Featured

B L O G

musings

Potato

— Liam Gallagher.

I’ve gone back and forth on how to approach this site. The internet is overflowing with people vying to be thought leaders in the ad industry, but that’s not really my style. I see myself more as a sponge, soaking up a variety of media and experiences that shape my work, career, and personal life.

Whether anyone reads this or not, I’ve decided to skip the “Ad Industry Thought Leadership” track and instead focus on the projects I am working on as well as what I’ve been into lately—hobbies, books, articles, music, podcasts, and more. I have become an avid journalist, not in the sense that my writing appears in publication but in the sense that I write regularly in a journal which I will do my best to cull for content. If nothing else, this site will serve as a personal archive of things I’ve enjoyed along the way.

Suede and the Art of Reinvention

In August of this year, I had the opportunity to interview the British band Suede for the legendary Creem Magazine. It was incredibly meaningful to me as a longtime fan, and admittedly a bit nerve-wracking since it was my first published interview and I didn’t want to come across as an idiot in the process. I spent a couple of weeks researching (which mostly meant listening to the new album and revisiting their entire catalog, hardly a hardship) and crafting what I hoped were thoughtful, informed questions.

I was fortunate enough to get time with both Brett Anderson and Mat Osman, and the conversation flowed naturally as we covered everything from their early days as teenage friends discovering post-punk in their bedrooms, to their ’90s heyday, the breakup and reunion, and the remarkable run of new material that continues to evolve and impress.

Brett abandoned the stage for a spot among the crowd
Suede at the Orpheum Theater in Boston, November 2022 (credit – me)

My final task as part of this process was to write an introduction to frame the interview and humanize the band by sharing my own relationship with Suede’s music. As expected, that introduction was edited for length and focus in the final piece, which I fully understand and respect.

For those who are interested, I’m sharing the original version of that introduction here. It reflects the personal context I felt was important going into the conversation and serves as a record of how I approached the interview before it was shaped for publication. It’s wordy and omits some elements of the band’s history that others may feel strongly about, but I want to preserve it here for posterity.

Original Introduction Draft

Suede have always operated differently than their peers.  Well dressed and sexual, they burst on to the London music scene in the early 1990’s like a blast of lipstick and champagne. Suede set the standard for the aesthetic that subsequent bands would chase for the next 20 years.  The key difference between Suede and the bands that followed is their rare combination of exceptional artistry and technical brilliance. They pushed their music to be singable beyond the lyrics, crafting riffs that burrowed deep into the auditory complexes of a generation of young fans. Transcendent is over-used but it’s apt in this case.  Considered by Q Magazine in 1994 as the heirs to Bowie’s throne, Suede, though yet to achieve the same level of global sales, have, like Bowie, continued to evolve and reinvent themselves.

Personally, Suede have been a favorite band of mine going back to the’90s. I was part of the Boston punk and hardcore scene in my youth but as I aged, music entertainment for my social circle graduated from afternoons in basement venues to nightclubs. It wasn’t just about drinking beer in parks anymore; the soundtrack of our young adulthood became based around Brit-pop and electro dance music coming from Europe, with all the social chaos that came with it: girls, drugs, and nights that lasted for an entire weekend. Suede’s sound fit perfectly into that strange new landscape: glamorous, edgy, and defiant. They felt like the perfect bridge between the fading rock rebellion of my hardcore days and the emerging, more stylized, fashion-forward scene.

Originally, Suede blew up in the early ’90s with a sharp glam-rock style that set them apart. They quickly became icons of Brit-pop, churning out classic albums like their self-titled debut, Dog Man Star, and Coming Up that combined theatricality with real emotional grit. But by the early 2000s, the band hit a point of exhaustion and split, with members going their separate ways.

Then came the 2010 reunion. A reformation that could have been just a nostalgic cash grab like so many others. But Suede flipped the script. They weren’t interested in just playing old hits or living in the past. Instead, they used that fresh start to push their sound forward, releasing a string of albums that evolved and deepened their identity. Each record feels like an honest progression, not a retread.

Now, with their latest album Antidepressants, they’ve doubled down on that evolution, injecting a raw post-punk energy that might make it their best work yet. It’s loud, urgent, and speaks to where they are now: seasoned, restless, and still hungry to create something vital.

One brief exchange from the interview didn’t make it into the final article, but I’ve always liked it. Beyond the fact that it includes some genuinely excellent recommendations (I now fully endorse New Dad), it captures Brett and Mat speaking not of their Suede legacy, but as art enthusiasts. Still actively engaged with music, still curious, and still plugged in to what’s cool.

Creem Magazine: Mat, I’m going to put your quote to work here—the one you gave to the Guardian about loving lost artists and one-hit wonders. Do you have any deep cuts you want to recommend to the readers?

Mat Osman: I was just talking to someone about a record called The Bishonin by an artist called Momus. It’s genuinely unusual. It’s a short story about a man adopted by a sybaritic martial arts expert and turned into a super-spy. It’s not really like anything else you’ll ever hear. That’s a no-hit wonder, but it’s a record everyone should know.

Creem Magazine: Brett, same question. Any recommendations for music or art?

Brett Anderson: There’s a new band that I like called New Dad that made a great new record. They’re my favorite new thing that I really like. So, check them out.

Getting through the Summer lull by preparing for the future of LLM search and Boston sports

Here’s a post just to appease my personal guilt about not posting over such a long span of time. I usually write broadly about the topics I am working on professionally but recently, the rate of projects exacerbated by the rate of evolution in the ad industry related to AI trends in advertising.

The Evolution of Search Behavior: Understanding the shift from traditional search platforms and behaviors to the new LLM experiences.
Microsoft and Google are investing billions of dollars to advance these capabilities, accelerating the shift toward long-tail queries and multi-modal search (image, voice, and video). This means that semantic interpretation is the way that algorithms are able to serve ads in these conversational / iterative experiences and keywords are slowly fading as the primary targeting method.

Facilitating this interpretation is of paramount importance. Content is far more likely to appear in agentic and LLM experiences if the crawlers can easily read, interpret, and classify it. This means that, for content to appear in LLM results, most sites require extensive overhauls and unification of back-end, schema, and content structure.

Every major brand seems eager to appear in LLM results at a time when CFO’s are being exceptionally cautious with investment. Achieving this visibility requires coordinated content, engineering, and design expertise which all cost money. And so it goes…

On a more optimistic note: the New England Patriots were impressive in their first preseason game and the Red Sox might sneak into the playoffs. It’s a good excuse to dust off this playlist I made back in May for the Celtics playoffs. A nostalgic mix of songs I screamed along to as a teen at matinees in clubs like the Rat, Middle East, Axis, Avalon, TT the Bear’s, and Mama Kin plus some old standards and new hits. All centered around the city of Boston and featuring plenty of old and new friends. The title comes from a chant my friends and I had in the 90’s and the photo is of your humble narrator on stage with Murphy’s Law sometime around 7th grade.

Getting through the hype: Which search solutions will matter in 2025

Another wave of Google’s AI-driven search solutions but are they beneficial to advertisers or the the client reps who are incentivized to grow advertiser investments?

Google call out that they partner with advertisers to keep them present across four key behaviors: Scrolling, Searching, Shopping, and Streaming. They do so by utilizing YouTube and their core Google search property. This all makes sense so far.

But then things take a turn. Google shifts into an oddly defensive stance, repeatedly reaffirming the strength of its search property. They highlight their 2 billion daily users and insist—almost desperately—that Gen Z isn’t abandoning Google for alternatives like TikTok and Meta. They even call out TikTok and Meta by name, which is striking. In my 15+ years in this industry, I can’t recall Google ever acknowledging Microsoft Bing’s existence. This all feels very insecure to me. But I digress.

I find myself often frustrated by the tactics Google employ to manipulate users and clients alike into handing over their discretionary budgets. But I’m not here to kick them while they’re clearly on the defensive. My focus is on what comes next. Google’s2 Billion daily user statistic is striking: they are widely used and aren’t going away anytime soon.

The issue is that the products Google intend to roll out in 2025 don’t seem immediately impactful. The ne crop of betas are all part of the broader push for AI-driven solutions. As you may have guessed from my previous writing I’m a realist when it comes to “AI” and the proposed “solutions” it has spawned to date. AI and the solutions it has wrought have all been really cool but I have yet to see how it makes money.

Luckily for Google, they have a stellar record when it comes to the issue of monetization. They employ legions of the smartest minds on earth who are diligently working to figure out how to make a return on the billions they have invested in Gemini and other AI solutions. As they call out in their most recent presentation to my team: Google Search is the greatest platform for capturing intent ever made.

Visual Search via Google Lens
Google Lens is responsible for 20 Billion monthly searches of which 20% are related to purchases. Google are quick to note that this solution indexes most heavily with 18-24 year old users. I feel that this is Google’s most promising solution but it will take years before consumer behavior matches the potential.

Ads within AI Overviews
These ads aim to provide a more integrated and relevant advertising experience by integrating directly with the AI Search experience. This shift focuses on user intent and that the AI experience is inherently less navigational than traditional search. There is also a clear need for Google to condition users to transact through the AI experience or risk disruption to their core advertising revenue.

Discovery Occurs across Google and YouTube
Google and YouTube play a role in two out of three online purchase journeys, reinforcing their dominance in digital discovery. Fair enough.

Google’s latest AI-driven advertising solutions fall into three main categories: expanding campaign reach, simplifying platform operations, and enhancing ad relevance. But despite their promises, these updates seem to serve Google’s bottom line more than advertisers’.

  • Search Max is Google’s latest “AI-powered” black box solution, blending elements of Broad Match, PMAX, and DSA into its most opaque tactic yet. It’s so ambiguous that advertisers don’t even have control over the message their audience sees.
  • Search Bidding Exploration uses AI/ML to expand targeting and reach new users beyond the existing keyword query matches. However, this comes at the cost of lower ROAS in exchange for broader exposure.
  • Generated Display Assets and the Google Ads Conversational Experience utilize AI to assist with tasks such as campaign and asset creation, reducing manual effort but also limiting control.
  • Partnership ads are Google’s foray into product marketing in the influencer space on YouTube. While positioned as a way to align brands with creators, the details remain vague, and it’s unclear how much influence advertisers will actually have over placement and messaging.

None of these represent a clear opportunity of benefit for the advertiser. If anything, these reduce any remaining friction between advertiser budgets and Google’s earnings. Instead of clear opportunities, we’re left with increasingly opaque systems that favor Google’s growth over advertiser success.

Of course, I am interested in testing all of these solutions and will report back with my findings. After all, my job is finding out what works and what sucks. More to come…

Digging in the Dusty Crates of Vermont

My wife and I had a couple of child-free days in Vermont. Honestly, I have no idea how we ended up there alone in February – neither of us ski, snowboard, own cold-weather gear, or even like snow. We are not opposed to any of the things listed in the prior sentence, just indifferent. But I was quite happy to flail around in the February breeze in new environs. I like maple.

Our AirBnB in Burlington included a small Crosley record player and a limited number of LP’s stored on a wire rack beneath. I also saw that the kitchen had one of those big-ass Alexa assistants with a decent speaker for music. But the damn thing replied “creating you a station based on Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch on Apple Music” when I asked it to play Dorchester’s finest artist. The “apple music” addendum was a step too far for me. This, combined with the fact that it was a frosty 1°F, meant that I needed to stock up on LPs.1

Turn it Up Music and Movies in Brattleboro, VT – This wasn’t a planned stop but just happened to be across the street from where we pulled off of the expressway for coffee. I found it a bit pricey. I was turned off by the large bin of old Record Store Day releases still marked at full price. C-

Next Chapter Records in Putney, VT – Was closed but looked cool. Bummer.

Pure Pop Records in Burlington, VT – This was my first dedicated dig in Vermont and found lots of represses but a very wide selection of genres. Lots of CD’s and Cassettes as well. Plenty to dig through and a blast furnace for a heating system (by far the hottest place in Vermont in February). This is where I was going to buy the shit I wanted to listen to back at my room. With that singular purpose, I purchased the following albums:

The guy at Pure Pop also gave me his hardcore band’s demo (shout out to Outnumbered), which I haven’t listened to yet but I appreciate the gesture. He mentioned a show on February 21st with “the biggest band from Boston,” which I assumed was Haywire. Instagram has strengthened my hypothesis2.

Burlington Records in Burlington, VT – right around the corner from Pure Pop and boasts a solid selection of new and used vinyl but the differentiator is definitely the audio equipment for sale. They had various turntables for sale and a really cool set of Bose 901 Series V speakers, which looked to be about 15-20 years old. I blurted out that I will purchase these speakers during my next manic home audio upgrade.

  • Upsetters – Version Like Rain LP – This is essentially a compilation of three Lee Perry backing tracks with each version featuring different vocals / lyrics from various Jamaican artists. 16 tracks in total and featuring legends such as U-Roy, Junior Byles, Augustus Pablo, etc.
  • Sly and the Family Stone – Greatest Hits Sly’s been a mainstay in our house ever since I bought my wife this Sly hamper last month. When it arrived, I decided that I wanted to outfit the entire house in Sly hampers but tariffs on Chinese imports has hindered this plan3.

Speaking Volumes Record Store and Repair Shop in Burlington, VT – This was my favorite shop from this trip. Unfortunately, they were closed mid-week and we were only able to duck in quickly on our way out of town. I could have spent hours digging through the shirts, posters, magazines, memorabilia, and thousands of records. All genres. So much stock that it can feel a little jumbled / disorganized but it’s a true digger’s paradise and a great opportunity to stumble upon some hidden gems along the way.

Exile on Main Street – Barre, VT

Exile on Main Street in Barre, Vermont – Maybe the most fun shop of the trip and definitely the best prices of any store I visited over the previous few days. The Best of Muddy Waters LP I spied at Speaking Volumes was half the price here. They had a display in the front with some of the top new releases on Vinyl (Chappell Roan etc) which was incongruent with the rest of the stock in the store. This is a goldmine for any 1970’s rock fan: tons of Zeppelin, Sabbath, Dead, Kinks, NY Dolls, etc. The punk section had a few UK Subs albums that I took a long look at but the reggae selection was the coldest of any record shop I visited in Vermont4.

  • Ministry – Revenge promo 12″ EP – this era of the band has been popular in recent years which is cool. The music was great and our family friend Mark Pothier was keyboardist at this time.
  • Clapton, Beck, and Page – White Boy Blues. A compilation of their old Blues jams released on 2 LPs in 1984 (and in fantastic shape). It was the listing of Jeremy Spencer on side 4 that led me to pull the trigger on this purchase.

Other Notes:

  • The Antique Mall in Quechee, VT is insane and requires hours of time to rummage through the junk and tourist focused gifts. They have records there too but there are cooler things to check out.
  • Hen of the Wood in the Vermont Hotel was a great spot to unwind with a cocktail after a long drive.
  • The Wallflower Collective in Burlington, VT was playing jams on a Tuesday night. Swervedriver, Slowdive, The Verve all back-to-back. I am guessing the bartender wearing the Whirr shirt with the Nothing hand tattoo had some influence over the tunes. It made for a very comfortable evening.
  • Slowpoke Exchange in Barre, VT is a cool vintage shop owned by a really friendly couple. We got the lowdown on Barre’s downtrodden history as a granite town, the revitalization of the downtown area, and a couple of lunch recommendations. I also copped a Johnny Fucking Marr and 90’s Minnesota Timberwolves shirts which I couldn’t pass up. I couldn’t pull the trigger on the Kyrie Irving Celtics jersey5.
  • Woodstock, Vermont is beautiful. If I were to plan this trip again I would probably prefer to stay here instead of Burlington. Though I bet Burlington is a lot of fun in the warmer weather.
  • Cafe Hot in Burlington VT is the spot for breakfast and coffee.
  • Finally, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the Peach Habanero cider I had from Stowe Cider. Who would have thought that combination would of flavors would make a good cider? I loved it.

  1. None of this is true, I just wanted to spend some money and listen to tunes. ↩︎
  2. Hey, well done. But who cares? ↩︎
  3. Also, they don’t combine shipping costs for more than one item purchased at a time.
    ↩︎
  4. Burlington seemingly has a taste for dancehall. ↩︎
  5. Still too many feelings tied to that situation. ↩︎

Behind the Scenes: Stories from the Led Zeppelin Documentary

I saw the new Led Zeppelin doc, Becoming Led Zeppelin on Saturday at an IMAX theater and loved it. It was unseen footage of those early live performances that had me rapt. Their 1969 debut as The New Yardbirds is mesmerizing as they blaze through a face-melting rendition of “How Many More Times” to a room full of awestruck Danish teens. The call-and-response dynamic between Page and Plant that made early Zeppelin so powerful had never been put in front of my face so vividly. It was extremely impressive to witness.

While the documentary was excellent, it also stirred a lot of feelings and emotions within me related to my parents who told me so much about the band from their days of working at Swan Song and hanging out along the King’s Road. The affability of John Paul Jones who was so down to earth that my dad originally thought he was a member of Led Zeppelin’s Road Crew. Images of fat Peter Grant whom my mother so reviled as a boss that, upon learning of his death from a copy of the Boston Herald in the waiting room of my pediatrician in 1995, she looked down at the floor of Dr. Gaynor’s office and asked “Is it hot enough down there for you, Peter?”

However, It was seeing Led Zeppelin’s long time tour manager Richard Cole on screen that gave me the biggest jolt of emotion as he was my closest non-familial connection to the group. Cole was a longtime friend of my mother whom she first met when he was living across the street from her parent’s (my grandparents) in a flat with future Clash manager Bernie Rhodes in 1967 when my mum was still a teen.

Cole has shouldered much of the blame for Led Zeppelin’s antics considered problematic by today’s any standards. My wife and I had lunch with Mr. Cole every time we visited London as a married couple right up until he passed away in 2023. He was sweet, kind, thoughtful – mostly to my wife – but we got along very well. He sent us a Christmas card to our home in New York City every year. Richard Cole had a direct approach that I respected and admired.

I reflected on the conversation I had with Bob Spitz in 2019 as he was putting the final touches on his Led Zeppelin Biography. He asked me to put him in touch with Cole and, wanting to protect my friend, I refused. In hindsight, it’s not as if Spitz was going to harass Cole like a debt collector. It’s a conversation that may have allowed Mr. Cole an opportunity to push back against his portrayal in the book.

My wife is quick to point out that I did connect Richard Cole with my dear childhood friend John Policastro who wrote some great articles about him for Vice and Creem. He also wrote some nice things about my mum for an early blog post soon after Creem relaunched. Go read them and then check out Becoming Led Zeppelin in IMAX.

More to come.

New changes in the Google Auction formula will increase Paid Search costs

I received interesting news that Google will further penalize paid advertisers who provide poor landing page experiences via paid search.  While page quality score has always been a key factor in Ad Rank since the early days of Google Ads, this update introduces a stricter focus on quality.  However, this is a more stringent focus on quality that the industry expects to impact Paid Search CPC’s by more than 10% as us rolls out over the next month (in staggered, uneven fashion, of course). As a byproduct of this change, the Quality Score metric will apparently be sunset.

The reasons for this are clear. Google needs fresh content to power its generative search experience and maintain its dominance amid AI-driven shifts in search. This change will also boost revenue.

If your landing page isn’t designed for AI to interpret your advertised product or solution—lacking relevant images, use cases, and alignment with user intent—you’ll end up paying more per click.

What to do about this? Your next best dollar spent is on your site experience.  Much of this is tedious, time-consuming, but not costly. 

  • Further align the site experience with the intent of the user and the specific application of the products.
  • Create content that directly answers common user questions about products and services.
  • Optimize digital assets for ingestion into AI systems.\
  • Use schema markup to structure data effectively, ensuring content is optimized for multimodal search.
  • Adhere to SEO Best Practices to optimize site content for traditional and emerging search platforms.

The Future of Search Media as AI Continues to Shift the Landscape into 2025

Over the last 18 months, I have spent a considerable amount of time speaking to clients about AI and its transformative impact on search media and the broader digital advertising landscape. As the major players in the AI landscape race to monetize their models in various ways one consistent truth has emerged: AI is highly effective in advertising. Other monetization avenues will require more time, as both users and platforms adapt to evolving technologies and behaviors.

In 2024, every major digital publisher and platform made some form of entry into the AI arena. Below, I’ve outlined key observations on these entrants and shared insights into the trends we anticipate shaping 2025.

Zoom In: Search Generative AI

  • February 2024
  • March 2024
  • April 2024
  • June 2024
  • July 2024
  • September 2024
    • Amazon announces a new agent-based chatbot, “Amelia,” for sellers on its platform.
  • October 2024
    • OpenAI’s search engine (SearchGPT) goes live in ChatGPT, rolling out across paid users first.
  • November 2024
  • Next?
    • AI Ethical Guidelines: Google, Microsoft, and Apple have launched a joint initiative to establish ethical guidelines for generative AI in search, focusing on transparency, fairness, and user privacy. Progress has been gradual, as expected. However, Apple appear to be making incremental progress.
    • Monetization of Conversational AI via Ads: As stated previously, Digital Advertising is the key area that AI companies can point to as an example of AI adding value. Consequently, we are seeing a variety of new Ad placements in new locations on a across platforms and partners including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity, etc. This evolution is prompting advertisers to incorporate new ad formats, such as display and video, into strategies that leverage AI, further powering generative AI experiences.
    • These systems rely on proper classification of the assets to ensure they are properly classified by the system and seamlessly delivered to the end user. For advertisers, this requires investing time in implementing proper backend schema and optimizing digital assets for ingestion into AI systems by adhering to fundamental SEO principles.
    • Within the current agency structure, how do we define “ownership” of new tactics that merge search and display? This question involves balancing considerations such as the conversion journey (funnel stage), budget allocation (search vs. display), and KPI performance.
    • Multi-Surface Content in AI: Multimodal search is rapidly expanding, incorporating image, voice, and conversational inputs through tools like Google Lens and Circle to Search, Amazon Lex, and Microsoft’s Bot Framework. To stay competitive, it’s essential to create clear content that directly addresses common user questions about Dell products and services while structuring data effectively to support multimodal search. This includes adhering to SEO best practices to optimize site content for both traditional and emerging search platforms, optimizing product images for visual search, and leveraging semantic keyword mining through query reports to align with user intent across diverse search methods.
    • AI Agents and the Future of Digital Commerce: Recommendation systems and product finders, which represent early forms of AI-driven agents, are continuing to evolve. Key players in this space include Amazon’s Rufus, Microsoft’s PC Finder, and Google’s Dialogflow. While we haven’t implemented strategies specifically tailored to these agent-based tools, our existing content applications could support Dell’s integration into third-party agent systems. Moving forward, aligning products and solutions on the site with the specific needs of consumers will be critical. Additionally, exploring the potential of agentic search in combination with inventory management presents an opportunity to enhance both the user experience and operational efficiency.

AI Powered Search: Maintaining brand voice in an ever-evolving and increasingly competitive digital environment

AI and innovations have created seismic shifts in the information highway, and brands are seeing a tangible impact in traffic to site and subsequent content engagement.

Brands across agency portfolios are increasingly concerned about the amount of traffic they receive to the site from organic and paid search.  Unfortunately, this decrease in demand is a macro-level trend that has accelerated since the pandemic as technology and behavior has shifted. 

As the digital landscape evolves, so does the way people search for information online. In recent years, we’ve seen a clear shift in search behavior, driven by advances in AI, social media platforms like Tik-Tok and Instagram absorbing discovery behavior that historically took place on search engines, and an increasing focus on user intent to fuel search engine relevance.

Traditional search engines like Google are no longer the sole gateway to finding information. Instead, new tools and platforms are reshaping how users engage with content, presenting both challenges and opportunities for brands to connect with their audiences in more personalized and efficient ways.

The Evolution of Search Behavior

Search behavior has shifted dramatically in recent years, thanks to new AI technologies and evolving user habits. Search engines are increasingly becoming portals that display brand information and content but keep users off the brand’s domain. SERP features, like AI overviews and featured snippets, push results further down the page. This keeps users from visiting branded websites, leading to the rise of “zero-click searches.” In fact, by 2024, nearly 60% of Google searches end without a click — up significantly from just 25.6% of desktop searches in 2022.

Challenges to Google’s Dominance

While Google has long dominated search, its hold is starting to crack with the rise of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s. LLMs provide concise, personalized responses, eliminating the need for users to sift through multiple sources. This conversational and efficient approach appeals to users who want quick answers. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are also emerging as alternative search engines, especially for younger consumers, further challenging where users start their online journeys.

Generational differences play a role here. Gen Z is the most likely to explore alternative search methods, like voice and image search, with platforms like Snapchat gaining traction for image-based queries. Meanwhile, Gen X and Boomers prefer ecommerce sites like Amazon and Walmart, which present product photos, descriptions, and reviews all in one place.

On the flip side, Reddit’s visibility in Google’s organic search results skyrocketed in 2024, jumping from the 68th to the 5th highest-ranking domain in a year. A partnership between Reddit and Google has also helped train Google’s AI. Even though Reddit’s ad revenue has increased 41% YoY, it still accounts for less than 1% of total social network ad spend.

2024 – The Year of Search Generative AI

In 2024, everyone has entered the AI race:

  • February: Microsoft integrates OpenAI’s GPT-4 into Bing, enhancing search with conversational AI capabilities
  • March: Google starts testing AI Overviews from SGE in main Google search interface
  • April: Meta unveils its new search generative AI model, leveraging advancements in multimodal learning to improve search results for text, but also image and video content
  • June: Apple announces a new AI-powered search engine for its devices with a focus on privacy and personalization, designed to provide responses without storing personal data
  • June: Amazon updates Alexa’s search capabilities with a new generative AI model that improves voice search accuracy and contextual understanding, making it easier for users to find relevant information
  • July: DuckDuckGo releases a new generative AI feature aimed at enhancing search results while maintaining the company’s commitment to user privacy and data protection.

This race among the major players within the search domain has led to dramatic impacts to user experience that have outpaced the platforms in which they exist.  We expect to see major changes in regulation in the coming year as lawmakers work to establish ethical guidelines for the use of AI in search. However, it seems unlikely that oversight, transparency, or privacy needs will change course of the current user experience in traditional search platforms.

Comparing Traditional Search, LLMs, and Social Media

Traditional search engines like Google excel in providing access to vast databases of information and real-time updates, making them ideal for comprehensive research. However, LLMs stand out with their ability to generate context-aware, conversational responses, making them a preferred tool for users seeking more nuanced and creative information. Meanwhile, social media platforms offer short-form, visually engaging content driven by user-generated posts and trends, making them powerful in influencing purchasing decisions.

The way I break this down in terms of the purchase journey is as follows:

  • Social Media is where discovery of product, solution, or need occurs.
  • Traditional Search is how that intent is narrowed to a set of products or brands.
  • LLMs allow the user to select the solution that specifically meets their individual needs.

Strategic Focus on User Intent

In light of these shifts, focusing on user intent is crucial. The four types of user intent—informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional—provide a strategic foundation for adapting to changing behaviors.

  • Informational – Often question based and seeking information
    • Example: What is SEO?
  • Navigational – Often brand or product-based queries seeking the official website.
    • Example: Boston Celtics
  • Commercial – Frequently seeking comparison or review while conducting research
    • Example: Best airline to fly to Chile
  • Transactional – This user is ready to make a purchase
    • Example: I want to buy a Porsche

By aligning content and strategies with these intents, businesses can deliver more relevant, engaging, and effective search experiences.

Impact on SEO and Content Strategies

To stay competitive, brands must adapt to these evolving search behaviors. Key actions include:

  • Focusing on user intent: Tailoring content to address customer needs and using structured data to improve search visibility.
  • High-quality content: Creating informative, well-researched material that enhances the user journey.
  • Optimizing product feeds and using advanced technologies: Ensuring product information is accessible across platforms and exploring immersive features like augmented reality (AR).

Your content strategy must focus on delivering highly tailored, specific content that highlights the key strengths behind your brand. By customizing content to different customer segments you will ensure that messaging resonates with a broad but targeted audience.

Additionally, implementing a robust First Party Data (1PD) strategy will better fuel AI targeting and allow your message to resonate with the intended persona. 1PD further facilitates the alignment of automated tactics like bid automation and dynamic ad creative.

Finally, optimize user reach by enhancing customer engagement at every stage of their journey, from awareness to purchase. The focus on upper-funnel engagement will help build brand awareness and attract new audiences, all while maintaining a strong, cohesive brand presence across platforms.

By understanding the evolution of search behavior and prioritizing user intent, clients can better navigate the complexities of today’s digital landscape and optimize its strategies for the future.

Is AI a cloak to conceal the biggest cash grab in the history of advertising?

My answer: probably.

It’s clear that technology has value in advertising, and automation through AI/ML has allowed tactics to better target the best user base at the optimal moment in their customer journey, using factors like similar users, contextual signals, and KPIs. However, the inflationary impact of these solutions on advertiser costs is undeniable.

Early last year, Google rushed their AI solutions to market as the Cold War between Alphabet and Microsoft entered a new realm. These solutions included structural consolidation of campaigns and keywords, Broad Match, and PMAX.

It seems like the aggregation of data (consolidating keywords and ad groups) to fuel machine learning has its detractors, and people are going back to single keyword ad groups. Broad Match, depending on whom you speak to, is good but certainly not great. It expands scope but increases CPCs. PMAX and DemandGen seem to be universally disliked in our industry.

All of these tactics are inflationary and have raised the cost floor for advertisers.

The issue with these assertions is that they are extremely difficult to prove with metrics. Broad Match attracts diverse queries, making it difficult to compare against other match types. PMAX placements make it impossible to get a clean comparison against the traditional text and shopping campaigns it has replaced.

But this is just my perspective, and I’m curious about what others think.

From Manual Labor to Management: The Evolution of My Leadership Style

By valuing myself and my experiences, I am producing the best work of my career and working better within the organization. I always knew the importance of motivating my team and positively reinforcing behavior, but now, I do it with a genuine sense of care and appreciation.

If you replayed my life a hundred times, most outcomes would likely see me in a career involving manual labor or, worse, crime. I grew up in a lower middle-class community nestled within diverse area of Massachusetts. People were mobile and opportunity was visible but, within my adolescent peer set, most people my age aspired to be a gangster and were most often destined for life in a union job or in the service industry at best. My path through school was anything but straightforward; I flunked out of various state schools and had to supplement credits from community colleges. Before I was legally old enough to drink, I started working in construction under a flooring contractor to supplement my income after my parents made it clear they would no longer financially support my collegiate career.

In construction, I learned a trade that would provide me a fallback if school didn’t provide a clear path to a stable income. More importantly, I absorbed a work ethic that shaped who I am today and realized that I didn’t want to perform manual labor for the rest of my life.

I have applied this work ethic to school, the gym, my professional life, parenting, and, well, handling conflicts with others. It’s been difficult to argue with the results. It worked damn well.

A underage me with my friend Brian during the George W Bush administration. Pretty sure that this bar is now condos.

When I entered the world of advertising, I found myself surrounded by colleagues who seemed to be of a different socioeconomic background from mine with credentials from top schools. I was a former bouncer. Whether true or not, I couldn’t help but feel as though my rough edges were obvious and causing me to be looked down upon. I felt somewhat inadequate and very much like an imposter in a realm where I did not belong. My aggressive work ethic quickly became fueled by a burning “fuck you” attitude.

This paranoia of anger and inadequacy drove me. “I’ll show them,” I thought. In my estimation, they thought they were better than me, but my rigor, drive, and intensity pushed me to prove them wrong. Success brought feelings of validation, though it was a slow process.

As a leader now, I want the people under me to feel like they belong. The steps to accomplish this are simple: acknowledge their efforts, recognize their hard work, and be vulnerable. As my approach has evolved to become less aggressive, I realize that my work quality has remained high, even as my demeanor has softened. My current output comes from love and contentment rather than spite, unlocking a new element that has added texture to my leadership style: professional affection.

I now realize that, regardless of our backgrounds or experiences, we all share the same goals and frustrations common in this industry. Biases and first impressions are human nature but largely unimportant, so I prefer to let my work and results speak for me. By lowering my granite facade and allowing myself to be more vulnerable, I have become more relatable to my team and coworkers. The old adage that people do business with those they like holds true in management as well: people will work hard for those they want to see succeed. Being humble and candid has added depth to my character and allowed others to embrace me professionally.

Leadership isn’t just about driving results through sheer force. It’s about fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and motivated. By embracing my journey and the lessons learned along the way, I’ve become a more effective and compassionate leader.

Motivation is critical to success, but it will only carry you so far. I used to roll my eyes when people talked about needing to love what you do, but I’ve recently come to see the importance of that. More important than any of this is loving yourself and recognizing the value of your work and the role you play within your organization.

Loving what you do fuels passion and persistence, but self-love and self-worth are the foundations of true success. When you see the value in your work and understand your importance within the organization, you unlock a deeper level of engagement and satisfaction. This not only enhances your performance but also positively impacts those around you.

By embracing self-love and recognizing your contributions, you set an example for your team. They see the importance of valuing themselves and their work, creating a positive and motivated environment. When everyone understands their worth, it fosters a culture of mutual respect and collective success.