Plan 2023 budgets as ranges when attribution is partial
Attribution will be incomplete again next year. Build the budget around ranges, reconciliation to your own revenue data and pre-agreed rules for moving money, not around one channel report.
Insights
Marketing strategy and industry changes across Apple Ads, Meta, Google and measurement.
Apple's Today tab and product page ads need their own measurement plan
Apple Search Ads is adding ads to the Today tab and to the bottom of product pages, starting October 25. These are browse placements, not search, so budget and read them separately.
Check these six things after Smart Shopping becomes Performance Max
Google is finishing the automatic upgrade of Smart Shopping campaigns to Performance Max this month. Here is a post-upgrade checklist covering overlap, assets, budgets and how to read the first weeks.
Where Advantage+ shopping campaigns fit and where to keep manual control
Meta began rolling out Advantage+ shopping campaigns on August 15. Test them against your best manual campaign, and keep manual control where audience rules and creative learning matter.
Write responsive search ads that earn their place before June 30
After June 30 you can no longer create or edit expanded text ads. Here is how to build responsive search ads from your best existing copy and judge them fairly.
What SKAdNetwork 4 changes in postbacks and conversion values
Apple announced SKAdNetwork 4 at WWDC with up to three postbacks, a four-digit source identifier and coarse conversion values. Here is what is confirmed, what is not, and what to plan now.
Structure Apple Search Ads by intent, and let discovery feed the rest
A workable Apple Search Ads account separates brand, category, competitor and discovery traffic. Here is the structure, match types and negative keyword rules that keep it clean.
A practical GA4 migration plan now that Universal Analytics has an end date
Google will stop processing Universal Analytics hits on July 1, 2023. Working backward from that date gives you a migration schedule that keeps a full year of comparison data.
Android Privacy Sandbox is a proposal, so prepare without rebuilding
Google has announced a multi-year Privacy Sandbox for Android with no firm launch date for ad tools. Here is what to do now, and what to leave alone until real APIs ship.
What Meta's $10 billion iOS estimate means for the rest of us
Meta says Apple's privacy changes are a roughly $10 billion headwind in 2022. The number is Meta's, but the mechanics behind it are the ones iOS advertisers deal with every day.
Match each Apple Search Ads ad group to a custom product page
Apple Search Ads can now run custom product pages as ad variations in search results. The gain comes from pairing each keyword theme with a page that answers that search, not from making more pages.
Rebuild your Meta audiences before the detailed targeting removal bites
Meta removes sensitive and rarely used detailed targeting options on January 19, with a March 17 edit cutoff. Here is how to audit your ad sets and replace the audiences you lose.