Author: Ryuzaki

Performance Max (PMax) campaigns have become the cornerstone of AI-driven advertising.  Both Google and Microsoft offer advertisers a way to consolidate creative assets, audience signals, and automation into a single campaign type. (Disclosure: I work as Microsoft’s product liaison.) While the concept is similar across platforms, the execution and feature sets differ significantly. This article aims to provide an objective comparison of Google PMax and Microsoft PMax as of late 2025.  We’ll explore what’s universally true, what’s unique to each platform, and strategic considerations for advertisers looking to maximize performance. What’s universally true about PMax Despite platform differences, several foundational…

In recent years, the open web has felt like the Wild West. Creators have seen their work scraped, processed, and fed into large language models – mostly without their consent. It became a data free-for-all, with almost no way for site owners to opt out or protect their work.There have been efforts, like llms.txt initiative from Jeremy Howard. Like robots.txt, which lets site owners allow or block site crawlers, llms.txt offers rules that do the same for AI companies’ crawling bots. But there’s no clear evidence that AI companies follow llms.txt or honor its rules. Plus, Google explicitly said it doesn’t…

Embracing Intimacy and Romance After 60: A Celebration of Connection As individuals reach their 60s and beyond, it’s easy to fall into the notion that romance and intimacy fade away with age. However, a growing number of vibrant singles and couples are proving that love can bloom at any stage of life. Whether you are embarking on a new chapter as a single person or nurturing a long-standing relationship, there are endless opportunities for connection, intimacy, and joy. Redefining Attraction One of the most remarkable aspects of aging is the evolution of self-awareness and confidence. Both men and women in…

Rediscovering Intimacy: A Celebration of Love and Connection After 60 As we enter our sixties and beyond, many of us may find ourselves questioning the nature of intimacy, love, and romance in this new chapter of our lives. Contrary to outdated perceptions, sex and connection hold remarkable significance at this stage. In fact, there has never been a better time to embrace the joy of intimacy and explore the depth of our relationships. The Beauty of Aging Together Growing older with a partner can be a profound journey filled with shared memories, laughter, and even vulnerability. The lessons learned throughout…

On episode 331 of PPC Live The Podcast, I speak to Dale Olorenshaw, Head of Paid Media and Search at StrategiQ, who shares a painful but valuable experience involving a high-budget test campaign and a critical oversight. The costly PPC mistake The story centers on a test campaign with a £15,000 budget. Despite strong clicks and engagement, the campaign delivered almost no conversions. After a month, the client emailed to point out that traffic had been sent to the wrong landing page. The dedicated test page they built had never been used. What went wrong internally The error happened for…

More users are now spotting Google Ads embedded directly in Google’s AI Mode results, a sign that Google’s months-long test is quietly accelerating. What we’re seeing. Google confirmed ad testing in AI Mode on desktop back in May, but sightings have jumped of late: Greg Sterling shared a screenshot of an HVAC repair query and said this was the first AI Mode ad he saw in the wild. Brodie Clark replicated the behavior soon after, noting “the time has come” as he shared multiple screenshots of ads inside generated answers. Why we care. Ads showing up inside AI Mode mark…

One of the most energetic conversations around AI has been what I’ll call “AI hype meets AI reality.” Tools such as Semush One and its Enterprise AIO tool came onto the market and offered something we could not live without: The data on what was happening inside LLMs. How many citations were we capturing? How many mentions were our brands gobbling up?  This data became, and still is, an incredible novelty. But with the data came questions like “What’s the ROI here?” and “How do I interpret this data and integrate it into my team’s actual marketing strategy?”  It’s clear…

Headlines predicting another “AI winter” are beginning to emerge, and the numbers back the skepticism. MIT reports that while 80% of organizations have piloted GenAI and 40% report deployment, only 5% have reached scale, with seven of nine sectors showing no structural change. McKinsey finds the same disconnect: 36% of executives report no revenue impact, only 19% say revenues have grown more than 5%, and 87% admit growth is still years away. Adoption is everywhere, but impact is almost nowhere. But those headlines and numbers miss what’s happening inside enterprises right now. SEO leaders are being tapped to guide GEO—generative…

Microsoft is alerting users that the Microsoft Advertising mobile app will be shut down in January 2026, ending mobile-based campaign management for advertisers. Why we care. Advertisers who rely on the mobile app for quick monitoring or urgent adjustments will need to shift workflows to the Microsoft Advertising web interface, the only remaining place to manage campaigns after the app is removed. What’s changing: The mobile app will be retired entirely in January 2026, users will lose access to campaign management through the app, and Microsoft is directing advertisers to the web UI, which supports the full feature set. No…

In June, Fractl and Search Engine Land surveyed 2,000 consumers and uncovered a startling statistic: 82% find AI-powered search more helpful than traditional search.  While the SEO industry panicked, thought leaders and snakeoil salesmen took to LinkedIn to lay claim to this new frontier of AI-driven brand visibility: “It’s called GEO!”  “No, it’s AEO!” “Oh, we use AISO! Wait, I meant LLMO now!”  …Or, maybe, it’s just effective SEO?  Industry banter aside, we’ve entered a world where old-school search and AI-driven discovery coexist – and the terminology isn’t trivial.  It’s the roadmap for how brands show up across fast-growing search…