DIGITAL ROUNDUP
August 2025
Welcome to this month’s edition of the roundup to some core updates in the digital advertising industry.
NB: the following represents my own opinion
AI Mode comes to UK as Google expands GEO
Google have formally rolled out AI Mode to the UK, following launches in US & India
(https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/united-kingdom/ai-mode-search-uk/)
DEEPDIVE
AI Mode is a go for UK as a country, following in the footsteps of the United States and India to showcase this newest AI offering on Google’s properties.
As the nuances of GEO (Generative Experiences Optimisation) start to slowly build, specifically in how it may disrupt legacy SEO / PPC, this is a big milestone for Google to rollout. Even more so is the difference in dynamics between the UK and the US / India, especially around data regulation / privacy. This has also somewhat correlated to Google agreeing to sign the EU AI Code of Practice, as announced shortly after.
Google’s intentions into how AI will play into both organic / user experiences are clear, it is going to be fundamental in conjunction with Gemini / AI Overviews already starting to scale out. A broader update on this was added to X via this thread through Google’s VP of Search.
But the bigger picture here is the marketing piece, specifically around how AI is also feeding into ad campaigns, like Google’s latest AI Max campaign type which for now still remains locked to the US as a country.
For advertisers, it is going to be important to keep an eye on both your PPC campaigns (through Impression Share / Search Rank / general performance) but also increasingly SEO (through Search Console). Looking at where traffic is coming from is also important, given AI Mode could ultimately let users get information without ever needing to come to site. And if they do, they would have quite high intent to work with. Though at the same time, there is evidence to suggest less clicks are occurring on both organic & paid search, as a result of things like AI Overviews. Leveraging Generative AI as a channel in attribution reporting for the likes of Google Analytics / Adobe Analytics is the new normal now.
Meta introduces new Value based bidding rules
Meta have added additional variables to work with, including placement / audience level functionality.
(https://developers.facebook.com/docs/marketing-api/bidding/value-rules)
DEEPDIVE
Meta have introduced further enhancements to Value Rules, a relatively new feature that exists on the advertiser settings on an ad account level, to create up to 10 bespoke rules to use alongside the core optimisation algorithm when running lower funnel campaigns. The big update here is the introduction of Placement as a variable, meaning it is now possible to input some adjustments to where campaigns may serve between things like Facebook vs Instagram or Feeds vs Reels vs Stories through a rule instead of splitting out adsets and using manual placement customisation.
This is a good move in the new era of AI / Machine Learning algorithms adopting a more broader approach to activate, but allowing users to still have some form of input to help point it in the right direction. For Meta, this is a newer version of what historically existed as Bid Multipliers in the past, that was only possible via API to a limited set of partners. Bid Multipliers actually went a bit further, specifically around audience & CAPI / pixel signals so will be interesting to see if Value Rules go in that direction over time.
However this setting will not be available to sensitive categories of advertisers, such as Financial Services, Health & Wellness & Pharma. So whilst it will become a best practice for a typical ecommerce / travel client, for the more sensitive advertiser, it remains putting trust in the core algorithm. It will also be available via API, so likely 3rd party platforms will adopt this alongside more agentic workflows in the future.
OTHER KEY CALLOUTS
SOCIAL / SEARCH HIGHLIGHTS 📱
SEL has some nice tips on search term filters for PPC activity (SEL)
Incubeta have created a nice blog post on differences between GA & SA360 attribution (Incubeta)
Google have announced a new alpha for Trends API, to supercharge SEO analysis (Google)
LinkedIn have announced some updates to their marketing APIs, including MMM / Company Intelligence (LinkedIn)
Microsoft has put a reminder that you can exclude data from auto bidding via their in-platform functionality (Microsoft)
Google have launched the ability to pull performance stats on a RSA level (SEL)
Google have also launched Branded Search as a new Conversion type for specific campaigns to measure users searching for a brand after seeing an ad (Google)
Meta will follow Google in not permitting political ads from October 2025 in the EU (Meta)
PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS 🌐
Amazon have launched a AI bot to help with AMC query creation within the UI (Amazon)
Google have trialled a MCP solution for Google Analytics, to build LLM on top off (Google) (Video)
Human have discovered another fraud scheme on Mobile App, linked to 352 apps (Adweek)
Adalytics dropped another research paper on YouTube illegal monetisation (Adalytics)
Tesco update their partnership with LiveRamp for commerce media (Grocer)
Acast have launched a new integration with Magnite to supercharge podcast programmatic buying (AdvancedTV)
Barb have released a first set of insights on YouTube channels in TV (Barb)
IDENTITY HIGHLIGHTS 🆔
CMA have turned their attention to Google / Apple on the App Store on Mobile (CMA)
Google have introduced a few extra YT metrics for ADH after MRC accreditation (Google)
Utiq have formally launched in both the UK & Italy for their Telco based ID solution (Utiq)
Noyb have dropped a new report on the stat of pay or okay consent systems in the EU (Noyb)
Google have announced their APIs will support dual click identifiers (gclid & gbraid) from October for Offline Conversions (Google)
InfoSum have launched a new solution called Collaborations, to more easier navigate data sharing (InfoSum)
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