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Best Practices: Ads in AI Overviews

MAY 27, 2025

Google’s AI Overviews surface when a user’s query is complex or exploratory, drawing from a range of web sources to offer quick-hit insights.

Now, ads are part of the equation.

Advertisers can show ads above, below, or within AI Overviews, depending on the relevance of the ad and the commercial intent behind a query.

While we can’t target or opt out of AI Overview placements, Google reports that users find these ads helpful. As this format evolves, new reporting and optimization tools may follow.

Here’s why it matters:

Ads reach users at the moment they’re synthesizing complex info.
Ads are matched to both the query and the AI Overview content.
Ads engage users in high-relevance moments that traditional targeting might miss.

So, how do you get it right?

Use broad match or keywordless targeting (like Performance Max or Dynamic Search Ads) to align with intent-rich queries.
Rely on smart bidding to let Google optimize for performance.
For Shopping ads, keep product feeds fresh—update descriptions, images, pricing, and return info regularly.

Read Google’s guide for more.

What is Clipping?

MAY 26, 2025

Clipping—sharing short video segments from long-form content like podcasts, livestreams, or YouTube videos—started as a growth hack among creators. Now, it’s a favorite tactic of enterprise-level brands and advertisers, too.

Clippers, often creators or social media operators, get paid to post brand-shared content in exchange for views — typically $1 to $5 per 1,000 views. Most campaigns have a cap, creating a bounty-style model. Platforms like Whop have formalized this once-underground practice, attracting companies with billions in market cap and creators making tens of thousands of dollars per month.

So why the buzz?

Low production cost – Leverages existing content instead of creating new ads.
Fast reach – Posts go live across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and X quickly.
Native appeal – Feels organic, tapping into creator-audience trust.
Scalable – Works for both niche creators and large IP holders.

Despite the hype, clipping carries legal gray areas, especially around FTC disclosure rules. Many clips aren’t clearly labeled as ads, which could spell risk for platforms and brands alike.

Check out Digiday to learn more about clipping.

What We Can Learn From the HBO Max Re-Rebrand

MAY 22, 2025

Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to bring back the HBO name after stripping it from its streaming service in favor of the simplified “Max” is a rare reversal.

After the initial rebrand, brand equity was diluted, consumer recognition dropped, and the share price tumbled 15% this year.

Here are four lessons for navigating rebrands:

Avoid spin. Be transparent about what went wrong. Customers respect honesty over marketing gloss.
Anchor to authenticity. Reversals should align with brand values, not just aesthetics.
Test and retest. Pilot changes before committing. Symbolism without substance won’t stick.
Tune into doubt. Suppressing internal hesitation or external feedback invites blind spots… and bad bets.

Read the full insight from Inc.

Is Your Content Interesting?

MAY 20, 2025

The biggest problem in content today isn’t a lack of substance. It’s sameness.

So, how do you keep readers awake?

Here are 8 ways to make content interesting:

Replace bias with data. Audiences sniff out self-promotion. Ground your message in real research or proprietary insights.
Source from the ground. Go beyond Google. Interview experts, clients, and internal teams.
Use real stories. People remember people. Personal anecdotes > generic claims.
Include raw visuals. Skip polished design in favor of real artifacts like screenshots and templates.
Pick a unique angle. Find unexpected ways into common topics. Surprise earns clicks.
Lead with the takeaway. Start strong. Don’t bury your best insight in the third paragraph.
Build strong arguments. Structure matters. Use logic, counterpoints, and synthesis—not just opinions.
Lurk on Reddit. It’s a pulse-check on how people actually think, talk, and complain.

Head to From Reads to Leads for more.

How OpenAI Crawls and Indexes Your Website (and Why It Matters)

MAY 19, 2025

As AI-driven tools like ChatGPT become go-to sources for information, the objective becomes being seen, cited, and surfaced in large language model (LLM) outputs.

if OpenAI can’t see your content, it can’t cite or include it in responses. In the LLM era, clean structure, crawlability, and SSR are the new cornerstones of discoverability.

OpenAI operates multiple bots that each serve different purposes:

GPTBot – Crawls content for model training
OAI-SearchBot – Indexes content for real-time ChatGPT search
ChatGPT-User – Fetches content during on-demand browsing or plug-in activity

Here’s a quick checklist to prepare your site for AI visibility:

✅ Allow crawling. Make sure your robots.txt file allows access to OpenAI bots.

✅ Use server-side rendering (SSR). OpenAI’s bots don’t run JavaScript. Content must be present in the raw HTML.

✅ Structure your content clearly. Use schema markup (preferably JSON-LD) for blog posts, product pages, FAQs, and more.

✅ Control indexing with meta tags. Use to prevent unwanted pages from being indexed or cited.

✅ Monitor crawls. Check server logs and tools like curl or wget to confirm your content is visible to bots.

Head to Daydream for more.

3 Ways to Get More from Your Paid Social Ad Spend

MAY 18, 2025

Burning through $5K and seeing barely any clicks? Rising ad costs, shifting algorithms, saturated platforms… it’s rough out here.

To make your paid social spend truly profitable, focus on these three core areas:

#1: Pick the right platform. Not every platform fits every brand. Go where your audience is most active and most likely to engage. Start with a pilot across 2–3 platforms, allocating $500–$2,000 total to test engagement, CTR, and cost-per-result. Shift spend based on early traction.

LinkedIn: High-quality B2B leads, but CPCs often exceed $5–$10+
Instagram/TikTok: Great for visual products, with CPCs around $1–$3
Facebook: Versatile, strong for retargeting, CPCs typically $0.50–$2
YouTube: Ideal for demos and explainer content, CPVs as low as $0.02–$0.30

#2: Upgrade your creative. If your ads aren’t stopping thumbs, they’re not working.

Launch 3–5 variations with $20–$50/day each.
Run for 5–7 days minimum to get meaningful data.
Use high-quality visuals, solve a real problem, and include a sharp CTA.

#3: Get smarter with targeting. Surface-level targeting isn’t enough.

Use lookalike audiences based on top customers.
Retarget site visitors and ad engagers.
Feed first-party data from email or CRM for more precision.

Get the full insight at MarTech.

Resurrect Your Dead Leads

MAY 14, 2025

Cold lists can be brought back to life.

Instead of asking users to go through a gauntlet of reactivation steps (create password, verify email, log in, etc.), remove the barriers.

Here’s how to reduce friction and resurrect your zombie list:

🔑 Skip setup steps. Pre-create user accounts, include a one-click “Activate My Account” button in your email, and drop users directly into the live product, already logged in.

🧠 Reconnect the dots for them. Remind users specifically where, when, and why they signed up.

🎯 Focus on benefits. Ditch cleverness for clarity.

🚪 Offer an exit. Reduce friction and unsubscribes with a polite opt-out.

Check out how Atlas Privacy used this tactic to convert up to 12% of their cold leads at Marketing Ideas.

Apple Maps vs. Google Maps

MAY 12, 2025

Whether someone’s asking Siri for a recommendation or typing into Google Maps, their journey to your business often starts on a digital map.

So, which platform should your business prioritize: Google Maps or Apple Maps?

Here’s why it matters:

✅ Improved local visibility: Most mobile searches are map-based.
✅ Enhanced customer trust: Accurate listings and reviews matter.
✅ Higher local SEO rankings: Google Maps feeds directly into search results.
✅ Increased foot traffic: Real-time directions drive real-world visits.
✅ Competitive edge: A complete, optimized listing makes your business stand out.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

Google Maps: Massive reach, robust SEO, detailed business profiles, native reviews, deep analytics, and powerful integrations with Google Search, Ads, and YouTube.
Apple Maps: Cleaner UI, strong presence on iPhones, Siri integration, and premium-feel experience, especially valuable for targeting affluent Apple users.

So, which should you prioritize?

If you’re a local business trying to boost visibility, prioritize Google Maps for its SEO power and global reach. But don’t ignore Apple Maps—especially if your customers are iOS-first.

Best move? Optimize for both. It’s the digital equivalent of putting your sign on every street corner.

Head to Embed Social for more.

Your Meta Ads A/B Tests Might Be Misleading. Here’s Why.

MAY 11, 2025

If you’re using A/B tests on Meta (Facebook, Instagram) to choose your winning ad creative, there’s a catch: you’re not running a true A/B test.

That’s the conclusion of a 2024 study by researchers at Southern Methodist University and the University of Michigan, which found that Meta’s algorithm skews delivery based on audience responsiveness, showing different ads to different types of people.

This means your test isn’t just comparing Creative A vs. Creative B. It’s comparing Creative A to one group of people and Creative B to another. And often, those audiences vary significantly—by gender, interests, or behavior—without your realizing it.

So while Meta is great at finding the most efficient combo of ad + audience, it’s not telling you which creative is objectively better. That’s a big deal if you’re trying to use those results to inform decisions beyond Meta… like what to run on TikTok, YouTube, or even in your email subject lines.

So, keep this in mind:

✅ Use Meta A/B tests only to optimize Meta campaigns.

❌ Don’t assume Meta results translate to other platforms or channels.

🧪 Run platform-specific tests—Facebook vs. TikTok vs. YouTube.

🗣️ Use surveys, interviews, or on-site tests to validate messaging or product ideas.

🔁 Use A/A testing to double-check the reliability of your results.

Test accordingly! Check out the research in the full post at Science Says.