For years, a paid search team’s expertise showed up as keyword-level precision: the right match types, tightly built negative lists, bids managed down to the keyword. That skill set still matters, but less and less so each year. Google has spent several product cycles moving control away from the literal search term an advertiser bought… Continue reading Google Loosened Keyword Control. Here’s Where Your Team’s Time Should Go Now.
Category: Paid Media
Google’s August 17th Bidding Update: Why Your CPA Is About to Rise (and How to Stop It)
For a while, some Google Ads accounts have been beating their own targets — a $10 Target CPA campaign settling in at $5, a Target ROAS goal cleared without anyone touching a setting. Most advertisers filed that under “good problem to have” and moved on. Starting August 17th, 2026, Google is changing the bidding behavior… Continue reading Google’s August 17th Bidding Update: Why Your CPA Is About to Rise (and How to Stop It)
Higher Ad Costs, Slower Growth, Wrong Leads: What Happens When You Let Paid Media AI Run Without Guardrails
For most of Jordan Crawford’s career in paid media, the job was control. Every targeting parameter, every audience segment, every bid adjustment. Value came from how precisely you could operate all of it. That’s changed. “The job of paid media managers really changed from trying to control all of the levers to more focusing on… Continue reading Higher Ad Costs, Slower Growth, Wrong Leads: What Happens When You Let Paid Media AI Run Without Guardrails
Your Marketing Looks Profitable. Your Revenue Disagrees. Here’s Why.
There’s a particular kind of confusion Jordan Crawford recognizes immediately, because she’s seen it from both sides of the table. Two sets of numbers that should tell the same story, but they don’t. On one side: the marketing reports. Cost per lead, flat or improving. ROAS, climbing. By every metric the marketing team’s been trained… Continue reading Your Marketing Looks Profitable. Your Revenue Disagrees. Here’s Why.
Which Dollars Are Actually Working Across Your Marketing Mix? Shifting Marketing Budget Allocation From Gut Feel to Data-Backed
Most marketing budgets aren’t built. They’re inherited. Last year’s numbers, adjusted at the margins—a little more here, a little less there, based on which channels reported the best efficiency. The problem: “working” and “working according to ad platforms” aren’t the same thing. Jordan Crawford has seen this play out across enough accounts to know that… Continue reading Which Dollars Are Actually Working Across Your Marketing Mix? Shifting Marketing Budget Allocation From Gut Feel to Data-Backed
Translating Media Performance Data Into Something the C-Suite Can Actually Use
Jordan Crawford has sat in this room before. The marketing team walks in with a report that looks like good news. Cost per lead is flat or improving. ROAS is climbing. Across the table, the board asks why revenue is flat (or even declining) when the plan called for 15% year-over-year growth. Nobody’s lying. That’s… Continue reading Translating Media Performance Data Into Something the C-Suite Can Actually Use
What Separates Winning Paid Social Accounts From Stalled Ones: A Creative System
There’s a phrase that’s been running through paid social conversations for the last couple of years: creative is the new targeting. It’s true. It’s also been repeated enough that most marketers nod along without doing anything different. The reason it matters is structural. When data privacy legislation cut off the flow of browsing and app… Continue reading What Separates Winning Paid Social Accounts From Stalled Ones: A Creative System
Google I/O + Google Marketing Live: Key Announcements & What They Mean For Marketers
This year, the worlds of Google I/O and Google Marketing Live converged to deliver a singular, powerful message: “Google Search is AI Search.” The overwhelming theme was the complete incorporation of Gemini into every facet of the Google ecosystem, from the core Search experience to the mechanics of the Google Ads interface.
CTV Just Became a Performance Channel for the Mid-Market. Most Brands Haven’t Noticed Yet.
The economics of CTV haven’t fundamentally changed. What changed is the measurement infrastructure around it. Tools that were once enterprise-only—like incrementality testing, marketing mix modeling (MMM), brand lift studies, and household-level attribution—are now accessible to brands spending a fraction of what enterprise advertisers spend. That shift turned CTV from an awareness channel into a performance… Continue reading CTV Just Became a Performance Channel for the Mid-Market. Most Brands Haven’t Noticed Yet.
What a Study of $1.3B in Meta Ad Spend Reveals About Paid Social Creative Strategy
New data from $1.3B in Meta ad spend shows creative output — not creative intuition — drives paid social performance. Here’s how to build a creative testing system that wins.