Notes on Paid Media

The end of set and forget: a weekly supervision routine for automated campaigns

The idea that an automated campaign can be set up and forgotten does not survive the first six months. Platforms change rules, markets change prices and…

Weak conversion data, confident AI: the garbage-in problem that trains the algorithm

Algorithms treat conversion data as truth. If tracking counts twice, measures forms that were only opened or mixes low-quality enquiries with sales, the AI…

Language models writing ads: a four-step review system

Writing ads with language models saves time but multiplies the volume of copy to review. Without a review system you get exaggerated promises, invented…

Dynamic ad personalisation: how far to go without feeling intrusive

Showing each person the version of the ad that interests them most is the promise of dynamic personalisation. The limit lies in perception: when the…

Predicted customer value for bidding: what an SME can do with little data

Bidding on the value a customer is expected to generate over time changes how much you can pay to acquire them. An SME does not need a sophisticated model…

Learning phases in 2026: why small tweaks cost more than they look

After each significant change, automated campaigns enter a phase in which the algorithm readjusts what it knows. Small, frequent tweaks keep the account in…

When AI optimises the wrong thing: six typical failures of automated campaigns

AI optimises what it is asked to optimise, not what was meant. Six failures keep recurring in automated campaigns: a poorly defined objective, wrong…

Scripts, rules and in-house automation: what is still worth building beside platform AI

With platform AI handling bids and combinations, there is room left for in-house automation: alerts, checks, reports and safety rules. Simple scripts and…

AI-generated reports: how to use automatic summaries without losing critical thinking

Automatic performance summaries save hours but can hide what matters most: context, causes and whatever does not show up in the data. Used as a starting…

Simplified account structure: fewer campaigns, more signal, and how to migrate without losing history

Many accounts accumulate dozens of small campaigns, each with little data. Platforms work better with fewer structures and more signal. Simplifying the…