In-House PPC vs Agency: What’s Best for Brands? Why This Decision Matters for Marketing Leaders In 2015, the average click-through rate (CTR) for Google search ads sat at a modest 1.35%. Fast forward to today, and that number has jumped to 6.66% across Google and Microsoft Ads—a nearly 5x increase in engagement. This rapid growth reflects not only increased advertiser sophistication but also rising stakes for brands: better ads mean more clicks, but also more

https://youtu.be/efAzYtUd0Aw Meta’s AI ad automation Meta is pushing hard into ad automation, with the company announcing it aims to fully automate ad creation using AI by next year. The goal is to remove creative bottlenecks and let algorithms tailor ads across formats and placements at scale. For marketers, this signals a coming shift where real-time creative testing and AI-guided personalization will no longer be optional—they’ll be fundamental to performance. Emotional Impact Driving Sales Ads that

Colling Media Marketing Minute: Amazon & The New York Times, Instagram’s Photo Format, and Bluesky Amazon’s Deal with The New York Times Amazon just inked a deal to license content from the New York Times for its AI platforms. As major tech companies compete for trusted content to train large language models, Amazon is signaling that quality journalism will be core to its AI strategy. For marketers, this underscores the growing importance of brand-safe, premium

Colling Media Marketing Minute: Brand Memory, Pinterest Competitor, & Amazon 1.5 Seconds is Enough for Brand Memory A new study unveiled research proving that just 1.5 seconds of active attention can build brand memory and drive outcomes, as long as brand assets are distinctive and integrated effectively. The report warns that brands could waste up to 66% of every $1 spent when branding is weak. For marketers juggling budgets and attention spans, this redefines what

TikTok enhances ad suite TikTok is sharpening its competitive edge with new additions to its Pulse suite, introducing Pulse Core and Pulse Premiere to give brands better contextual alignment with top content. The platform is also pushing deeper into Small Business Month with new SMB-focused initiatives and Creator Chat Room tests. For marketers, the moves suggest TikTok is doubling down on performance-driven advertising and scalable tools that appeal across industries — especially in e-commerce and