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Amazon Ads

Retail mediaNewsletter archive1 min

Import Centre collapses Google, Meta, Pinterest, and Amazon campaign migration into a single workflow

The standout structural launch from Activate: Import Centre lets advertisers import campaigns from Google Ads, Meta, Pinterest, and Amazon (plus file upload) into Microsoft Advertising in a single workflow. The interface surfaces insights as imports run: max active campaigns warnings, missing conversion goal issues, CPC mismatches between source and destination accounts: and supports scheduled imports with pause controls.

SourceMicrosoft Advertising · Activate recap
Official SourceMicrosoft

Industry

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Chrome documents LLMs.txt as part of agentic audits

Chris Long has flagged a significant Chrome documentation update: Chrome released documentation on its new Agentic Browsing audits, and buried in the spec is a reference to how the audit will check for the LLMs.txt file at the domain root. Crystal Carter was credited as the original finder.

SourceChris Long
First ContributorChris Long +1

Gemini

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Improved click-to-call ads use Gemini for precise lead scoring

Click-to-call ads are getting a structural upgrade: Gemini now analyses what was actually said on each call to score leads more precisely, rather than relying solely on call duration as a proxy for lead quality. The system filters out misdials and low-intent calls from reporting, traces each qualified call back to the originating campaign, and feeds the lead-quality signals back into Smart Bidding so the algorithm bids for high-value callers rather than just call volume.

SourceGoogle blog · GML 2026 hub
Official SourceGoogle

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Ask Advisor lands in the Merchant Centre as the merchandising expert assistant

Ask Advisor in Merchant Centre launched in closed beta in the US in English: a Gemini-powered conversational assistant that diagnoses account and feed issues, surfaces performance and audience insights, and provides a roadmap to improve Store Quality Score. The advisor offers performance reporting and insights tailored to business goals, product listing and issue-resolution guidance for disapprovals, and personalised, actionable recommendations such as promotion opportunities or title optimisations.

SourceGoogle blog · Ask Advisor in Merchant Centre
Official SourceGoogle

Google Ads

MeasurementNewsletter archive1 min

Campaign Type Attribution gives Demand Gen its own full-funnel attribution model

Campaign Type Attribution is a structural shift for Demand Gen reporting: moving beyond Platform Comparable Conversions (a reporting-only view) into an active attribution model where Demand Gen campaigns can be optimised against the full conversion value they drive, independent of other Google campaign types. Georgi Zayakov flagged it as the most interesting Demand Gen update from GML, noting it makes Demand Gen results "more directly comparable to social platforms": which is clearly where Google wants Demand Gen to sit in the marketing mix.

SourceGeorgi Zayakov
Official SourceLinkedIn

YouTube

MeasurementNewsletter archive1 min

Attributed Branded Searches connects YouTube ad exposure to branded search lift

Attributed Branded Searches (ABS) is now generally available globally as the "always-on" metric that connects YouTube ad exposure to subsequent branded searches. The metric counts users who saw a YouTube ad and subsequently performed a branded search, serving as a rapid leading indicator for campaigns aimed at driving brand interest and market share.

SourceGoogle blog · Attributed Brand Search
Official SourceGoogle

OpenAI

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

OpenAI introduces ChatGPT for PowerPoint in beta

OpenAI for Business has launched ChatGPT for PowerPoint in beta. The integration lets teams create, edit, understand, and polish presentations using natural language directly inside PowerPoint: starting from notes, docs, spreadsheets, prompts, or an existing deck.

SourceOpenAI for Business
Official SourceOpenAI for Business

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

AI Performance Insights in Merchant Centre reveals brand visibility in AI surfaces

AI Performance Insights is a new Merchant Centre reporting suite that shows how products are being discovered on AI Mode, Gemini, and AI Overviews. The reporting includes brand Share of Voice vs. similar brands, journey-stage breakdown (discovery, evaluation, purchase), product term popularity, and structured attribute completeness scoring.

SourceGoogle blog · AI Performance Insights
Official SourceGoogle

Meta Ads

Paid socialNewsletter archive1 min

Meta finally adds Ad Scheduling alongside Budget Scheduling

Matias Axel Ramayo has flagged that, after long providing only "budget scheduling," Meta has finally added ad scheduling: letting advertisers show ads only within business hours, which is particularly relevant for messaging campaigns to avoid low-quality 3am messages. Previously possible only via total budget configuration (tedious to set up), the new ad scheduling provides a simpler, modifiable schedule based on the fan page's operating hours.

SourceMatias Axel Ramayo
First ContributorMatias Axel Ramayo

Amazon Ads

Retail mediaNewsletter archive1 min

Andy Jassy confirms Alexa for Shopping rollout

Andy Jassy confirmed at CEO level this week that Alexa for Shopping has rolled out broadly: bringing Rufus and Alexa+ together as a unified AI shopping assistant across phone, laptop, and Echo devices. In his words: "Alexa for Shopping is like having an expert personal shopper who already knows you and remembers your preferences, past purchases, and conversations, and carries that knowledge and understanding across your phone, laptop, and Echo devices."

SourceAndy Jassy
First ContributorAndy Jassy

Google Ads

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

👋 Welcome to Part 2 of the Week 21 edition.

If you're joining here directly, Part 1 covered Google Marketing Live 2026 and Google I/O: more than 30 launches reshaping Search, YouTube, Commerce, Measurement, and Creative. Catch up on Part 1 →

SourceCatch up on Part 1 →
Official SourceAnthropic

Industry

MeasurementNewsletter archive1 min

Store Sales measurement eligibility expands via AI modelling

Store Sales measurement: which connects digital ad investments to offline sales: is expanding eligibility to advertisers of all sizes through AI-modelled, privacy-safe insights. Previously, Store Sales required high traffic volumes and complex data setups; the new eligibility pilot uses Google AI to generate high-fidelity reporting even for accounts that didn't previously meet eligibility requirements.

SourceMeasured testing, November 2025
First ContributorYoann Ferrand

Google Meridian

MeasurementNewsletter archive1 min

Meridian GeoX launches as Google's open-source geo incrementality solution

Meridian GeoX is Google's new open-source geo incrementality measurement framework, designed to power transparent, cost-effective geo experiments and calibrate Marketing Mix Models. The structural features include Native Multi-Cell Execution (comparing multiple treatments against a common control group in a single study, reducing total cost and time-to-insight), Time-Based Regression with Stratified Sampling for budget-efficient lift detection (with Synthetic Control and Synthetic Difference-in-Differences coming), a Flexible Design Wrapper for choosing methodologies, and integration with Meridian MMM for calibrated prior generation.

SourceGoogle blog · Meridian GeoX
Official SourceGoogle

Industry

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Journey-aware Bidding gives Smart Bidding visibility into the lead funnel

Journey-aware Bidding is a beta upgrade for Search campaigns with Target CPA that lets Google's bidding algorithm learn from every step of the lead journey: not just the biddable conversion: to sharpen predictions and improve performance. The mechanic requires advertisers to import all relevant conversion actions (phone calls, form submissions, newsletter signups, marketing/sales-qualified leads, closed deals) into Google Ads, and then Smart Bidding uses the full sequence to model conversion likelihood.

SourceGoogle blog · Journey Aware Bidding
Official SourceGoogle

Google Ads

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Demand Gen Uplift Experiments measure incremental impact alongside PMax

Demand Gen Uplift Experiments is a new automated A/B testing framework that measures the statistically significant uplift of adding Demand Gen to an existing campaign mix (PMax, App, Video, Display). The mechanic provides a turnkey way to isolate Demand Gen's impact on conversions, sales, CPA, or ROAS: answering the long-standing question of whether Demand Gen is incremental or cannibalising.

SourceGoogle blog · Demand Gen Uplift Experiment
Official SourceGoogle

Industry

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Cross-account portfolio bidding + dedicated Bid strategy report

Microsoft launched a dedicated Bid strategy report that shows strategy status and performance metrics (average target ROAS, ROAS, revenue, conversions), with a conversion delay window visualisation, and full bid strategy settings (Target ROAS, Maximum CPC). Paired with this: Cross-account portfolio bidding lets agencies group campaigns across multiple accounts under a single strategy.

SourceMicrosoft Advertising · Activate recap
Official SourceMicrosoft

Industry

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Seasonality Adjustments for Portfolio Bidding are now fully available

Seasonality Adjustments for Portfolio Bidding: previously announced: are now fully available for portfolio bid strategies and shared budgets. It lets us as advertisers signal forthcoming demand spikes (sales events, product launches, seasonal peaks) to Microsoft's bidding algorithm, mirroring the Google Ads seasonality adjustment surface, which has been live for years.

SourceMicrosoft Advertising · Activate recap
Official SourceMicrosoft

Industry

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Demand-led budget pacing, Smart Bidding Exploration, and Campaign total budgets land in Search

Three Search-side budget and bidding upgrades land alongside the AI Max GA. Demand-led budget pacing uses Google AI to optimise spend toward consumer demand peaks: capturing more volume on high-demand days and reducing spend on slow days, while respecting daily and monthly limits.

SourceGoogle blog · GML 2026 hub
Official SourceGoogle

Google Tag

MeasurementNewsletter archive1 min

Google Ads conversion tags push directly into Google Tag Manager

Govind Singh has flagged a small but consequential Google Ads update: conversion tags can now be pushed directly into Google Tag Manager from the Conversions setup screen. The new workflow: create the conversion action in Google Ads, choose "Use Google Tag Manager," click "Set up in Google Tag Manager", and the conversion tag arrives in GTM automatically with Conversion ID, Conversion Label, and tag type pre-filled.

SourceGovind Singh
First ContributorGovind Singh

Google Ads

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Ask Advisor in Google Ads: revamped homepage, intelligent reporting, 24/7 security monitoring

Ask Advisor in Google Ads is upgraded with five 2026 additions: Gemini 3 model upgrade, mobile app availability, instant certifications that replace weeks of manual paperwork with instant approvals (Anthony Higman flagged the certification surface this week appearing inside the Google Ads account), 24/7 security monitoring with personalised dashboards (flagged domains, dormant user review), and a revamped homepage with intelligent reporting and AI-powered data visualisation. The visualisation surface lets advertisers transform complex data into clear visualisations with a single prompt.

SourceAnthony Higman
Official SourceLinkedIn

Google Analytics

MeasurementNewsletter archive2 min

Meridian arrives inside Google Analytics 360, harmonising MMM, MTA, and incrementality

Google Analytics 360 is integrating Meridian: Google's open-source marketing mix modelling solution: bringing advanced cross-channel budget forecasting into the GA360 surface. Luka Cempre, Brais Calvo Vázquez, Mehdi Oudjida, and Google Analytics all flagged the launch as a structurally significant move.

SourceLuka Cempre
Official SourceLinkedIn

Google Ads

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Demand Gen in Commerce Media Suite unlocks retailer first-party data activation

Demand Gen campaigns are now generally available within Commerce Media Suite: letting brands use retailers' first-party data to reach high-intent shoppers across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. The integration enables brand-retailer collaboration on YouTube and Demand Gen surfaces, with conversion and sales optimisation powered by retailer first-party data flowing through Google AI.

SourceGoogle blog · Demand Gen in eCommerce Media Suite
Official SourceGoogle

Amazon Ads

Retail mediaNewsletter archive1 min

Shopify data: AI-referred shoppers convert at nearly 50% higher rates

Juozas Kaziukėnas has surfaced Shopify data showing AI-referred shoppers convert at nearly 50% higher rates than non-AI-referred traffic, with 14% higher average order value. The data is sourced from Shopify's aggregate platform statistics across its 7-million-store base and represents one of the first systematic measurements of AI-referral commercial performance.

SourceLinkedIn
First ContributorJuozas Kaziukėnas

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