Building an AI agent for ad management: The hard part isn’t the AI
Confident mistakes, noisy alerts, and conversion lag reveal what it takes to build an AI agent you can trust with paid media.
Topic: Data quality
Google Analytics adds campaign diagnostics for missing aggregate identifiers
The new Google Analytics alert helps marketers identify missing URL parameters that can reduce campaign attribution accuracy.
Bad data used to mean bad reports, now it means poor ad delivery
Your conversion data doesn't just power reporting. It shapes who Google targets, how much it bids, and where your budget goes.
Google Analytics adds source grouping and hostname filtering
Google Analytics is introducing cleaner source attribution and new filtering controls, for easier cross-channel performance analysis
How to eliminate the skepticism tax in marketing data
Branded search can overstate marketing impact, revealing larger issues with attribution, AI outputs, and data confidence.
Google Analytics introduces Task Assistant
GA’s new Task Assistant helps advertisers quickly improve setup and data quality with guided, actionable recommendations.
AI is working. Your data is what’s broken.
Everyone is rushing to apply AI, but foundational identity gaps, fraud and bad inputs are only being amplified, not solved, by models.
The first-party data illusion
Marketers focus on first-party data promised control. But ownership didn’t solve identity accuracy, activity visibility or customer truth.
The Data Doppelgänger problem
AI agents, shared signals and fragmented identities are distorting marketing intelligence. Most brands do not know who is really acting.
How SEO leaders can explain agentic AI to ecommerce executives
Agentic AI is entering executive conversations. Here's how to explain what's changing, what isn't, and how ecommerce brands should respond.
In Google Ads automation, everything is a signal in 2026
Automation performance depends on signal quality. Learn how Google Ads prioritizes signals, how pollution starts, and how to correct drift.
Spam traffic in GA4: How to detect, filter & prevent it
Learn how to identify, filter, and prevent spam traffic in GA4. Fix corrupted analytics, protect data quality, and make better SEO and marketing decisions.
New Google Ads diagnostics tool for cart data tracking is here
Google's new tool flags mismatched or incomplete cart data that could distort sales reporting and weaken campaign optimization.
Google Ads launches diagnostics tool for cart data conversions
Google's new tool flags issues in product-level conversion tracking so advertisers can fix errors before they impact performance.
PPC tracking: How to eliminate duplicate conversions
Inflated ROAS? Misleading CPA? The culprit could be duplicate conversions. Here's how to detect and prevent them.
Google Analytics 4 fixes data gaps, now flags issues early
Google Analytics is rolling out enhanced data completeness, Updated data presentation, and proactive issue detection.
Google Analytics adds percentages in reports, issue notifications
Google Analytics' is enhancing data transparency by adding percentage values to reports and introducing alerts for tracking issues.
Is bad customer data sabotaging your marketing efforts?
Tired of dirty data? Discover the power of data standards.
Accurate tracking data: The key to optimal ad performance
Optimize your ad campaigns by addressing data inaccuracies. Leverage conversion APIs for more accurate tracking and better performance.
The path to personalization: A roadmap for marketers
There's a clear connection between personalization and revenue. Where is your organization on the journey to delivering personalized experiences to its customers?
Did Google really lose search market share to Microsoft Bing in April?
Google lost search market share in the U.S., North America, globally and more regions. Meanwhile, Bing and Yahoo grew. Is the data accurate?
How to set up feed rules in Google Merchant Center and ensure quality product data
Here's how to optimize your product data and enhance your product listings at no cost with feed rules in Google Merchant Center.
3 new Google Analytics 4 updates
Google announced the new updates today in their Analytics Help center.
Excel pivot table best practices for search marketers
Learn how to use Excel pivot tables to QA bulk sheets, plus some tips and shortcuts to enhance your pivot table skills.
You still don’t have marketing security?
How fighting bots and fake users became the modern marketer's top priority.
4 ways to upgrade your content syndication strategy
Content syndication in today’s new era of B2B precision demand marketing
Foursquare becomes first company to receive MRC location-data accreditation
New certification will soon become a must-have third party approval.
How to choose a location data provider
More than 20 questions to ask location-intelligence companies.
Survey: Consumers Blame Brands For Bad Location Data
Today at SMX West local data and marketing platform provider Placeable released findings from two related surveys it recently conducted online. The company polled consumers (n=1,000 US adults) and marketers (n=228) to gather data on local search attitudes and behaviors. Marketers were asked to discuss their behavior when they acted as consumers. Overall the marketers (as […]
Google Stepping Up Merchant Feed Enforcement
Got some slop in your Google product feed? Now’s the time to revisit all those pesky identifiers and tidy things up. Google is upping its enforcement of product feeds in Google Merchant Center again. Google began this process last year by disapproving products without unique product identifiers such as GTIN (which also must be conform […]
Yelp: We’re Second Only To Google In Local Data Quality
Yelp has long maintained that the company has one of the best (if not the best) local data sets out there. There are third parties that have come up with findings that don’t agree with that claim. Recently, Yelp decided to take matters into its own hands and benchmark itself and the quality of its local […]
Google Trounces Other Local Search Providers In UK — Study
Google has the most complete and accurate local search database in the UK, according to data and analytics firm Implied Intelligence. Previously we’ve published comparable US reports by the company: Yellow Pages Sites Beat Google In Local Data Accuracy Test Bing Ties Yellow Pages Sites For Most Accurate Local Data In these earlier US tests, […]
Despite New Rules, Google Product Search Merchants Not Providing Accurate Tax & Shipping Costs
Shoppers using Google Product Search are sometimes being misled by incorrect tax and shipping information in search results. And that’s despite Google’s recent crackdown on merchants who either omit tax and shipping details, or list false/incorrect data in their product feeds. Back on March 14th, Google announced new rules for Product Search merchants. Among those […]
Can You Trust Google’s New Site Performance Reports? Google Says, Maybe Not.
Over at the Search Engine Roundtable I reported that Google said they will be adding a “trustworthy” indicator to the new site performance report in Google Webmaster Tools. The reason behind adding this is because of the complaints and questions coming in from webmasters on the accuracy of such reports. As I explained, a Google […]
Is It Time To Send Google Maps Back To The Drawing Board?
Google Maps and its Local Business Center continue to be the ugly warts on Google’s otherwise smooth surface. But rather than the long-running problems with mapspam and hijacked listings, the latest sore spot appears to be an internal problem with Google’s apparently unsophisticated (or perhaps over-complicated?) database systems. Mike Blumenthal points out today that Google […]
Localeze Introduces Local “Confidence Score” Reflecting Data Accuracy
Local search data and content provider Localeze has introduced what it’s calling the “Localeze Confidence Score.” The confidence score is the company’s statement to third party search engines and local directory partners about the accuracy of its local data and business records. The company is associating a confidence score with each of the millions of […]
Top Causes Of Errors In Online Mapping Systems
Two years ago, my brother was getting married, and he had asked me to help design his invitations and the maps showing how to get from the church to the restaurant where we were holding the rehearsal dinner. I used to be a professional cartographer, so making a map was not a problem, particularly since […]
Local Data: Not Sexy Just Critical
A few weeks ago Steven Aldrich, a VP of strategy for small business software (and now marketing) company Intuit, delivered a speech in which he presented an amazing statistic. According to Aldrich, roughly 6 million businesses are started annually in the U.S. but another approximately 5.6 million go under. Think about it. From the point […]
Need A Medical Center Phone Number? Local Search Might Give The Wrong Number
Mike Blumenthal has a detailed look at some of the inaccuracies Google Maps and other local search engines have when it comes to phone listings of medical centers. He writes: “The medical center phone data is in critical condition and in need of intensive care.”
Google Maps Adds “Report Incorrect Data” Link
Mike Blumenthal reports that Google has added an easier way to report inaccurate data found within Google Maps. For any unverified business listing, Google will show a link that reads “report incorrect data” that takes you to a page to easily notify Google of the problem. For example, currently this business listing shows the link, […]