Practical perspectives on paid search, SEO, AI in marketing, and digital strategy — written from 20+ years at the sharp end. No fluff. No hype. Just what actually matters.
After auditing hundreds of Google Ads accounts over 20 years, I see the same three structural problems destroying budgets before a single click converts.
AI Overviews aren't killing search advertising. But they're changing which keywords matter, which landing pages survive, and how intent signals work.
Google's new one-click AI Max feature suite promises 14% more conversions at similar ROAS. Here's what the conditions for that actually look like.
Google has launched a new open standard letting AI agents complete shopping transactions. The implications for paid search are real and underappreciated.
Microsoft Ads reaches audiences Google routinely underserves, at CPCs that haven't kept pace with Google's inflation. Ignoring it is a strategic mistake.
A logging error inflated Search Console impression data from May 2025. If your reporting showed sudden growth during that period, here's what actually happened.
Smart Bidding is powerful. It's also widely misunderstood, misconfigured, and blamed for problems it didn't cause. Twenty years of paid search offers clarity.
Google has rolled out negative keywords, demographic exclusions, device controls and improved reporting to Performance Max. Here's what changes in practice.
Google's Demand Gen campaigns bridge social-style visual advertising with search intent signals. Results when configured correctly are significant — when wrong, expensive.
Third-party cookies never fully disappeared — but the direction is clear. Businesses treating first-party data as optional are building on a foundation being removed.
Most businesses running both SEO and PPC have no idea how much their channels compete against each other. The cost is real and rarely measured.
Research shows buyers are checking fewer sites for reviews, not more. The implication for visibility strategy is real and underappreciated.
Self-serve ChatGPT Ads are expanding internationally. The CTR data puts them at 0.91% against Google's 6.4% benchmark. An honest assessment.
Ad costs are rising, attribution is fragmenting, audiences are harder to reach. Businesses treating affiliate as a core channel are seeing why.
Google describes Smart Bidding Exploration as the biggest bidding update in ten years. The mechanics are worth understanding before deciding how it fits your campaigns.
In 2025, advertisers generated nearly 70 million creative assets using Gemini in Google Ads. Here's what that actually changes — and what it doesn't.
GA4 has been the default for over a year. Most teams are still using it like UA with a different interface. Here's what changes when you treat it correctly.
The technical side of performance marketing can be learned. The commercial side — knowing when to push back and when to say the uncomfortable thing — takes longer.