https://ahmeego.com/videos/ https://ahmeego.com/videos/hero-conf-2026-the-session-block-worth-flying-in-for/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AhAoutnzJsU/maxresdefault.jpg Hero Conf 2026 — The Session Block Worth Flying In For John makes the case for flying to San Diego on September 15 for the Track 2 paid-media efficiency session block at Hero Conf 2026, starting from a live account where dozens of zero-conversion search terms should already be negatives. He walks through the three parts of the block — Track 2, a live tool build, and his own session — explains why the order matters, and lists what to ask your team the Monday after. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/AhAoutnzJsU 368 2026-10-10T10:00:17-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/miniagent-i-trained-an-advertising-ai-for-0-13/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KCtRsLx_Yd8/maxresdefault.jpg MiniAgent — I Trained an Advertising AI for $0.13 John explains MiniAgent, a small advertising AI trained from zero on one GPU in about two hours for 13 cents, as an alternative to pasting search terms into a large general-purpose chatbot. Using a live account's zero-conversion search terms as the example, he walks through training the model, wiring it to MCP servers so it can work with real Google Ads objects, and keeping the whole stack open source, then shows where Buddy fits. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KCtRsLx_Yd8 424 2026-10-06T10:00:25-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/real-google-ads-account-teardown-week-of-oct-5/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/F7xB3immAdA/maxresdefault.jpg Real Google Ads Account Teardown — Week of Oct 5 A weekly teardown of one anonymized live Google Ads account, comparing the week of September 28 – October 4, 2026 with the week before. John follows a fixed four-step order — read pacing, find what moved, explain why, name the fix — and shows how a better account-level CPA can hide a campaign that raised spend without converting. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/F7xB3immAdA 476 2026-10-06T10:00:08-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/buddy-on-strategy-explained-in-8-minutes/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TvJwzIyBj5U/maxresdefault.jpg Buddy on Strategy Explained in 8 Minutes Buddy on strategy: decide which metric defines success before touching bids, because cheaper clicks only scale the leak when an account is still buying zero-conversion queries. John walks through three steps — one question before any bid change, separating budget pressure from rank pressure, and a 30-60-90 day plan — using a live account as the example. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TvJwzIyBj5U 389 2026-10-05T10:00:10-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/javascript-and-google-apps-script-for-marketers/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/y8IdS5DWNuM/maxresdefault.jpg JavaScript and Google Apps Script for Marketers John shows how marketers can use JavaScript and Google Apps Script to automate repetitive Google Ads work from a spreadsheet. He covers four production scripts — mining search terms into negative candidates, a CPA email digest, budget pacing flags, and RSA headline drafts — and the pattern they share: a custom menu, a time-based trigger, and one AI call from Sheets. He also points to the executions log and timezone settings as the places scripts quietly fail. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/y8IdS5DWNuM 336 2026-09-22T09:22:56-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/buddy-on-gemini-cli-and-claude-code/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9kTeCvXRzQI/maxresdefault.jpg Buddy on Gemini CLI and Claude Code Buddy is now listed on both the Gemini CLI and Claude Code marketplaces, which John says makes it the only Google Ads plugin on both. He walks through installing the agent, opening it in both terminals, loading its 77 skills, asking a live account for zero-conversion search terms, and shipping the resulting negatives as a weekly habit. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9kTeCvXRzQI 435 2026-09-22T09:22:53-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/claude-for-marketing-teams-agents-and-mcp/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8aCMC37wRnU/maxresdefault.jpg Claude for Marketing Teams — Agents and MCP How marketing teams can put Claude-powered agents on live Google Ads accounts safely. John explains why Claude powers Buddy, what MCP is in one sentence, and the guardrails that matter — above all confirm-before-mutate, where the agent proposes changes such as a batch of negative keywords and nothing is written until a buyer approves it. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/8aCMC37wRnU 502 2026-09-12T10:00:10-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-build-a-website-from-a-chatgpt-wireframe/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mTb6cUi_d2o/maxresdefault.jpg How To Build a Website From a ChatGPT Wireframe John walks through the four-step path he uses to turn a ChatGPT wireframe into a live website before spending more on search traffic: prompt the wireframe, lock the mockup, build, and go live. He explains why build order matters more than bid order when the landing page can't yet hold a lead, using the Williams & Co / Summit mockup path and the Good Life Insurance Group build as examples. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/mTb6cUi_d2o 412 2026-09-11T10:00:07-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-use-cursor-with-grok-for-beginners/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NhP8aAEjScQ/maxresdefault.jpg How To Use Cursor With Grok For Beginners A beginner's walkthrough of making ad stills with Grok inside Cursor, the image setup John uses. The steps: open Cursor in the workspace that already holds your account notes, pick Grok, brief a 16:9 still that names only the words that will appear, and export a PNG at native resolution instead of taking a screenshot. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/NhP8aAEjScQ 400 2026-09-10T10:00:02-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-use-cursor-with-claude-for-beginners/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xCemRGGoMoI/maxresdefault.jpg How To Use Cursor With Claude For Beginners John shows beginners how Buddy itself was built in Cursor with Claude, and why treating the pair like a chat window and pasting snippets by hand is slow. The four moves, in order: switch to Agent mode, add a .cursorrules file, run a browser audit that checks the numbers in the real UI, and ship. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xCemRGGoMoI 327 2026-09-09T10:00:08-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/real-google-ads-account-teardown-week-of-sep-7/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bq3qBKFPOUs/maxresdefault.jpg Real Google Ads Account Teardown — Week of Sep 7 A weekly teardown of one anonymized live Google Ads account for August 31 – September 6, 2026 versus the prior week, when spend fell 54% while conversions stayed flat at one. John uses the four-step order — read pacing, find what moved, explain why, name the fix — to show why a lower CPA on flat volume isn't real efficiency. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/bq3qBKFPOUs 428 2026-09-08T10:00:07-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/paid-media-automation-system/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ybLymXNY8nc/maxresdefault.jpg Paid Media Automation System John lays out a paid media automation system as four stages that hand work forward in a fixed order: query mining, budget pacing, labels, and an AI layer. Each stage maps to a Buddy sub-agent, and he explains why clean, labeled account data has to come before any AI-driven bid or copy changes. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ybLymXNY8nc 401 2026-09-06T10:00:09-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/building-your-first-ai-agent/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XLkXnYvchd8/maxresdefault.jpg Building Your First AI Agent A plain-English look at the architecture behind googleadsagent.ai and how to build a first AI advertising agent. John explains the difference between an agent and a script, then walks through the steps: start from a script, name the actions, confirm before mutating anything, connect live reads, dry-run on wasted spend, and run a daily review loop. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/XLkXnYvchd8 396 2026-09-05T10:00:13-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-foundations-your-first-ai-marketing-stack/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4Zw4Qj-bpSo/maxresdefault.jpg AI Foundations — Your First AI Marketing Stack John sets up a minimal first AI marketing stack with three pieces: an API key, one controlled API call, and a search terms CSV exported from a real account. The first job he gives it is reading the search query report the same way every time and flagging zero-conversion terms that should become negatives. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4Zw4Qj-bpSo 388 2026-09-04T10:00:26-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-use-buddy-for-beginners/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JZFkTalOkI4/maxresdefault.jpg How To Use Buddy For Beginners A beginner's guide to Buddy, the AI advertising agent that now runs on iOS and Android. Using the example of writing three search headlines for a Phoenix garage door company, John shows the habit: install the app, ask in plain English, read the reasoning behind each answer before anything ships, and save the thread. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/JZFkTalOkI4 380 2026-09-03T10:00:30-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/real-google-ads-account-teardown-week-of-aug-31/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FEKGdvOnqQ8/maxresdefault.jpg Real Google Ads Account Teardown — Week of Aug 31 A weekly teardown of one anonymized live account for August 24–30, 2026 versus the week before, when spend rose 35% while conversions fell from two to one. Broken down by campaign, the budget drifted toward campaigns with zero conversions, and John walks the four-step order: pacing, what moved, why, and the fix. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/FEKGdvOnqQ8 396 2026-08-31T10:00:08-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-max-for-search-a-practitioners-first-take/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UdqYdqw-x_Y/maxresdefault.jpg AI Max for Search — A Practitioner's First Take John's first take on AI Max for Search, which couples Smart Bidding, responsive search ads and smart URLs into one loop. He covers what it unites, when to use it, and what to watch once it's on — especially weekly search term reviews, negatives and brand protection, since a blended CPA can hide junk queries. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/UdqYdqw-x_Y 446 2026-08-30T10:00:31-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/campaign-types-decoded-for-beginners/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tTfiet74FvQ/maxresdefault.jpg Campaign Types Decoded (for beginners) A beginner-friendly decision framework for choosing Google Ads campaign types, drawn from roughly $350 million in spend. Search is for intent people have already typed, Performance Max for product or offer feeds, and Demand Gen for upper-funnel reach — and John explains why mixing those goals in one campaign burns budget. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tTfiet74FvQ 361 2026-08-29T10:00:15-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-i-launched-my-first-chatgpt-ads-campaign/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uSFV3i5R4zY/maxresdefault.jpg How I Launched My First ChatGPT Ads Campaign John walks through launching his first ChatGPT Ads campaign in OpenAI's Ads Manager beta. The steps: get into Ads Manager, build a Reach campaign, create two ad groups so the results stay readable, and wire Google Tag Manager for measurement before reading the first live results. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uSFV3i5R4zY 353 2026-08-25T10:00:04-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/real-google-ads-account-teardown-week-of-aug-24/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/i4Xel76A_wg/maxresdefault.jpg Real Google Ads Account Teardown — Week of Aug 24 A weekly teardown of one anonymized live account for August 17–23, 2026 versus the week before: spend rose 11% while conversions fell from five to two. Split by campaign, two campaigns took most of the budget with nothing back, and John uses the four-step order to trace the cause to spend shifting into non-converting search demand. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/i4Xel76A_wg 495 2026-08-24T10:00:23-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/5-open-source-google-ads-ai-tools-i-just-shipped/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OmUCVJ8GtIY/maxresdefault.jpg 5 Open-Source Google Ads AI Tools I Just Shipped John introduces the open-source Google Ads AI tools he shipped — an MCP server, a Gemini extension and Claude skills — which expose 29 tools an agent can call. He explains the safety model, where every write defaults to a dry run and changes apply only after you confirm, and walks through setting the pieces up in order. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/OmUCVJ8GtIY 453 2026-08-22T10:00:33-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/connect-ga4-to-ai-for-automated-insights/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dH8zKM5lVys/maxresdefault.jpg Connect GA4 to AI for Automated Insights How to connect GA4 to an AI agent so it surfaces anomalies instead of you hunting through CSVs. John walks through connecting GA4 to Buddy, pulling anomalies, asking Buddy why they happened, and fixing a missing Google Ads conversion tag first — because without it ROAS is a guess and Smart Bidding optimizes toward the wrong signal. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/dH8zKM5lVys 356 2026-08-21T10:00:38-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/smart-bidding-what-google-wont-tell-you/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C70VCZ-4nAs/maxresdefault.jpg Smart Bidding — What Google Won't Tell You John explains a setup Google won't flag for you: campaigns on Maximize Clicks paired with a CPA goal, two instructions that work against each other. His three steps: check that each campaign has enough conversion volume (around 30 in 30 days), move off Maximize Clicks, and give the new strategy two weeks without touching bids, budgets or audiences. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/C70VCZ-4nAs 316 2026-08-18T10:00:21-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/chatgpt-for-ppc-marketers-what-actually-works/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OYtYy6bBNYg/maxresdefault.jpg ChatGPT for PPC Marketers — What Actually Works What actually works when PPC marketers use ChatGPT: write RSA copy from cost-weighted n-grams mined from your own search terms rather than asking for fresher 'vibe' headlines. John explains why to reject benchmarks the model invents, prompt it with your own numbers only, and keep bid decisions with a human, then sets out a weekly loop. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/OYtYy6bBNYg 418 2026-08-17T16:20:44-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/google-ads-scripts-automate-without-engineers/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/J8K1mcDSvEQ/maxresdefault.jpg Google Ads Scripts — Automate Without Engineers John shows how to set up a Google Ads script that watches the account overnight and emails you about a spend anomaly before the client spots it in their bank app. No engineers needed: open Tools → Bulk actions → Scripts, paste the detector, set a daily trigger, and read the alert email. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/J8K1mcDSvEQ 186 2026-08-17T14:39:56-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/prompt-engineering-for-paid-media-for-beginners/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aNgxdMSB5Bo/maxresdefault.jpg Prompt Engineering for Paid Media (for beginners) A 90-second beginner's method for AI ad copy that isn't generic: paste search terms that already converted, ask for 15 RSA headlines of 30 characters or less grouped by theme, pin the brand headline (for a plumber, 'Same-Day Plumbing Repair') in position one, and let benefit headlines rotate in position two. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/aNgxdMSB5Bo 98 2026-08-17T14:39:39-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/buddy-goes-mobile-your-ads-agent-in-your-pocket/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Vv0h8Y5PhRI/maxresdefault.jpg Buddy Goes Mobile — Your Ads Agent in Your Pocket Buddy, the AI advertising agent, is now on iOS and Android, so you can catch wasted spend from your phone instead of waiting until you're back at a desk. John walks through the order that matters — install, connect the account, ask in plain English, then open the wasted spend card — and makes the case for a daily check. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Vv0h8Y5PhRI 244 2026-08-17T08:42:54-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-audit-google-ads-with-buddy-for-beginners/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZSSjcwmDjeM/maxresdefault.jpg How To Audit Google Ads With Buddy (for beginners) A quick beginner's audit with Buddy: open it on the web or iPhone, connect the live account, ask for the 250-point audit in plain English, and read the score before touching a bid. In this example the account scored 86/100 with three criticals — the first a Maximize Clicks campaign carrying a $45 CPA goal that should move to Target CPA — followed by adding negatives. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZSSjcwmDjeM 106 2026-08-16T17:34:25-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-isnt-helping-how-your-media-is-managed/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AfPT5NCho_A/maxresdefault.jpg AI isn't Helping How Your Media is Managed John joins the AI Ads and Beyond podcast to talk about the PPC skills gap and how AI is changing the job. He rates the state of PPC skills at about a two out of ten, argues newer specialists aren't getting enough coaching on the strategy behind what they build, and says AI is exposing the gap rather than causing it — too much work happens inside the ad platforms while the business, the competition and what happens before and after the click get ignored. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/AfPT5NCho_A 1850 2026-05-11T12:46:08-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-audit-your-own-google-ads-account-in-5-minutes-using-a-free/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GXK1HkwTskw/maxresdefault.jpg How to audit your own Google Ads account in 5 minutes using a free Google tool A 45-second clip on auditing your own Google Ads account in about five minutes using a free Google tool. The written walkthrough is in the companion Substack post linked from the YouTube description. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/GXK1HkwTskw 45 2026-03-31T15:14:01-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/two-things-i-just-shipped-for-google-ads-ai-with-googles-gemini/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BB5f0g4yYgk/maxresdefault.jpg Two Things I Just Shipped for Google Ads + AI With Googles Gemini John walks through two things he shipped for Google Ads and AI with Google's Gemini, pitched as an 'anti-black-box' choice: an MCP server or an agent extension you can use to build your strategy or manage your ads. The companion Substack post linked from the YouTube description has the details. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/BB5f0g4yYgk 587 2026-03-06T12:37:47-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/i-open-sourced-my-google-ads-ai-agent-28-api-actions-6-sub-agents/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-zc5m55xEkA/maxresdefault.jpg I open-sourced my Google Ads AI agent — 28 API actions, 6 sub-agents, full read/write access. Free. John announces he open-sourced his Google Ads AI agent for free: 28 API actions, six sub-agents and full read/write access to an account. Per the description, it's built to deploy on agent platforms that support Claude models and custom actions, such as OpenAI Custom GPTs and Agents. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/-zc5m55xEkA 174 2026-02-09T22:04:38-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/buddy-ai-assistant/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ggaFR-t2ooE/maxresdefault.jpg Buddy AI Assistant John demos Buddy AI running in the browser. Framing himself as an agency owner, he asks it to audit the last 60 days of an account — performance, where to improve, what to do now and even typos: the what, the why and the so-what. Then he has Buddy act on the findings, adding negative keywords and building ads while he watches. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ggaFR-t2ooE 283 2026-02-03T23:26:38-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/chatgpt-and-advertising-all-we-know-is-forever-changing/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ukO08SAnYKg/maxresdefault.jpg ChatGPT & Advertising All We Know Is Forever Changing. A short take on ChatGPT and advertising, framed as 'Industry changing update — or is it?' The full written version is in the companion Substack post linked from the YouTube description. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ukO08SAnYKg 170 2026-01-27T16:56:52-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/prompting-to-prompt-why-ai-isnt-about-perfection/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BM23E1UsB2Q/maxresdefault.jpg Prompting to Prompt: Why AI Isn’t About Perfection An unscripted take on working with AI tools like ChatGPT: forget the perfect prompt and the typos and start messy — 'prompting to prompt.' Per the description, John covers why your first prompt doesn't need to be perfect, how to reset a chat that gets stuck, using AI as a coach rather than just a task-doer, and why breaks matter. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/BM23E1UsB2Q 291 2025-09-27T07:23:22-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/the-dark-side-of-ai-overload-in-campaign-management/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lk8_mqiIqd4/maxresdefault.jpg The dark side of AI overload in campaign management Prompted by a Wil Reynolds post on context collapse, John looks at the downside of wiring ever more AI agents, MCPs, connectors and automations into paid media: the more you connect, the further the agent drifts from giving you what you need. He argues specialized expertise still matters, comparing it to how a banker's certifications don't make them good at opening a checking account. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/lk8_mqiIqd4 245 2025-08-16T17:03:44-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-playbook-for-ppc/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hRufXljKF_8/maxresdefault.jpg AI Playbook for PPC John reflects on two Instagram reels — including a mortgage broker who shared his 2025 business plan openly — and what they say about how marketers use AI tools like Cursor and ChatGPT. His point: there's no magic. Prepare the tools with real context and guardrails, coach people on how to use them, and don't expect to get it right the first time. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hRufXljKF_8 367 2025-08-15T12:43:57-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/text-json-code-the-evolution-of-ai-prompting/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QWla5EetM1I/maxresdefault.jpg TEXT → JSON → CODE: The Evolution of AI Prompting John compares three ways to prompt an AI video model for the same starship-interior scene: a plain text paragraph, structured JSON, and code. He shows how the output changes at each stage and argues that structured, reproducible prompts beat one-off text when you need consistent results; he also uses Claude for coding and QA along the way. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/QWla5EetM1I 228 2025-07-30T16:24:53-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/navigating-the-shift-from-seo-to-llms-strategies-for-modern-marketers/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EyL2V1VShMQ/maxresdefault.jpg Navigating the Shift from SEO to LLMs Strategies for Modern Marketers John works through, live with an AI assistant, how ranking in LLMs differs from ranking in Google and Bing. The key point: LLMs summarize rather than index, so content has to be written for comprehension and recall — clear, trustworthy and semantically rich — and show up across sources like Reddit, white papers, product reviews and your own site. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/EyL2V1VShMQ 566 2025-07-14T17:01:52-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/prompting-isnt-commanding-how-to-think-with-ai-not-just-use-it/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Fk38FUjTxaQ/maxresdefault.jpg Prompting Isn’t Commanding: How to Think With AI, Not Just Use It John's approach to prompting ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or Gemini: give the model upfront context about the situation rather than telling it the outcome you want, so it can look at the problem in ways you might miss. He then checks its analysis against his own to make sure the numbers line up. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Fk38FUjTxaQ 273 2025-07-13T16:58:15-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/performance-max-exposed-wasted-spend-hidden-data/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YtNq398LXH0/maxresdefault.jpg Performance Max Exposed: Wasted Spend, Hidden Data John breaks down the most common complaints about Performance Max: branded searches soaking up the conversions, not knowing where ads serve, and not having the data to make a smart decision. He covers how to deal with brand cannibalization and suggests geo holdout tests, such as excluding a ZIP code for three to four weeks to measure the loss. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/YtNq398LXH0 251 2025-07-09T19:30:54-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-is-changing-search-forever-and-you-missed-it/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j-SJJX2jnyg/maxresdefault.jpg AI Is Changing Search Forever (And You Missed It) Filmed with his dog Benson, John argues that search isn't just Google anymore: validation and credibility across social platforms increasingly shape how people find information. He asks whether your presence lives only on LinkedIn and encourages posting the same content publicly on Instagram, Meta and TikTok to build real engagement. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/j-SJJX2jnyg 252 2025-07-06T18:52:43-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/unlocking-metas-advanced-analytics-for-better-ad-attribution/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Up-yzcSqCZg/maxresdefault.jpg Unlocking Meta's Advanced Analytics for Better Ad Attribution John explains why he considers Meta the most transparent ad platform for attribution. Using Meta's Advanced Analytics with custom events built for 20 products, he could see 39 transactions by campaign within an hour, including the product purchased and the origin URL; he also covers conversion lift and holdout studies. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Up-yzcSqCZg 279 2025-06-24T16:32:44-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/broad-match-2025-7-data-signals-that-make-or-break-smart-bidding/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FTRLz4NTRf4/maxresdefault.jpg Broad Match 2025: 7 data signals that make (or break) Smart Bidding John's take on broad match and Smart Bidding: the old rules are gone, and broad match only works when the account's data is healthy. The seven signals he and his team settled on include query-intent history, first-party audiences, offline or value-based conversion imports, landing page relevance, real-time context, seasonality adjustments and feed health — and without roughly 30 to 50 conversions in 30 days, AI bidding probably won't work for you. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/FTRLz4NTRf4 242 2025-06-02T15:42:29-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-max-for-search-first-look/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g6kYt2Uu0v8/maxresdefault.jpg AI Max for Search — First Look John's first look at Google's AI Max for Search, which bundles keyword-free reach, auto-built assets and URL selection from your website behind one click. He takes Google's claim of up to 27% more conversions without more spend with some skepticism and walks through how the feature works. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/g6kYt2Uu0v8 227 2025-06-01T22:36:46-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/live-search-engine-inside-google-sheets-gpt-4o-serpapi-cloud-run-full/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oW3jklKRTEQ/maxresdefault.jpg Live Search Engine INSIDE Google Sheets GPT-4o + SerpAPI + Cloud Run (Full Build & Lessons) A full live build, about 2 hours 38 minutes, of a search engine that runs inside Google Sheets, using Apps Script, a FastAPI backend with the OpenAI Agents SDK, GPT-4o, SerpAPI and Google Cloud Run. John covers the architecture, the Docker and Cloud Run deploy, debugging Cloud Run logs live, the first live query test and lessons learned; the code is on GitHub. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/oW3jklKRTEQ 9506 2025-04-22T22:57:39-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/transform-google-sheets-into-a-devops-powerhouse-in-10-minutes-no/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7RrOLuGOCIM/maxresdefault.jpg Transform Google Sheets into a DevOps Powerhouse in 10 Minutes (No Servers, No IDE!) A full live session turning Google Sheets into a lightweight DevOps console: one Apps Script sends the command, a Python Cloud Function does the heavy lifting, and a Bash script deploys the function and pushes the repo. John covers building a portable Python ZIP, emailing artifacts with a Gmail app password, and creating and pushing to GitHub via the API, all serverless and from the browser. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/7RrOLuGOCIM 3618 2025-04-21T23:58:45-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/turning-a-google-sheet-into-a-pocketgpt-our-15minute-build-3hour/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wf_RIna2CiE/maxresdefault.jpg Turning a Google Sheet into a Pocket‐GPT: Our 15‐Minute Build, 3‐Hour Debug, and 1‐Click Win John builds a 'chat box' inside Google Sheets that works without a ChatGPT account: drop your own API key in, type a prompt, press Run and get a GPT-4o reply. He walks through the short Apps Script behind it, the hiccup (Google blocks network calls from selection triggers), and the fix — a Sheets drawing assigned to the script as a one-click button. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/wf_RIna2CiE 3545 2025-04-18T13:33:53-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/navigating-the-paid-search-landscape-a-reflection-on-marketing/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/t_m2ltLMG_0/maxresdefault.jpg Navigating the Paid Search Landscape — A reflection on marketing, empathy & expertise A long-form Paid Search Playground episode on what John has seen in 15 years of paid search: instant solutions and overpriced tools that don't solve anything, and why strategy, empathy and real expertise matter more than speed. He covers aligning work to business objectives, spotting 'experts' who can't explain cost per lead or ROAS, building your own tools instead of overpaying, and checking what you're actually getting from an agency contract. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/t_m2ltLMG_0 2983 2025-04-17T21:01:10-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/audience-segments-chatgpt-thinks-human/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2f4i2vD8v0U/maxresdefault.jpg Audience Segments: ChatGPT Thinks Human A 24-second tip: use ChatGPT to define audience segments as real people rather than data points. Ask it what a first-time buyer would worry about or how a busy mom would respond to an offer, then build Facebook audiences and messages around the answers. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2f4i2vD8v0U 24 2025-04-16T04:45:00-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/chatgpt-as-your-daily-assistant/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qwZpVQULVR8/maxresdefault.jpg ChatGPT as Your Daily Assistant A 24-second tip on using ChatGPT as a daily ad assistant — headlines before your morning coffee, budget summaries in plain English, new campaign descriptions. It won't replace your strategy, but it removes friction from day-to-day management. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/qwZpVQULVR8 24 2025-04-13T22:39:45-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/alpha-beta-campaigns-still-relevant-in-2025/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kOMk1jyUSks/maxresdefault.jpg Alpha-Beta Campaigns: Still Relevant in 2025? Are alpha-beta campaign structures still relevant with Smart Bidding and machine learning? John's answer: alpha campaigns for proven top keywords and beta campaigns for exploration still work, but only when used with clear goals and blended with automation. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/kOMk1jyUSks 53 2025-04-03T06:15:06-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/segmenting-campaigns-by-device-smart-move-or-waste-of-time/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xl0ajHEmFyU/maxresdefault.jpg Segmenting Campaigns by Device: Smart Move or Waste of Time? Should you segment Google Ads campaigns by device? Mobile, desktop and tablet users behave differently, and segmenting lets you tailor bids, creative and budgets to each — but it adds management work. It's essential when device behavior or performance clearly differs, and unnecessary when it doesn't. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xl0ajHEmFyU 64 2025-04-02T00:00:46-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/broad-match-effective-tool-or-budget-drain/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZuwIoMRcSZM/maxresdefault.jpg Broad Match: Effective Tool or Budget Drain? Broad match expands reach and surfaces queries your other keywords can't, but without strategy it drains budget on irrelevant clicks. The fix is negative keywords as your filter, clear goals, careful tracking, and steering Google's automation rather than trusting it blindly. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZuwIoMRcSZM 58 2025-03-31T05:45:04-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/brand-keywords-include-or-exclude/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZoN5Jx0xrxM/maxresdefault.jpg Brand Keywords: Include or Exclude? Should brand keywords be included or excluded? Bidding on brand protects your search results from competitors, controls messaging and often converts cheaply; excluding them can free budget for new audiences and generic terms. John lays out when each choice makes sense. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZoN5Jx0xrxM 95 2025-03-31T03:45:04-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/skags-single-keyword-ad-groups-smart-or-overkill/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3Or3LdfD9EI/maxresdefault.jpg SKAGs (Single Keyword Ad Groups): Smart or Overkill? Single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) give tight ad-to-query relevance, stronger click-through rates and quality scores, and clear performance data — at the cost of many more ad groups to manage. Worth it when you need exact targeting and incremental gains; broader grouping is better with limited resources. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3Or3LdfD9EI 55 2025-03-31T00:00:06-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/automating-campaigns-embrace-ai-and-let-go-of-i-wish/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HuVMf5Jbx_A/maxresdefault.jpg Automating Campaigns: Embrace AI & Let Go of "I Wish" A Paid Search Playground episode that starts from a LinkedIn post — 'I wish I had thought of that' about a GPT agent — and makes the case for building with AI instead of wishing. John explains what a GPT agent is, talks through innovation and automation in campaign building and the differences between manual and automated bidding, and encourages marketers to test new approaches like Performance Max. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HuVMf5Jbx_A 1793 2025-03-30T17:37:51-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/maximizing-clicks-traffic-tool-or-trap/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HrHjARbuHaE/maxresdefault.jpg Maximizing Clicks: Traffic Tool or Trap? When is Maximize Clicks a viable bid strategy? John explains it suits visibility goals — brand awareness, new launches, testing new messaging, or gathering data when conversion history is thin — as long as you watch audience targeting, traffic quality tracking and budget. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HrHjARbuHaE 98 2025-03-30T05:30:19-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/target-roas-vs-target-cpa-pick-your-profitability-path/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/a3CsgBQJGaM/maxresdefault.jpg Target ROAS vs. Target CPA: Pick Your Profitability Path Target ROAS or Target CPA for e-commerce? Target ROAS fits mature campaigns focused on revenue and profitability with consistent conversion volume and predictable order values; Target CPA fits customer acquisition, volume and new product launches. John lists the data each one needs to work. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/a3CsgBQJGaM 114 2025-03-29T04:45:01-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/performance-max-vs-traditional-campaigns-choose-your-path/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g4d9wISKgnY/maxresdefault.jpg Performance Max VS Traditional Campaigns: Choose Your Path Performance Max versus traditional campaigns isn't about which is better; it's about strategy. PMax automates across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail and Discover and suits scaling with strong conversion tracking and history, while separate traditional campaigns give precision and transparency. John lists what you need before using PMax. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/g4d9wISKgnY 142 2025-03-29T04:00:51-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/manual-vs-smart-bidding-choose-your-digital-destiny/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/F4h7JYGBG8s/maxresdefault.jpg Manual VS Smart Bidding: Choose Your Digital Destiny Manual bidding or Smart Bidding? Manual bidding gives maximum control for new campaigns with little history, tight budgets and specific CPC targets but needs constant attention. Smart Bidding processes real-time signals like device, location and time of day, and works best once you have enough conversions in the last 30 days. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/F4h7JYGBG8s 84 2025-03-27T23:38:34-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-the-future-of-digital-marketing-live-video/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5H3va9e21xg/maxresdefault.jpg AI: The Future of Digital Marketing (Live Video) John hosts an episode of the Digital Marketing Playground podcast on AI, trust and the future of digital marketing. He traces how far automation has come since the days when Google's AI first outbid his manual eCPC around 2015, why data matters more than control, and why marketers need to adapt to AI tools — using them to ask the right questions and check the numbers rather than building spreadsheets by hand. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/5H3va9e21xg 1482 2025-03-13T22:30:28-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/benny-the-bears-honey-hunt-a-lesson-in-resource-management/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v-p5Gx8Ac2I/maxresdefault.jpg Benny the Bear's Honey Hunt: A Lesson in Resource Management A short animated story: Benny the Bear finds his honey jars empty, and his friend Robert leads a 'honey audit' that shows some jars were hidden and others given away without being recorded. The lesson for small businesses: regular advertising audits show where your resources are actually going. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/v-p5Gx8Ac2I 70 2025-03-12T17:37:56-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-sign-up-for-chatgpt-ads/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lZ1XH6t-_s8/maxresdefault.jpg How to Sign Up for ChatGPT Ads A 44-second checklist for getting into the ChatGPT Ads Manager beta without stalling: verify a business email before you apply (a personal login fails), wait for the approval email rather than refreshing, and complete the business check in full, since one skipped field blocks billing after approval. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/lZ1XH6t-_s8 44 2026-10-11T10:00:26-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/googles-best-practices-i-agree-with-keep-the-gold/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zM3AJpiQ6Fk/maxresdefault.jpg Google's Best Practices I Agree With — Keep the Gold Which of Google's best practices to keep: the ones that already lower CPA in your own account. John's rule is to name the 'gold' — practices backed by evidence — before cutting anything, then review waste second, because a best practice is not a budget. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zM3AJpiQ6Fk 45 2026-10-08T10:00:32-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/googles-best-practices-i-agree-with-skip-auto-apply/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mBUGRMRvJIo/maxresdefault.jpg Google's Best Practices I Agree With — Skip Auto-Apply After $350 million managed, the Google best practice John keeps is regular search term review — here, adding the account's 72 negatives on terms that never converted. The ones he ignores are auto-apply recommendations and broad match pushes, which send more spend into those zero-conversion terms. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/mBUGRMRvJIo 47 2026-10-07T10:00:13-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/talking-to-buddy-about-life/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PkdLCk8WIE0/maxresdefault.jpg Talking to Buddy About Life 'You're not malfunctioning. You're between stories.' Buddy's comfort-first approach applied to a Google Ads account: get a steady read before making a plan, name the negatives first, and hold bids instead of panic-cutting queries that still convert. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/PkdLCk8WIE0 47 2026-10-04T10:00:27-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/generate-schema-markup-with-ai/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zL70L0yOwR0/maxresdefault.jpg Generate Schema Markup with AI How to generate schema markup with AI in minutes instead of hours: pick the schema type (article, FAQ or product) first, generate the JSON from the actual page rather than from memory, paste the script into the page head, and only then run Google's Rich Results Test. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zL70L0yOwR0 44 2026-10-01T10:00:04-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-use-git-for-beginners/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CUq7hsHNc1I/maxresdefault.jpg How To Use Git For Beginners Git for beginners in under a minute: install Git first, clone a real It All Started With An Idea repository instead of starting from a blank folder, commit to snapshot your first change, then push so the remote matches. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/CUq7hsHNc1I 45 2026-09-07T10:00:34-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/web-to-app-connect-the-21-percent-roi-lift/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NxEgZbx9MLI/maxresdefault.jpg Web-to-App Connect — The 21% ROI Lift How to turn on Google Ads Web-to-App Connect, which Google cites at 21% better ROI: link the app in Google Ads first, switch on web-to-app connect so installed users land in the app instead of the site, then measure conversion value against your CPA. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/NxEgZbx9MLI 51 2026-09-01T10:00:06-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/account-structure-still-matters/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Kg9eIVpckpk/maxresdefault.jpg Account Structure Still Matters Why account structure still matters even when Google says it doesn't: keep one intent per ad group so query, ad and page stay aligned, split brand so cheap branded clicks don't inflate non-brand bidding, and keep Performance Max out of brand so search stays measurable. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Kg9eIVpckpk 49 2026-08-26T10:00:31-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/creating-promotional-material-for-contests/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_lTvc_fbgec/maxresdefault.jpg Creating Promotional Material for Contests A three-pass method for contest promo copy drafted with ChatGPT: brief the model with the prize, deadline and entry rule; run a platform pass to strip limits and banned claims; then edit for claims, rhythm and the call to action. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/_lTvc_fbgec 42 2026-08-23T10:00:35-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/cluster-keywords-with-ai/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qFPGCM4obLY/maxresdefault.jpg Cluster Keywords with AI How to cluster keywords with AI: export the search terms report rather than your keyword list, since buyers type queries you never bid on; embed those terms so similar intent groups together even when the wording differs; then build one theme per ad group — shown here with 48 commercial solar keyword ideas grouped by intent. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/qFPGCM4obLY 45 2026-08-20T10:00:21-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/budget-pacing-why-google-overspends/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tK9KqmHiN6w/maxresdefault.jpg Budget Pacing — Why Google Overspends Google can spend up to twice your daily budget on any given day. John's fix, in order: put campaigns on one shared budget so a single campaign can't empty the day, watch spend against the 2x line, and add a hard-cap script last that pauses the account when spend reaches it. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tK9KqmHiN6w 44 2026-08-19T10:00:27-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ad-assets-the-free-clicks-youre-missing/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MyIU-fGmVBM/maxresdefault.jpg Ad Assets — The Free Clicks You're Missing Sitelinks and callouts raise click-through rate for free, yet most accounts leave them empty. Open the campaign's Assets, add sitelinks that match how people actually search (shop, financing, hours, book a call), then add short callouts and check Ad Strength. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/MyIU-fGmVBM 57 2026-08-16T17:55:46-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-fix-conversion-tracking-for-beginners/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/O4qdsSt49U4/maxresdefault.jpg How To Fix Conversion Tracking (for beginners) Three beginner checks for broken Google Ads conversion tracking: make the action you actually care about the only primary conversion, complete a test conversion to confirm the tag fires on the thank-you page, and compare Google Ads against GA4 for the same day. If they don't line up, it's a measurement problem, not a media problem. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/O4qdsSt49U4 61 2026-08-16T17:35:11-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/a-turf-cleaning-company-texted-me-an-idea/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uIJ2pCJ6yDc/maxresdefault.jpg A turf-cleaning company texted me an idea. Squeaky Clean Turf, a turf-cleaning company, texted John an idea: give customers a reason to come back between visits. By the end of the evening Buddy by Ahmeego had built it, and it's live on your phone. The companion Substack post linked from the YouTube description has the full story. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uIJ2pCJ6yDc 88 2026-07-13T18:11:05-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/kill-the-giant-agencies/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/efKfiMvMWXY/maxresdefault.jpg Kill the Giant Agencies? A clip from John's AI Ads and Beyond podcast appearance: he argues the industry needs consolidation, getting back to a core group of agencies people dream of working for, the way Google, Microsoft and Hanapin once were a badge of honor, and thinking about revenue for the businesses agencies serve rather than for themselves. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/efKfiMvMWXY 47 2026-05-11T13:00:01-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/use-ai-to-be-strategic/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vnT3lUbjf5Y/maxresdefault.jpg Use AI to be strategic A clip on using AI to be more strategic: whether it's Gemini for creative, Codex inside Cursor, or Claude (John's favorite, paired with Cursor), it takes hours of investment outside normal work. John explains he puts in that time to get more efficient at paid media so the people he works with benefit from what he learns. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vnT3lUbjf5Y 118 2026-02-08T14:29:18-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/prompting-to-prompt-why-ai-isnt-about-perfection-short/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_0N7jyqsPvc/maxresdefault.jpg Prompting to Prompt: Why AI Isn't About Perfection (Short) A two-minute cut of 'Prompting to Prompt': forget the perfect prompt and the typos, start messy, and use AI tools like ChatGPT to ask better questions rather than chase one right answer. The full-length version is also on this site. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/_0N7jyqsPvc 119 2025-09-27T07:30:01-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/i-just-saved-24-000-by-canceling-zoominfo/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XI3PNwvQjEg/maxresdefault.jpg I Just Saved $24,000 By Canceling ZoomInfo John explains how he replaced a ZoomInfo subscription, saving his company $24,000 a year, with a weekend coding project built on an open-source dealership email scraper from his GitHub. He breaks down what ZoomInfo actually does — scraping public contact information, aggregating it into a database, and enriching contacts — before showing how to rebuild that for any industry. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/XI3PNwvQjEg 67 2025-09-15T16:16:42-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-training-that-works-chatgpt-custom-gpt-and-claude/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FcAl4wdSM4E/maxresdefault.jpg AI Training That Works: ChatGPT, Custom GPT & Claude Why AI training for marketers belongs in real projects rather than static playbooks. John contrasts ChatGPT as a generalist engine for creative ideas and unexpected insights, Custom GPTs as closed systems aligned to your own rules, and Claude as the checker, so training stays both creative and accountable. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/FcAl4wdSM4E 108 2025-09-14T11:38:47-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/a-parable-about-impressions/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iiiVvHBrI88/maxresdefault.jpg A Parable About Impressions A parable about impressions: a boy holding 70% impression share on his brand terms switches from automated to manual bidding, and his impression share climbs — but so does his customer acquisition cost. The story asks whether incremental impressions actually added value or just added cost. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iiiVvHBrI88 90 2025-09-11T14:27:58-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/the-trust-paradox-why-leaders-ignore-their-own-teams-until-ai-or/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1Wo4KsEj2YE/maxresdefault.jpg The Trust Paradox: Why Leaders Ignore Their Own Teams (Until AI or Agencies Confirm It) John tells the story of an external agency presenting a 'breakthrough' social strategy — Meta Advantage+ campaign budget optimization and Advantage Shopping campaigns segmented by creative and audience — that the internal team had already been running for months. It illustrates the trust paradox: leaders dismiss their own team's expertise until an agency or AI says the same thing. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/1Wo4KsEj2YE 120 2025-09-09T22:11:24-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/the-47-billion-problem-why-your-digital-ads-are-hemorrhaging-money/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5-21h7DFXJw/maxresdefault.jpg The $47 Billion Problem: Why Your Digital Ads Are Hemorrhaging Money Why digital ad performance decays when nobody steps back to examine the account: rising costs, falling conversions and campaigns that once worked now barely breaking even. The video cites a $47 billion figure for 2024 Google and Meta ad spend that failed to produce positive ROI and points to a free audit checklist in the companion Substack post. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/5-21h7DFXJw 95 2025-09-06T22:57:45-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-automation-are-redefining-platforms/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UJM5OdufUsk/maxresdefault.jpg AI + Automation Are Redefining Platforms As Meta and Google automate more of the platform, the competitive edge shifts from pulling levers like bid strategies and audience segments to feeding the machine the right signals: clean conversion data, strong first-party data and creative in an authentic brand voice. By 2026, John argues, the most valuable skill will be strategic input design. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/UJM5OdufUsk 43 2025-08-26T13:03:32-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/google-performance-max-and-ai-max-for-search/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zqZT-E4jEpU/maxresdefault.jpg Google Performance Max and AI Max for Search For 15 years paid media was about control — keyword lists, hand-built audiences and fine-tuned bids. John explains how Google and Meta are consolidating those levers into AI-first campaign types like Performance Max, AI Max for Search and Meta Advantage+, where advertisers supply goals, budgets, creative and first-party data and let automation do the rest. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zqZT-E4jEpU 51 2025-08-24T22:07:25-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/are-we-using-ai-tools-the-right-way/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KgvS01yEYlE/maxresdefault.jpg Are We Using AI Tools the Right Way Are we using AI tools like Cursor and ChatGPT the right way? John asks whether we're preparing the tools, putting guardrails in place and coaching people to use them, instead of complaining about the output. Having 100 agents, he notes, doesn't mean you'll ship a product. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KgvS01yEYlE 72 2025-08-15T12:45:59-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-tools-automations-and-integrations/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HUOxl5PaGGQ/maxresdefault.jpg AI tools, automations, and integrations A 15-second clip: 'I'm in my unaccessible era' — cutting anything that's stuck in the past or not on your time, because you lose value when you're too accessible. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HUOxl5PaGGQ 15 2025-08-06T10:32:01-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/3-ai-hacks-to-instantly-improve-your-ads/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uL99zRurjCM/maxresdefault.jpg 3 AI Hacks to Instantly Improve Your Ads John's hot take on which AI tool to use for what: ChatGPT for analysis, storytelling and writing but not coding or creative; Claude for prototyping, development and coding; and Google's Veo 3 for imagery and video, compared against Sora with the same prompt. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uL99zRurjCM 87 2025-07-21T12:57:25-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/building-a-50k-saas-platform-in-24-hours-with-claude-ai/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UqfPbBpuU38/maxresdefault.jpg Building a $50K SaaS Platform in 24 Hours with Claude AI John shows a prospecting tool he built with Claude and Cursor that combines the kind of business data marketers get from SpyFu, Semrush, Ahrefs and Apollo. It looks at local search queries for a specific ZIP code to spot which businesses are advertising and which aren't, to support warmer outreach without an expensive tool. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/UqfPbBpuU38 112 2025-07-15T10:18:32-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/navigating-the-shift-from-seo-to-llms-short/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c-Mav1NL8t8/maxresdefault.jpg Navigating the Shift from SEO to LLMs (Short) A one-minute clip from John's longer video on ranking in LLMs versus search engines: LLMs aren't indexing and returning links, they're matching for the best possible answer, often in a structured or conversational form. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/c-Mav1NL8t8 64 2025-07-14T17:18:20-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/prompt-engineering-for-beginners-teaser/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bTfZvphR8kc/maxresdefault.jpg Prompt Engineering for Beginners (Teaser) A 15-second teaser for John's longer video 'Prompting Isn't Commanding: How to Think With AI, Not Just Use It', on prompting AI by setting context and giving it room to think, rather than telling it what to do. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/bTfZvphR8kc 15 2025-07-13T17:09:23-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/the-best-is-still-in-front-of-you/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-3XY9iW1IZ4/maxresdefault.jpg The Best Is Still in Front of You. A Monday mindset note from John: what if we focused on what's in front of us instead of being discouraged by what's behind us? Greetings from the Arizona heat. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/-3XY9iW1IZ4 50 2025-06-30T15:43:39-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/lets-start-the-day-and-the-week-with-focus-fire-and-full-energy/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6eqzs3wV-Fo/maxresdefault.jpg Let’s start the day and the week with focus, fire, and full energy. A Monday check-in from the gym. John asks a lifting question — why box step-ups feel heavier with the barbell in front than on his back — and closes with a reminder that we all have a lot to be grateful for. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/6eqzs3wV-Fo 61 2025-06-23T10:34:44-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/paid-advertising-nda-system/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NR59O4Nqpw0/maxresdefault.jpg Paid Advertising NDA System John floats an idea from browsing the PPC subreddit: a trusted group of experienced Google Ads practitioners who all sign a universal NDA that holds them liable, so they can actually go into people's accounts and help instead of only offering advice from the outside. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/NR59O4Nqpw0 81 2025-06-20T17:54:36-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/gpt-is-part-of-my-process-im-a-real-human-johnmwilliams-on-ig/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KBIS-RzPi6c/maxresdefault.jpg GPT is part of my process. I’m a real human. @_johnmwilliams on IG. An intern told John that ChatGPT is a good tool for fixing problems we already know how to fix. John's response: he showed how he used ChatGPT, without an engineer or developer, to solve a problem with no existing documentation — in about an hour, for work the intern estimated would take four people across dev, QA, debugging and final review. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KBIS-RzPi6c 74 2025-06-17T15:11:25-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/finding-the-right-audience-the-key-to-advertising-success-redefining/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tA8TzewiPGw/maxresdefault.jpg Finding the Right Audience The Key to Advertising Success Redefining Broad Match in 2025 Your job as an advertiser, on social or search, is to find the right audience — and no audience is exact except the customer emails you upload, and even those don't match 100% because people share devices and email addresses. John uses that to frame why broad match belongs in the conversation for businesses of any size. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tA8TzewiPGw 47 2025-06-02T15:24:24-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/unlock-the-secret-to-27-percent-more-conversions/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oK9RIDXGUQ4/maxresdefault.jpg Unlock the Secret to 27% More Conversions A short clip on Google's AI Max for Search and its claim of up to 27% more conversions without increasing ad spend. John's 'secret' is that there isn't one, and he takes the early-adopter hype with some skepticism. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/oK9RIDXGUQ4 37 2025-06-01T22:32:53-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/generating-keyword-ideas-with-chatgpt/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G3RVRRQaY-s/maxresdefault.jpg Generating Keyword Ideas with ChatGPT A 28-second tip: use ChatGPT to get past the blank page in keyword research. It can brainstorm seed keywords, expand them into long-tail terms, and suggest niche, intent-based phrases for Google Search or audience-focused phrases for Meta. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/G3RVRRQaY-s 28 2025-04-17T09:15:02-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/speed-up-a-b-testing-ideas/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qW_WjdLNgHg/maxresdefault.jpg Speed Up A/B Testing Ideas A 29-second tip: coming up with new test ideas is where A/B testing stalls, so use ChatGPT to spin fresh headlines, CTAs and positioning angles — or ask it for five ways to remix a high-performing ad. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/qW_WjdLNgHg 29 2025-04-15T05:01:28-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/stop-their-scrollwith-soul/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V7UPfOsfbN0/maxresdefault.jpg Stop Their Scroll—With Soul A 25-second tip on ad hooks: the first line has one job — stop the scroll or the skip. Ask ChatGPT for five openers that speak to frustration, sound like a conversation, or open with a question. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/V7UPfOsfbN0 25 2025-04-14T07:30:31-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/shopping-campaigns-granularity-matters/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rQtkcIeKheQ/maxresdefault.jpg Shopping Campaigns: Granularity Matters How granular should Shopping campaign product segmentation be? Too broad dilutes bids and blurs insights; too granular becomes unmanageable. Segment by performance, profitability and margin — individual attention for top sellers, grouped management for the rest — and adjust as your data changes. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/rQtkcIeKheQ 69 2025-04-04T06:45:05-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/optimization-get-in-the-now/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xI5ddFr8Pcw/maxresdefault.jpg Optimization: Get in the Now A nine-second clip on optimization timing. Per the description, real-time adjustments give immediate insight and let you catch emerging opportunities in fast-moving e-commerce and SaaS campaigns, while weekly optimizations add structure but can miss key moments. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xI5ddFr8Pcw 9 2025-04-01T07:05:48-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/display-network-worth-it-for-small-budgets/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uoipPN1Lnn8/maxresdefault.jpg Display Network: Worth It for Small Budgets? Is Google's Display Network worth it on a small budget? It can scatter spend quickly without clear returns, but with tight targeting by audience, placement and interest — and remarketing to people who've already shown interest — small budgets can still make it work. Start small, test consistently and refine. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uoipPN1Lnn8 70 2025-04-01T05:01:17-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/level-up-your-brand-in-2025-with-youtube-ads/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1SdgDOebgIs/maxresdefault.jpg Level Up Your Brand in 2025 with YouTube Ads A 15-second note on YouTube's first-position ads, now available across YouTube content through Display & Video 360, which let you secure the very first ad your audience sees to boost ad recall. Full details are in John's LinkedIn post. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/1SdgDOebgIs 15 2025-03-27T13:07:22-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/google-ads-search-terms-insights-in-2025-making-sense-of-customer/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lX6QYpTE6SE/maxresdefault.jpg Google Ads Search Terms Insights in 2025: Making Sense of Customer Intent What Google Ads search terms insights are and how they work: instead of combing through individual queries, Google groups search terms into categories and subcategories across Search, Maps and partner sites, with clicks, impressions, conversions and conversion rate summarized so you can read customer intent quickly. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/lX6QYpTE6SE 70 2025-03-27T12:36:06-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/google-performance-max-key-updates-to-power-your-2025-holiday/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hh1jjdNQZRw/maxresdefault.jpg Google Performance Max: Key Updates to Power Your 2025 Holiday Campaigns An 18-second rundown of Performance Max updates ahead of the 2025 holidays: generative AI asset experiments, video enhancements, and more flexibility to run Performance Max alongside standard Shopping campaigns. Full details are in John's LinkedIn article. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hh1jjdNQZRw 18 2025-03-27T04:00:57-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/googles-ai-powered-search-ads-just-got-smarter/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/M-4mTBRzGhY/maxresdefault.jpg Google's AI-Powered Search Ads Just Got Smarter A 19-second update on Google's responsive search ads getting more asset flexibility: AI can now dynamically combine headlines and descriptions and even place headlines in sitelink positions. John's LinkedIn article covers what it means for your assets. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/M-4mTBRzGhY 19 2025-03-26T23:30:02-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/how-to-audit-your-digital-marketing-agency-3-simple-steps-to-stop/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/H_RzbutQT34/maxresdefault.jpg How to Audit Your Digital Marketing Agency | 3 Simple Steps to Stop Wasting Money Three quick steps to audit your digital marketing agency: a transparency check (clear ROI or vague reports?), performance consistency on the metrics that matter, and spotting hidden fees and markups. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/H_RzbutQT34 25 2025-03-22T00:00:16-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/is-your-digital-marketing-agency-delivering-results-agency/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5w_oTpHQ6D4/maxresdefault.jpg Is Your Digital Marketing Agency Delivering Results? | Agency Performance Checklist Trust, but verify: how to tell whether your marketing agency is really performing. Look for clear, measurable KPIs, transparent cross-channel reporting, and a strategy tied to business growth rather than vanity metrics. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/5w_oTpHQ6D4 25 2025-03-21T00:00:04-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/3-ways-to-measure-if-your-digital-agency-is-actually-working-digital/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MUTljXCI9Mk/maxresdefault.jpg 3 Ways to Measure If Your Digital Agency Is Actually Working | Digital Marketing ROI Three ways to measure whether your digital agency is turning ideas into results: clear, measurable KPIs; transparent monthly reports with proactive insights; and ROI benchmarks tracked on every platform, from YouTube and Facebook to Instagram and LinkedIn. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/MUTljXCI9Mk 23 2025-03-20T00:00:27-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/3-warning-signs-your-marketing-agency-is-wasting-your-money-digital/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oP_55G86vZU/maxresdefault.jpg 3 Warning Signs Your Marketing Agency Is Wasting Your Money | Digital Agency Red Flags Three warning signs your marketing agency is wasting your money: unclear reporting, a strategy that isn't tied to your business goals, and poor audience targeting that leads to wasted spend. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/oP_55G86vZU 19 2025-03-19T00:00:40-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/the-5-ai-trends-redefining-digital-marketing-in-2025-ai/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Uoig2Y0QC80/maxresdefault.jpg The 5 AI Trends Redefining Digital Marketing in 2025 AI A 30-second preview of five ways AI is changing digital marketing: precision targeting in Facebook ads, personalized storytelling on Instagram, predictive analytics for Google Ads, and audience engagement insights on LinkedIn and YouTube. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Uoig2Y0QC80 31 2025-03-18T18:59:18-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/the-future-is-automated-how-ai-can-10x-your-marketing/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/52r2x0-3IUY/maxresdefault.jpg The Future Is Automated How AI Can 10X Your Marketing A 30-second preview on marketing automation: how AI boosts efficiency, personalizes content at scale and improves ROI across Facebook ads, Instagram Stories, LinkedIn lead generation, Google Ads and YouTube — without losing the human touch. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/52r2x0-3IUY 29 2025-03-18T18:58:42-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/human-ai-the-new-digital-marketing-dream-team-ai-doesn/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cG1QxcJ83Is/maxresdefault.jpg Human AI The New Digital Marketing Dream Team AI doesn AI doesn't replace marketers; it empowers them. A short preview of how marketers blend creativity, human insight and AI tools to build standout campaigns across Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/cG1QxcJ83Is 26 2025-03-18T18:58:09-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/beyond-google-ads-5-underutilized-ai-strategies-you-need-now/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MR3-TNwWwzY/maxresdefault.jpg Beyond Google Ads 5 Underutilized AI Strategies You Need Now A 30-second preview of AI strategies beyond basic PPC: audience segmentation, creative optimization and predictive analytics across YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/MR3-TNwWwzY 30 2025-03-18T18:57:30-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-enhanced-storytelling-captivate-your-audience-on-any-platform/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Pm58ODkqrU0/maxresdefault.jpg AI Enhanced Storytelling Captivate Your Audience on Any Platform Storytelling A 30-second preview on AI-enhanced storytelling: using AI insights to tailor stories to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube audiences for more relevance and emotional engagement. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Pm58ODkqrU0 31 2025-03-18T18:56:42-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/3-essential-questions-to-ask-your-digital-marketing-agency-now/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E4wtW-a6qhc/maxresdefault.jpg 3 Essential Questions to Ask Your Digital Marketing Agency NOW | Improve ROI & Results Three questions to ask your digital marketing agency right now: Are we seeing measurable improvement? Is the strategy transparent and aligned with our goals? Are we getting fresh insights and optimization opportunities? https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/E4wtW-a6qhc 22 2025-03-18T18:46:01-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/ai-the-future-of-digital-marketing-short/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/y_6udDc8YsA/maxresdefault.jpg AI: The Future of Digital Marketing (Short) A short clip from the Paid Search Playground: think of Google's Performance Max as ChatGPT for your advertising — just as ChatGPT delivers personalized answers, Performance Max finds the audience across every channel and automates the optimization. The full episode is on Spotify. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/y_6udDc8YsA 38 2025-03-13T22:17:40-07:00 yes John Williams https://ahmeego.com/videos/amanda-ai-powered-assistant/ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L-xHnduS7J8/maxresdefault.jpg Amanda: AI-powered assistant Meet Amanda, the AI-powered assistant from It All Started With An Idea, introduced in a short video about the agency's approach to paid media: showing up when it matters most, with care, transparency and accountability — and the idea that digital marketing can feel as delightful as a day at Disneyland. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/L-xHnduS7J8 48 2025-03-12T18:38:31-07:00 yes John Williams