Thursday, August 13

😬 The Silent Killer of CMO Careers

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⚡️ Today’s Headlines ⚡️

🔀 Google is updating Merchant Center with cross-platform reporting. The changes, which are rolling out starting August 24, include new traffic classifications, expanded product-level reporting and future segmentation tools.

📈 UGC beats branded ads by 20%+. Grapevine is for DTC brands that are growing FAST, like Home Chef and Honeylove. They handles booking creators, whitelisting, & production. Are you spending $100k+ on Meta? You could be a good fit! Learn more here.

💬 OpenAI is now allowing some Health and Finance Ads in ChatGPT. Updated on August 10, the move is a shift away from OpenAI’s original ad policies rules that set separate rules for where ads can be placed and who is permitted to buy them.

😭 Your ad agency is probably leaving money on the table. How do I know? I've audited 1,000+ ad accounts and always see the same issues. Ineffective ad creative, campaign structures that limit scale, & landing pages that kill your investment. Want to see what’s broken? Get a free ads audit →

🤖 Grok is now an AI ‘teammate’ you can assign work to. Grok Bot, which was just introduced by SpaceXAI, is an always-on AI agent service on its own cloud-based computer environment designed to behave like independent ‘AI teammates’ that can do your work for you.

💡 Today’s Insight 💡

What to fix before Google ends Target Overperformance before August 17

🗞 TL;DR - Beginning August 17, budget-limited campaigns in Google Ads using Target CPA or Target ROAS will optimize more closely toward their stated bidding strategy. Google also introduced a Bid Target Adjustment Tool on July 6, giving advertisers time to review affected campaigns before the change takes effect. Search Engine Journal outlined what advertisers need to do before this deadline, and we’ve listed the highlights for you below.

💡 Insight - The change affects budget-limited campaigns across Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen and other Google Ads environments. Campaigns that aren't budget constrained, and several campaign types such as App and Video campaigns aren't affected.

Currently, some campaigns consistently outperform their stated targets. For example, a $50 tCPA campaign generating conversions at $35. After the update, Google says these campaigns will optimize more closely toward the actual target entered, potentially reducing the efficiency advertisers have been enjoying.

So, here’s what advertisers should be doing before the August 17 deadline:

• Audit affected campaigns now. Focus first on campaigns consistently marked “Limited by budget.”

• Compare targets with actual performance. Look across a full conversion cycle, not just the last few days.

• Reset stale targets. If a $50 tCPA campaign consistently delivers $35 CPA and $35 is now your desired outcome, consider changing the target.

• Don't automatically tighten targets. A lower tCPA can restrict volume. Evaluate the revenue/profit tradeoff.

• Check incrementality and lead quality. A cheaper CPA isn't necessarily better if conversion quality or downstream revenue suffers.

• Review budget allocation. Some campaigns may simply need more budget rather than a different bidding target.

• Document your baseline. Record CPA, ROAS, spend, conversions and volume before August 17 so you can identify post-change effects.

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