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Industry Pulse

We track what Google, Microsoft, Meta, and the paid media press actually change, inclusive of bidding, targeting, and measurement. Then we say plainly what it does to qualified lead cost and what is worth auditing this week, not next month. Written by Ryan Sappington, founder of Scaled Advertising.

Updated September 16, 2026

PPC HeroSeptember 16, 2026

Attributed leads are not proof that paid search created additional demand, namely when branded queries capture people already looking for us. Set up a geographic hol…

On: Proving the Value of Paid Search With Incrementality Testing

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Search Engine JournalSeptember 15, 2026

An ad in a ChatGPT conversation is not the same intent signal as a Google search query, and we should not fund that test by cutting proven lead volume. Assign a sepa…

On: ChatGPT Ads Aren’t Paid Search : 5 Questions To Answer Before You Shift Budget via @sejournal, @brookeosmundso…

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Search Engine JournalSeptember 15, 2026

Moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads is not a reason to assume call attribution survives intact. Before migration, export historical reports and verify tracking…

On: Local Services Ads To Performance Max: What To Audit Before Migration via @sejournal, @hethr_campbell

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WordStreamSeptember 11, 2026

Last click credits the final ad interaction; data-driven attribution distributes credit across eligible interactions, which can shift reported CPA without adding a s…

On: Google Ads Attribution Models Explained: Last Click vs. Data-Driven

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Search Engine JournalSeptember 10, 2026

Automated bidding optimises toward the conversion actions we feed it, not our definition of a good prospect unless those match. Audit primary conversion actions, inc…

On: How Do I Keep Control As Platforms Automate My Account? : Ask A PPC via @sejournal, @navahf

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PPC HeroSeptember 10, 2026

The reported change concerns how budget-limited campaigns optimise against CPA and ROAS targets; thats not a reason to raise every budget. Check affected lead-genera…

On: Google Ads Target Bid Strategy Changes: What Changed in August 2026 and What to Do Now

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PPC HeroSeptember 9, 2026

A daily pacing script can flag spend running ahead of or behind plan across accounts, but even pacing is not the same as profitable delivery. Test its month-to-date…

On: How to Build a Google Ads Daily Pacing Script

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WordStreamSeptember 2, 2026

A split test needs one clear variable and a conversion action that matters; changing bids, copy, and the landing page together tells us very little. Start with a lan…

On: What to Test Next? 21 Google Ads Experiment Ideas

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PPC HeroSeptember 2, 2026

A defensible paid-media pipeline number requires ad-source data joined to CRM opportunities, inclusive of deduplication, stage definitions, and a consistent attribut…

On: Getting a Pipeline Number You Can Defend to Finance

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GoogleAugust 27, 2026

Demand Gen’s new messaging and creative features give us more ways to start a conversation, but a conversation is not a captured lead. Split test the new options aga…

On: Reach your audience in new ways with August’s Demand Gen Drop.

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WordStreamAugust 25, 2026

Google Ads works when the search terms bring qualified demand and the landing page converts that demand into captured leads, not merely clicks. Before increasing spe…

On: Do Google Ads Work? Pros, Cons, & Tools to Guide You

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PPC HeroAugust 21, 2026

Performance Max can make CPA look splendidly efficient when it is buying our own brand searches, inclusive of demand we might have captured without that spend. Audit…

On: The Performance Max Brand Leak Audit: Measuring the Spend You Would Have Won Anyway

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GoogleAugust 19, 2026

Merchant Center’s holiday features are retail-specific; they are not the path for our service accounts. Ahead of seasonal demand, I’d much prefer we audit holiday ad…

On: Get your product data holiday-ready on Google Merchant Center.

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PPC HeroAugust 19, 2026

The reported ChatGPT ad tests point to blunt targeting and thin measurement; that is not a reason to move proven search budget. Keep any pilot capped, verify CRM att…

On: We Tested Ads in ChatGPT: Here’s What the Channel Actually Does

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PPC HeroAugust 18, 2026

Google’s August 17 bidding change pulls budget-limited campaigns back toward their configured targets, so an old target CPA deserves another look before we increase…

On: The Silver Lining of August 17: How Google’s Bidding Change Solves Budget Scaling Fluctuations

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PPC HeroAugust 14, 2026

Reddit’s community targeting gives us a way to test service demand around the problems people are actively discussing, rather than broad audience assumptions. Split…

On: Reddit Is Where Search & Social Collide. Is Your Paid Strategy Ready for the Impact?

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GoogleAugust 10, 2026

AI and agentic tools across Google Ads and Analytics can shorten account analysis, but faster recommendations are not evidence of better bidding decisions. This week…

On: Evolve your marketing with new AI tools

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GoogleJuly 29, 2026

Demand Gen’s upgraded tROAS bidding makes the values we assign to leads worth auditing; checkout links are not the path for our service accounts. Before testing the…

On: Prepare for the holiday season with July’s Demand Gen Drop.

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GoogleJune 25, 2026

More ways to reach viewers through Demand Gen on YouTube are only useful if that reach converts into leads we can actually work. Keep expansion in a separate test th…

On: Elevate your campaign performance with June’s Demand Gen Drop.

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We manage Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Meta for B2C brands with big-ticket offers and long sales cycles, namely real PII capture, CRM-qualified outcomes, search relevance, and whether spend can scale without wrecking cost per qualified lead.

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