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Hey.
The shift in AI marketing is escalating. Google’s Merchant Center is rolling out new features, Thread Ads is becoming available globally, and OpenAI is starting to test ads in ChatGPT’s free and Go tiers.
Yeah, AIM is always on target.
⚡ Priority Actions
🔥🔥🔥 Act Immediately
Update Merchant Center for Conversational Commerce
Google announced new data attributes optimized for AI Mode, Gemini, and Business Agent discovery. Standard feeds won't surface in conversational searches; new attributes go beyond keywords to include product FAQs, compatible accessories, and substitutes. Review new Merchant Center attribute requirements and plan feed enrichment.
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🔥🔥 Act This Week
Activate Threads Ads Before Global Rollout Completes
Meta announced that Threads ads will roll out to all 400M+ users worldwide starting next week, with a gradual expansion over the coming months. First-mover advantage on a platform growing 30M+ users per quarter; Advantage+ integration means easy cross-posting from existing Meta campaigns. Enable Threads placement in Meta Ads Manager via Advantage+ or manual campaigns. Supported formats: image, video, 4:5 aspect ratio, and carousels.
🔥 Track Closely
OpenAI Testing Ads in ChatGPT for Free and Go Tiers
OpenAI announced ads coming to ChatGPT's free tier and new $8/month Go tier "in the coming weeks", 800M+ weekly users, contextual ad placement at the bottom of responses. First major AI assistant to monetize via ads; could become a significant new advertising channel. Ads won't influence responses (per OpenAI), clearly labeled, and conversation data is not sold. Monitor rollout for early advertiser access; Plus/Pro/Business/Enterprise remain ad-free. Assess if conversational AI ads fit your strategy.
📊 This Week’s Winner
Shutterfly Achieves 380% ROAS Lift with AI Search Algorithm for CTV Ads
What they did: Shutterfly partnered with Rain the Growth Agency, EDO, and Chalice AI to test a custom AI algorithm that uses search engagement data (not traditional ID-based targeting) to find untapped customer pools for their holiday CTV campaign. The AI analyzed search behavior to identify geographic markets where category interest was high, but Shutterfly brand awareness was low, then dynamically optimized ad spend across premium streaming platforms (Hulu, Peacock, Roku, Paramount, Samsung) in real-time.
The numbers:
ROAS improvement: 380% lift over 3 months ($0.31 → $1.49).
Customer acquisition cost: Dropped 76% ($243.26 → $57.31).
Conversion rate: 19% vs. 8-15% for traditional retargeting.
Outperformed: DSP lookalikes, keyword targeting, ACR-based targeting, and custom audience providers.
Timeline: 3-month holiday campaign (October-December).
How to copy it:
Audit your targeting approach: Identify if you're trapped in expensive bidding wars for over-targeted audiences (retargeting, lookalikes). Consider search-based intent signals as an alternative data source.
Test AI-powered geographic optimization: Use platforms like Chalice AI or similar CTV optimization tools to dynamically reallocate spend to undervalued markets with category interest.
Measure new customer metrics specifically: Track new customer ROAS and cost per new customer separately from overall campaign metrics to isolate incremental value.
Time to implement: 4-6 weeks for campaign setup and algorithm integration.
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🎯 Rapid-Fire Intel
EMERGING PATTERN: Google is bifurcating its AI strategy: Gemini app stays ad-free (utility-focused), while AI Overviews and AI Mode get aggressively monetized. Expect "Direct Offers" and Business Agents to scale throughout 2026; prepare your Merchant Center feeds now.
PLATFORM UPDATE: Meta's Partnership Ads Hub now surfaces organic UGC and creator content that mentions your brand, with AI-powered performance predictions. Early tests show 19% lower CPAs and 13% higher CTRs compared to traditional ads.
WORTH WATCHING: Viant's new "Outcomes" product runs ad campaigns with zero day-to-day human management. You define the business goal (sales, ROAS, acquisition), and the AI Lattice Brain handles campaign setup, optimization, bid pricing, and creative rotation, all while maintaining full transparency into where ads run. Unlike Google's Performance Max or Meta's Advantage+, Outcomes works across the open internet with full visibility into placements.
That's your brief. If you find it useful, please share it with someone you'd like to save. Remember, it isn't polite if you don’t save people you care about.
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