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Marketing

24 August 2026

51 new posts across 7 marketing sources — 7 worth your time.

One week of Marketing, 7 stories, as published.

Paid & Ads

Microsoft Ads Is Removing Max CPC From New Campaigns via @sejournal, @brookeosmundson

Microsoft Advertising will deprecate the Max CPC bid strategy for new non-portfolio campaigns starting October 1, 2026. This change forces advertisers to transition toward automated bidding controls and performance targets.

Why it matters — Advertisers must transition new non-portfolio campaigns to automated bidding or performance targets before the October 1 deprecation of Max CPC.

Search Engine Journal · 24 August 2026 · Read the original →

AI & Discovery

Inside ChatGPT’s Source Preferences: What Query Fanouts Reveal About AI Discoverability

A Peec AI study of 5 million query fanouts reveals how ChatGPT rewrites and expands user prompts before executing searches. The model consistently injects terms like 'best,' 'reviews,' and the current year into queries, while its query fanouts containing 'reddit' grew from 0.1% to 4.5%.

Why it matters — To capture ChatGPT search traffic, optimize content for rewritten query patterns that inject 'best', 'reviews', and the current year rather than the user's raw prompt.

Neil Patel · 24 August 2026 · Read the original →

Search & SEO

AI Mode Queries Are 3X Longer – Why Your Page Should Lead With The Answer via @sejournal, @gregjarboe

One year of AI Mode data shows that user queries are three times longer than traditional search fragments because users ask full questions. To capture this traffic, content must lead with a direct answer in the first paragraph rather than relying on a traditional narrative arc.

Why it matters — Structure content with a direct answer in the very first paragraph to align with conversational AI queries that are three times longer than traditional search terms.

Search Engine Journal · 24 August 2026 · Read the original →

Paid & Ads

Paid Media Forecasting: How to Predict Ad Performance (Without Getting It Wrong)

Paid media forecasts often fail due to CPC inflation, conversion rate volatility, and neglecting the initial negative-ROI learning phase of new campaigns. Accurate forecasting requires accounting for creative decay and algorithmic ramp-up periods from day one.

Why it matters — Incorporate a negative-ROI ramp-up period and creative decay into paid media forecasts from day one to avoid setting unachievable performance expectations.

Neil Patel · 24 August 2026 · Read the original →

AI & Discovery

Are Reviews Shaping What LLMs Say About My Local Business?

Customer reviews directly shape what Large Language Models (LLMs) generate about local businesses in AI-powered search results. The sentiment, volume, recency, and keyword relevance of reviews act as direct training data and context for AI-generated recommendations.

Why it matters — Prioritize review volume, recency, and keyword relevance in customer feedback, as LLMs directly parse these reviews to formulate local business recommendations.

Moz · 24 August 2026 · Read the original →

Paid & Ads

Running TikTok campaigns with impact — missed opportunities that make all the difference

Invisalign improved its TikTok campaign performance by integrating a 'Smile Quiz' directly into the ad format to pre-qualify interest. This approach increased lead form completion by nearly one-third while lowering the overall cost per lead.

Why it matters — Embed interactive, qualifying elements like quizzes directly within social ad creatives to increase lead completion rates by nearly 33% while lowering acquisition costs.

HubSpot Marketing · 24 August 2026 · Read the original →

Martech

Tech stack consolidation: The business case for unified systems & how to build them

Tech stack consolidation involves reducing software tools and standardizing on a smaller, integrated set of systems. This process unifies customer data, allowing customer-facing teams to report from the same numbers and automate processes across the entire customer journey.

Why it matters — Consolidate marketing technology to unify customer data, ensuring all teams report from the same numbers and automate processes across the entire customer journey.

HubSpot Marketing · 24 August 2026 · Read the original →

Another week of trying to reverse-engineer a black box that changes its mind daily.

7 stories, every Monday

Published here every week. Follow by RSS to get it as it lands.

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