SMX Now: The Automation Drift and How to Correct Course
The SMX Now webinar will explore "automation drift" in Google Ads, where incomplete or misaligned signals cause the platform to optimize for the wrong outcomes. Ameet Khabra of Hop Skip Media will dissect a real account that saw a 417% conversion lift that ultimately proved ineffective. Attendees will learn a four‑point framework—signal, query, inventory, and creative drift—to detect early warning signs and re‑align automation with true business objectives. The session is scheduled for May 6 at noon ET.
Google Adds Campaign-Level Filtering to Bulk Ad Review Appeals
Google Ads now offers a campaign‑level filter in its bulk ad‑review appeal tool, allowing advertisers to target only specific campaigns when requesting policy re‑reviews. The new "Select eligible campaigns" option prevents the need to resubmit all disapproved ads across an...
Your Homepage Matters Again for SEO — Here’s Why
The rise of AI assistants like Gemini and ChatGPT is steering users back to branded searches, making the homepage the primary entry point for many visitors. This reverses the early‑2000s SEO trend where deep‑link pages captured most traffic. Marketers must...
Agentic Engine Optimization: Google AI Director Outlines New Content Playbook
Google Cloud AI director Addy Osmani introduced Agentic Engine Optimization (AEO), a framework for making web content consumable by autonomous AI agents. He argues that token limits, not clicks or dwell time, now drive content performance, urging creators to front‑load...
The New PPC Playbook: From Media Buyer to Profit Engineer
The article argues that paid‑search professionals must evolve from tactical media buyers to "profit engineers" as Google and Microsoft automate bidding, creative testing, and audience discovery. It outlines four steps: mapping campaigns directly to the profit‑and‑loss statement, engineering AI signals...
The Reddit Detour Distorting PPC Signals
A recent study shows Reddit outranks paid ads for high‑cost keywords—often $50 CPC or more—across 8,566 terms in B2B SaaS, and similar patterns appear in legal, finance, home services, and insurance. When users click a Reddit thread instead of a brand’s...
Google Ads Advertisers Report Wave of Unexplained Ad Disapprovals
Google Ads advertisers are facing a wave of sudden ad disapprovals tied to DNS lookup failures and HTTP 500 server errors, even though their landing pages appear functional for users. In some cases, more than 1,500 ads were rejected within minutes,...
How Google’s Removal Tools Work for SEO and Reputation Management by Erase Technologies
Google offers a suite of self‑service removal tools that let owners deindex URLs or request deletion of personal data, but each has strict limits. The URL Removal tool temporarily hides pages you control for about six months, while the Outdated...
Google Simplifies Analytics and Ads Consent Rules
Google is overhauling how consent signals flow between Google Analytics and Google Ads, effective June 15. The new model drops the reliance on Google Signals and other Analytics settings, using only the `ad_storage` consent flag for Ads data collection. This...
AI Search Adoption Isn’t Equal and Income Is Driving the Divide
AI search tools like ChatGPT are gaining traction, but adoption is uneven across income groups. Overall, 27% of users report regular ChatGPT use, yet households earning roughly $70,000‑$100,000 adopt at about 50%, while those earning $31,000‑$38,000 lag at 18%. The...
Maddie Lightening Speaks on Misreported ROAS, Account Structure Chaos & AI Mistakes
Maddie Lightening, Hallam’s head of paid media, recounted three pivotal errors that shaped her PPC career: a currency‑conversion mistake that halved reported ROAS, a legacy account structure that conflicted with AI‑driven bidding, and delayed restructuring that hurt peak‑season performance. She...
Merchant API Lands in Google Ads Scripts Ahead of Content API Sunset
Google Ads scripts will start supporting the Merchant API on April 22, 2026, as the legacy Content API for Shopping is slated for retirement on August 18, 2026. The Merchant API introduces a modular architecture that breaks functionality into sub‑APIs,...
Google Ads Simplifies Enhanced Conversions Into a Single Switch
Google Ads is consolidating its enhanced conversions tools into a single feature with an on/off toggle, eliminating the split between web and lead conversions. Starting June 2026, advertisers can feed user‑provided data through website tags, Data Manager, and API integrations...
Google Ads Drops Display and Video Planning From Performance Planner
Google Ads has removed Display and Video campaign planning from its Performance Planner, ending support for impression‑share based forecasts. The change also eliminates metrics such as impression share, top impression share, and absolute top impression share from the tool. Advertisers...
YouTube 90-Second Unskippable Ads on TVs Spotted
YouTube is testing 90‑second unskippable ads on TV devices, extending the previous 30‑second limit. The ads appear before any content and can exceed 90 seconds before a skip button becomes available. The move creates premium, TV‑style inventory with digital targeting,...
