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Welcome back, Digital Darlings!
If you thought this week would be slow after the Valentine’s sugar crash, SNL 50, and President’s day - think again. From Q4 earnings, privacy plot twists, and some shiny new attribution tools - there’s been more drama than Lively vs Baldoni. Shall we?
Amazon Ads: From Cart to Cash Cow
Amazon’s ad biz is officially that overachiever, pulling in a jaw-dropping $56.2 billion in 2024 - up 18% YoY - and eyeing a $69 billion run rate for 2025. From dominating search ads to flexing on streaming with Thursday Night Football and Red One’s 50M views, Amazon’s proving it can play the whole funnel, from brand awareness to checkout. For marketers, the message is loud and clear: if you’re not allocating more ad dollars to Amazon’s ecosystem (especially its growing streaming inventory), you’re missing out on serious reach and conversions. The platform’s getting better at upper-funnel plays, but let’s be real—those bottom-funnel sales still hit the sweetest spot.
Walmart’s Ad Biz Is Booming - Even If Shoppers Are Pinching Pennies
Walmart’s not letting Amazon have all the ad-fueled fun. While Amazon flexes its $56B ad muscles, Walmart just slid into the chat with a $4.4B ad business that grew a juicy 27% YoY. Sure, that’s pocket change next to Amazon’s $69B run rate, but Walmart’s playing a different game - blending in-store, ecommerce, and ads into one mega-retail experience. Plus, their Vizio acquisition? Total power move to bring CTV into the fold and give advertisers more screens to play on. For marketers, it’s clear: retail media isn’t just Amazon’s playground anymore. If Walmart wasn’t on your ad spend radar, it’s officially time to make some room to test - because those 4K TVs are about to start serving ads and conversions.
Google RSAs Just Got a Makeover - Because Who Doesn’t Love Options?
Google’s giving Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) a glow-up, expanding AI’s ability to rewrite headlines, descriptions, and even swapping out Sitelinks with high performing RSAs to boost engagement and performance. Think of it like Google playing matchmaker for your ad copy - pairing the hottest headlines with the most clickable sitelinks, even repurposing unused assets to get them into the spotlight. It’ll even ghost some descriptions if they’re killing the vibe (savage, but effective). For marketers, this means better performance with less manual tinkering. So go ahead - let Google’s AI do the heavy lifting while you take the credit for the higher CTRs.
Circle, Tap, Search: Google’s Visual Search Hits iPhone
Google’s turning iPhones into search wizards with its new “Circle to Search” feature - letting users highlight, tap, or draw on anything they see and instantly get search results without switching tabs. From circling that perfect pair of shoes in a TikTok to tapping on a mystery landmark in a travel vlog, users can now jump straight from content to commerce. For marketers, this is a major shift - visual search is officially going mainstream on iOS, and it’s time to rethink how your products show up. Optimize your images, sharpen your metadata, and get ready to meet consumers right at their moment of inspiration - because when discovery becomes this easy, impulse buying just got a serious upgrade.
Google’s Fingerprinting Flip-Flop: A Privacy Nightmare or Marketer’s Dream?
Google just hit “undo” on its 2019 ban and is now letting advertisers use fingerprinting to track users across devices - no cookies, no consent pop-ups, just pure, cross-device data. For marketers, it’s like being handed the Holy Grail of tracking: IP addresses, device specs, screen resolutions, you name it. Attribution? Easier. Personalization? Sharper. But here’s the catch - this move has regulators (especially in the EU) fuming, calling it “irresponsible” and waving the privacy red flags high. So while the data nerds are celebrating, brands better tread carefully. Because nothing kills a campaign buzz faster than a privacy lawsuit…
LinkedIn’s New Attribution Tools Are Here to Make You Look Like a Marketing Genius
LinkedIn just dropped two shiny new toys for B2B marketers - the Conversions API (CAPI) and the Revenue Attribution Report (RAR) - aka, the tools that’ll finally help you prove to your boss that those LinkedIn ads are actually working. CAPI lets you feed LinkedIn all your juicy first-party data (online, offline, even that lead you closed over coffee) for sharper conversion tracking, while RAR connects your CRM to campaigns, showing exactly which efforts are bringing in the big bucks - up to 365 days later. It’s like LinkedIn read our minds: “You want credit for that deal from six months ago? Done.” Marketers, get ready to flex those ROI muscles - LinkedIn just made attribution way less of a guessing game.
And just like that, another week of marketing chaos wrapped with a shiny ROI bow. Go forth, optimize, and maybe even take a break (lol, as if). See you next week for more ad-world gossip and strategy gold!
You know you love me,
