Andrew Kauffman | Andrew Kauffman

Your Budget Cap Was the Real Bid Strategy: Google’s Aug 17 Change for Ecommerce

Your budget cap did the work: bars beating a dashed target ceiling, ending Aug 17

That budget-capped Shopping campaign beating its ROAS target? The cap was doing the work — and Google’s August 17 bidding change hands that headroom to the algorithm. The ecommerce playbook.

One Profile, Three Front Doors: The GBP Playbook for Home-Service Contractors

For home-service contractors, your Google Business Profile now feeds the map pack, your Local Services Ads, and AI answers at once. Neglect it and you lose all three. Here’s the playbook.

The New Google Business Profile Playbook for AI Local Search

Google turned your Business Profile from a static listing into a live engagement surface — and its signals now feed AI answers like Ask Maps. Here’s the dynamic GBP playbook.

AI Overviews Now Answer Most Local Searches — Here’s How to Get Cited

Ranked on the map, invisible in the answer — AI Overviews and local search

AI Overviews appear on 68% of local searches vs. 39% for the map pack. Ranking is no longer the game — getting cited is. Here’s how to rebuild for the shift before the window closes.

Is Your Target ROAS Actually Profitable? A 4-Step Health Check

Your target is a business number, not a dial — ROAS and CPA health check

Target CPA and ROAS don’t find profit — they optimize toward the number you give them. Here’s the 4-step health check to make sure that number is grounded in your margins, not habit.

CPC Inflation Starts Before the Auction — So Stop Fixing It There

CPC inflation starts before the auction — rising cost-per-click in paid search

Rising cost-per-click isn’t a bidding problem — it’s a brand, reach, and conversion problem decided before the auction runs. Here’s where the real cost levers live, and why the auction is the last place to look.

Google’s PMax Reporting Change: That Impression Spike Isn’t a Win

That spike is not growth, it is a wider reporting lens — Google Ads Performance Max product reporting

As of June 15, Performance Max product reports pull data from all networks — not just Search and Shopping. Expect a one-time metrics jump that looks like growth but isn’t. Here’s how to handle it before your clients ask.

Google’s Smart Bidding Update: Your Target CPA Is About to Become a Contract

Target CPA becoming a contract — Google Ads Smart Bidding update

Google’s August 17 Smart Bidding change will pull budget-limited tCPA and tROAS campaigns toward the targets you set — not the performance you’ve enjoyed. Here’s what to fix before the deadline, and why the backlash is only half right.

What Does a Fractional Marketing Partner Actually Do?

Banner with a dark dotted background, an orange 'FRACTIONAL MARKETING' badge, and the large white headline: 'Not a Vendor. Not a Hire. A Partner.' with overlapping orange and yellow rings on the right.

Not a consultant, not an agency, not a full-time hire. Where fractional fits, what it costs, and how to know if you’re ready for one.

Author: Andrew Kauffman