Facebook is updating its definition of cost per click (CPC) to exclude clicks such as likes, shares, and comments, and only count link clicks—those that drive users to websites, apps, or video views on other sites. This change, effective from July 8 in the API and rolling out to Ads Manager and Power Editor in weeks, aims to better align metrics with advertiser goals, potentially increase CPC but improve return on ad spend for those bidding on link clicks. Advertisers can still bid for engagement clicks separately.
The update affects reporting metrics like CPC and CTR, which may increase or decrease respectively. Facebook advises API users to adopt the new definition by October 7, while interface buyers need no immediate action.
TikTok is offering new advertisers up to $6,000 in ad credits through a tiered spend incentive ($100/$500/$1500) that includes 1-to-1 expert support at the top tier. However, eligibility is restricted to new SMB self-serve accounts, and credits expire. Alongside the offer, TikTok has rolled out several ad tech innovations—Symphony AI creative suite, Streaming Ads, Agentic Hub, Market Scope, and new MMM data—that provide actionable opportunities for testing and scaling performance. Ad ops teams should review eligibility criteria carefully and consider leveraging these tools to maximize ROI during the promotional window.
TikTok for Business is rapidly expanding its ad tech stack with AI-powered creative tools, new ad formats, and enhanced measurement. Key updates include the Symphony creative suite with Dreamina Seedance 2.5, the Agentic Hub for AI-managed campaigns, Streaming Ads for subscription growth, and GMV Max for TikTok Shop ROI. New analytics via Market Scope and the Attribution Portfolio promise deeper audience insights and full-funnel measurement. Salesforce CRM integration streamlines lead transfer. A limited-time offer provides up to $1500 in ad credits for new advertisers, incentivizing adoption of these advanced solutions.
The open internet presents unique challenges for performance advertising: fragmented identity, closed first-price auctions, and non-stationary supply. Moloco's CARA compound architecture tackles this with six integrated technical domains—Campaign Automation, Supply, Ad Recommendations, Bidding, Creative, and Signals—running on a unified ML infrastructure. Key insights for ad ops: the system continuously learns from every interaction, uses knowledge distillation to serve real-time predictions under 10ms latency, and validates improvements through rigorous live experiments. In 2025, 65 validated model updates reduced CPA by 17% and improved ROAS by 27%. The key takeaway: compound AI architectures that connect prediction, bidding, creative, and data can unlock measurable performance gains beyond walled gardens.
Cross-channel marketing analytics isn't about putting Meta, Google, and TikTok numbers side by side—they often double-count the same customer journey. Fragmented identity is the real culprit; without a first-party Customer User ID, attribution measures platform credit, not customer value. The article explains that deduplicating conversions across mobile, web, and CTV can lift attributed revenue by 30–60% and improve ROAS by 20%. It walks through attribution models, warns against platform-native analytics, and advises using an independent MMP for true cross-channel measurement. Ad ops takeaway: fix identity resolution first, because AI-driven optimization and budget allocation depend on trustworthy, deduplicated data.
CTV has become performance-ready for app marketers. Recent acquisitions (Fox/Roku, Walmart/Vibe) signal a shift to self-serve, measurable channels. Marketers can reuse existing UA creative instead of producing TV ads. QR codes drive direct response, but halo effects often matter more. Start with small, additive test budgets and measure assists/incrementality to understand true impact. CTV offers a way to find incremental users and diversify beyond paid social.
A leading eCommerce loyalty platform integrated AppsFlyer's deep linking and audience segmentation with Braze's engagement platform to unify personalization, measurement, and lifecycle orchestration. This solved fragmented data and manual campaign production, driving a 66% faster time to first purchase, 500% uplift in push revenue, and 50–80% revenue lifts in email/content cards. The key insight for ad ops: accurate deep linking and behavioral data are foundational—when they work as one system, personalization scales and ROI improves.
Incrementality testing complements attribution by quantifying the causal impact of marketing spend. For ad ops decision-makers, key insights: match the metric to the business decision—installs for acquisition, revenue for ROAS. Interpret results by checking incremental effect, statistical significance, and organic cannibalization. Use these to guide budget: increase spend when incrementality is significant and exceeds targets; maintain when stable; reduce or reallocate when lift is low or cannibalization occurs. Never mix metrics from different test types.
Mobile engagement during the football tournament was fragmented, not continuous, with spikes lasting ~3 minutes around goals and pauses. Purchases peaked at halftime, not during play. Emotional stakes drove higher engagement than audience size—the third-place match outperformed the final (+21.7% vs +6.3% lift). Local factors (regulation, payment infrastructure, routines) caused market-specific behaviors. The customer journey continues post-match, requiring measurement beyond live events. Ad ops should align campaigns with attention patterns, optimize for local nuances, and track the full funnel.
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