Digital Marketing Insider (181): 8-8-24

Hey DMI fam,

Here’s what we got for you today – 

• Google’s groundbreaking antitrust case

• Facebook's vision of an AI-driven ad future

• Some much-needed transparency in Performance Max

• The dawn of “Agentic AI” & AI phone agents 

• Gemini 1.5 – the new king of LLMs? … oh & btw

• Cookies ain’t goin’ nowhere (Google changed their mind 🤦)

And to really spice up your Thursday …  

🌶️We’re also giving away 3 FREE Meta Ads audits (worth $5,000 each 👀)

Buckle up, let’s dive in! 👇

Google officially ruled a monopolist 

Big tech companies are always fighting antitrust cases & nothing ever seems to happen…until now. This sets a very new precedent that will have downstream effects. Maybe paying Apple $22 BILLION to be the default search engine wasn’t such a good idea after all… More here.

Performance Max now (slightly) less black box-y. 

Now you can actually see conversions broken down by ad / asset. Plus, see specific YouTube videos in placement reporting. Thanks Big G! (but I’m still bearish on PMax) More here.

Facebook wants to make your ads for you. 

Zuck was talking a big game on Meta’s Q2 earnings call, wasn’t he? 

“In the coming years, AI will be able to generate creative for advertisers as well -- and will also be able to personalize it as people see it. Over the long term, advertisers will basically just be able to tell us a business objective and a budget, and we’re going to go do the rest for them. We’re going to get there incrementally over time, but I think this is going to be a very big deal.”

Just another step in the “Let us do it for you” direction. Which is cool & all. 

But remember – these platforms are in the business of separating us from our money. They have an army of the world’s smartest scientists & engineers working night & day, focused like a laser on that singular mission. 

So by all means try the new stuff, but be extra cautious. Especially when it comes w/ black box reporting (which I’m certain will be the case here).

And just like that, Google decides not to kill cookies after all 

HOT TAKE: Meta / Facebook has gotten way too complicated. And there’s booby traps & money sucks around every corner. 

Prime example: Advantage+ (i.e. “Let us do it for you” mode) isn’t just a campaign type. It’s also an audience setting … a placement setting … AND an ad-level setting. 

Believe it or not, there’s even a “Master” Advantage+ switch hidden away somewhere that’ll activate it for your whole account.

Like, really? That’s trickery in my book. And it’s not cool (or fair).  

But the fact is, if you’re investing $20k, $50k, $100k/mo on Meta Ads… 

It pays to make sure there’s no leaks in that bucket. And that’s where our friends at Level Agency can help. 

Level’s signature Meta Ads audit shows you exactly where the leaks are … so that you can get more leads with the same budget.

And guess what? Today’s your lucky day.

Because they’re offering audits for FREE to the first 3 people that respond! 

Just reply to this email with “Meta Ads audit” & you’ll get a link to schedule.

NOTE: Must be spending at least $20k/mo. (*Sponsored)

Remember when Google said they were going to kill cookies and threw the entire marketing world into chaos? Well, now they’ve decided to reverse that decision. Surprise! This back-and-forth move underscores their monopoly-like power. Maybe they should be brought back down to earth. But hey, at least they’re keeping us on our toes 🤷More here.

The rise of live agents for lead generation.

We all know speed-to-lead is critical. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could respond to every lead immediately, 24/7/365, without having to hire more reps? Well, it turns out you can w/ tools like Bland.ai. It takes a bit to setup. But worth looking into for anyone focused on lead gen (I bet you $5 everyone will have an AI phone agent or two within 5 years). More here.

 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

BONUS: Google’s new Gemini 1.5 whoops GPT-4o & Claude 3.5 in 7 dimensions 👀

And unlike the latest GPT / Claude models… You can use it for free. Seriously! Here’s how.

That’s all for today! Make sure you respond to this email if you want a chance to win the free Meta Ads audit. 

Otherwise, we’ll see you tomorrow!

This newsletter is sponsored by WebMechanix, the digital marketing agency that makes you smarter. 💡

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