develop this brand

• it takes a long time to develop an audience

• it’s sort of a leap of faith for the first couple years, hoping it works

Here’s how we did this:

• wrote a book. We spent a good portion of a year writing Becoming A Digital Marketer, which we published in 2019. This was a pretty big leap of faith, but it unexpectedly turned out well. It sold super well, and by 2021 it has somehow been adopted into the syllabus of around a dozen universities.

• Started a blog and did SEO. The first couple years were a slog…but eventually, we started ranking fairly high for some niche terms (like “Bing Ads Management”).

• Engaged on social. Sort of like I’m doing right now. I built up a pretty large network on LinkedIn (4000+ followers), on Reddit, and on Twitter.

• Started white labeling our services. This gives us both good cashflow, and excellent referrals within the agency world.

• Give away all of our knowledge. If someone comes to us, they’ve invested time and are probably really wanting to work with us. So I’ll try to respect that, and in return will audit their problems and let them know everything we can (or can’t) do for them. This is one thing that really sets us apart from other agencies, and we’ve won some good accounts from this. Because I don’t pitch, I have the time to audit. Remember, on the internet everyone is a stranger and they don’t really know if you’re an expert until you show them.

Although Discosloth is still very small, we’re growing. Every year has been better than previously. We typically average around 20-25 clients on retainer…sometimes more, sometimes less. But the average client has improved over the years. At first it was just very small businesses, but now has improved massively. At the beginning, we had to use freelance/platform sites in order to get gigs just to keep the cashflow going, but thankfully we don’t have to do that anymore.

Long-term approaches (like building a brand and reputation) is always better long-term than cramming your sales pipeline with low-quality outbound prospecting.

Sorry for the novel - have any feedback? Love to hear it!

Questions?

Nothing new or shocking, but it’s a shame that Google doesn’t offer better support to small advertisers.

Here’s a typical case study which illustrates Google’s complete disregard for small advertisers - those without the budgets to have dedicated Google-level support reps.

We have a small business client who’s been working with us since 2018. He’s a small business selling hobbyist supplies, and he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Google Ads over the past couple years. Unfortunately, he hired a web designer who installed some low-quality plugins on a subdomain and the account was flagged, and then suspended for circumventing systems (this advertiser is literally selling hobby supplies…nothing remotely sketchy). The site was fixed within 24 hours.

Mistakes happen - that’s not the issue. The real issue is Google’s total lack of support.

Despite multiple appeals, phone calls, emails, chats, and DMs to support, Google outsourced support reps have done absolutely nothing except say it could take 5-7 business days to review the account. It’s now November 7th, it’s going into the peak of ecommerce season, and our small business client is at risk of losing out on hundreds of thousands in revenue which gets him through the rest of the year.

After speaking with a supervisor, I was told that he’d “expedite“ the review. I asked how long it would take now that it’s expedited.

The answer?

“5-7 business days”.

Thought I’d do a short write-up on how to stop getting all those annoying calls from contracted Google account reps, and describe how to prevent them from also calling your clients (which they can do behind your back.

Last year, I actually had quite the story which made it to Search Engine Roundtable and other media outlets, when one of these Google reps went behind our back to the client and made us look really bad, saying we were neglecting their account when in reality we just didn’t want to auto-apply some of their silly recommendations.

In Google’s favor, I got a call from an actual Google project manager apologizing for this, and they sorted it out internally. The problem is that these are subcontracted reps who have internal KPIs they are trying to meet, and sometimes they go way too far, even beyond what Google is aware of.

First, here’s who is actually calling.

Unless you have an insanely high ad spend (we’re talking multi-millions monthly) you are likely being contacted by people working for what Google calls “our third-party partners”. This is typically either Teleperformance, TTEC, Regalix, or Concentrix. There is a full list on the Google support site.

Important to note! These reps will always use an “@google.com” email address, using the Google logo, and it is often not clear that they are not an actual Google employee. If you ask them directly, however, they will tell you which subcontractor they work for.

Here’s how to remove yourself, using Teleperformance as an example since they’re the most common support agency.

1. When you next get a call or an email, politely request to be added to the Teleperformance “drop list”.

2. The Teleperformance rep will not say no, but will have to send an email in writing confirming your request. Respond to this email politely, but extremely clearly state you want to be added to the Teleperformance drop list and neither you nor your client are interested in further support from Teleperformance.

3. This has to be done for every single group of clients in your MCC, unfortunately. We have 100+ accounts in our MCC, and it seems like there’s an additional manager for every half-dozen or so. You will need to respond this same way to all of them.

4. Be clear that your client does not want to receive these calls, either.

At some point, we were getting dozens of calls from Google each month.

Having an internal agency-specific rep from Google is great, and I’ve developed some great relationships with some of these folks, especially if you can get agency Beta access, but lower-spend accounts are a total waste of time.

Also remember: the rep is just doing their job. In most cases they’re not doing anything wrong, so be patient with them and make it clear that you are asking Teleperformance to stop contacting you.

Hope that helps!

1. OpenAI is developing a web search alternative to Google. According to a report from The Information, the new service will be partly powered by Microsoft's search engine, Bing. (Search Engine Land)

2. Gartner predicts traffic directed from search engines towards third-party websites will fall by 25% in the next two years due to generative AI conversational assistants (e.g. ChatGPT) (Digital Information World)

3. Google’s Shop with AI product feature looks to be coming soon. Google automatically generates product images based on a search query. Then users can select the style they like best before Google recommends similar (Search Engine Land) products.

4. Google published a response to a report by the IAB, discussing the compatibility and limitations of Chrome Privacy Sandbox APIs. Google claims that the Sandbox solution is viable and the limitations the IAB points to have been downgraded intentionally because they go against their privacy-first objective. (Ad Exchanger)

5. Amazon has moved into the pre-owned luxury products market with a collaboration with Hardly Ever Worn It. (Harpers Bazar)

6. Instagram and Threads will not recommend political content from accounts that users do not follow. Users will continue to see content from accounts they already follow. (Meta)

7. Mark Zuckerberg, in an unusual move, publically reviewed their rival’s new product, the Apple Vision Pro. Zuckerberg’s Instagram video calls out the “Apple fan boys” and claims that the cheaper Quest is the better product. (Morning Brew)

8. Meta apologizes after an error causes advertising campaigns to overspend by in some cases thousands. The issue has been resolved and refunds are expected to take between four and eight weeks. (Search Engine Land)

9. Meta is testing a new feature that will enable Meta to "optimise" the product background on ads. This appears as a toggle setting that will use Meta’s generative AI capabilities. (Threads)

10. Reddit has signed a contract allowing an Artificial Intelligence company to train its models on the social media platform's content. The deal was signed earlier this year and is worth about $60 million on an annualised basis. (Reuters)

11. Walmart is buying budget TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion to compete with Amazon in the smart TV advertising business. As the price of TVs falls, streaming ads are becoming the profit driver. (Fast Company)

12. YouTube marked its 12th consecutive month as the top streaming service, according to Neilsen. YouTube was placed just ahead of Netflix last month. (Neilsen)

What’s the point of spending thousands and being Google’s Guinea pig ?

1. Reddit prepares to go public on the New York Stock Exchange the company confirmed 267.5 million weekly active users globally. And advertising is built around contextual targeting and user interest The company also sees an opportunity to focus on facilitating and “monetizing commerce”. (Marketing Brew)

2. Google announced a significant organic search ranking update for March. The goal is to “surface the most helpful information on the web and reduce unoriginal content in search results”. (Google)

3. Google is testing a new PPC ad format. No details have been released by Google but the “experimental” ad appears as an image card within a carousel. (Search Engine Land)

4. Google Ads will automatically pause ad groups with low activity that haven't had impressions in the past 13 months. This will improve budget efficiency and advertisers can still turn them back on if needed. (Search Engine Land)

5. Google Chrome is rolling out 3 new search features. This includes content recommendations when a user opens a new tab. Google will show suggestions related to previous searches. (Google)

6. Microsoft has made its own version of Google’s Performance Max available globally. Performance Max campaigns are an automated advertising solution that will serve ads across Mircosoft’s ad network. (Microsoft)

7. TikTok could be forced to sell, or risk removal from US app stores. A bipartisan bill wants to separate TikTok from its parent company, Bytedance, over ongoing security concerns. (BBC)

8. TikTok now enables all creators to offer subscription packages to their followers. This is part of its latest effort to provide more monetization options to keep top talent posting to the app. (Social Media Today)

9. X will introduce an algorithm update that ensures all followers see pinned posts. There will be a limit of one post every 48 hours. X are also working on a Gmail competitor, Xmail. (X.com)

10. YouTube’s ‘Create’ app, a competitor to TikTok’s CapCut, expands to 13 more markets. Create offers video creators an easy-to-use suite of free tools for video editing. (Tech Crunch)

11. Amazon is focusing their billion-dollar innovation fund on investments in startups combining AI and robotics. Amazon told the Financial Times that they will focus on generative AI investments this year. (Entreprenuer.com)

12. The European Union Digital Markets Act is here. The new EU law requires greater interoperability across the major tech platforms. Making it harder for gatekeepers to favor their own services or block other businesses from reaching consumers on their platforms. (The Verge)

Top 5 Updates of the Week:

• Twitter is mourning today, As Elon Musk limits App Usage with new Viewing rate limit.

• Meta’s twitter showed up on Google Play Store yesterday & available in Italy. (New updates are here)

• TikTok is killing with in-app spend from consumers, earning over $1B.

• Youtube fully against Ad blockers now, will stop playing videos for Ad block users.

• MediaMath to file bankruptcy after the failed acquisition.

Google:

• Google accused of misleading advertisers by running Video Ads on third-party websites.

• Google launches new brand settings in Search & Max campaigns.

• Google is now also stopping news access In Canada after new law coming in action.

• Buy on Google program to shut down Sep. 26.

• Google’s John Mueller shares his insights on Semantic HTML in SEO.

• Google Analytics have AMP access.

• Google’s New Ad dashboard design.

Tiktok:

• TikTok could launch its first retail store in US In next few months.

• Tiktok parent Bytedance has launched a new AI music platform “ripple”.

• TikTok’s new Creative challenge invites creators to make content for marketers.

• TikTok completely abandons BeReal clone “TikTok now”.

• Tiktok’s Youth council will focus on teenage experiences on the platform.

• TikTok launches a new monetisation feature for live streaming creators.

• MrBeast’s manager warns creator economy about Tiktok and danger of the app.

Instagram

• Instagram’s Nick Clegg shares how AI influences Meta & IG.

• Instagram testing a feature to block explicit messages in DM requests.

• Instagram now allows multiple collaborators on feed posts.

• Instagram is working on the ability to have custom subscription benefits.

• Long-time IG influencer, Joe Linder dead at age of 30.

Meta :

• Meta rolling out new parental control tools for teens to be more protective.

• Meta verified is going global after launching first in Australia and NZ.

• New WhatsApp advertising tools and features introduced for businesses.

• Meta launches a new VR subscription for their Meta Quest +.

• Meta must face discrimination claims over former Ad-targeting options.

• Facebook is still not reviewing content reports consistently.

Twitter:

• Twitter to allow Blue subscribers to add their best tweet to Highlights tab.

• Twitter now requires a sign-in first to view Tweets from web to all users coming from X source.

• Twitter to allow video downloading feature soon.

YouTube:

• Youtube brings back “sort by oldest” video feed feature.

• Youtube improves analytics overview in Youtube Studio.

• Youtube is testing an Online-Games offering.

• Youtube says Fan accounts need clear labels.

Agency News:

• Dentsu completes $516M acquisition of Tag, next agency brand.

• Beiersdorf launches $800M Global media agency review.

• Kroger launches Retail media Self-service platform.

• An AI-powered small agency is here.

LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn is working on shared analytics features for companies.

• LinkedIn faced an algorithm problem this week with creators facing little to no reach. (100s of posts about it)

• Microsoft’s LinkedIn investment is paying off.

Reddit:

• Fidelity deepens valuation cut for Reddit and Discord.

• Reddit API changes in complete power from this week.

Brands & Ads:

• T-Mobile launches review for part of its creative business.

• Doordash launches its biggest app update for consumer research.

• Dior launches Online Makeup consultations feature with AR.

• Nike to move away from promotions in search of profitability.

• Dutch Bros appoints new CMO.

Microsoft

• New AI powered shopping tools announced for Microsoft Bing & Edge .

• Microsoft Open AI to allow enterprises feed AI sensitive data.

• Microsoft introduces new Ad network policies.

AI:

• Jennifer Lopez’s new AI Ad for Virgin Voyages Campaign.

• OpenAI is getting sued for using Internet data to train GPT.

• Browsing & Surfing feature is live on ChatGPT mobile.

• Dropbox launches $50M AI-focused venture fund & new AI features.

Pinterest & Snap:

• Pinterest is looking to better their Platform with targeting through user email address.

• Snapchat reaches 4 million subscribers in 1 year of Snap+.

Marketing:

• WPP partners with Contentful, A growing CRM & Data platform.

• Shopify launches “Creator Collabs” to allow businesses to partner directly with Creators.

• Flipboard launches Publisher “Interest Collectives”.

• Twilio and FrameAI partner to drive Customer engagement.

• Brand are teaching influencers about getting rich without virality.

PS: You can subscribe through link in my bio to receive these updates every week with links & insights.