Prooflytics
Marketing Analytics Blog
Benchmarks, attribution frameworks, and platform guides for performance marketers. How to diagnose, decide, and act — without the dashboard fatigue.
- Platform
Google Performance Max Partner Network Selection: What the Alpha Changes
Google is alpha-testing independent partner network controls for Performance Max campaigns, allowing advertisers to toggle Search Partner Network and Google Display Network separately for the first time. For brands where partner placement quality directly affects ROAS or brand safety, this changes how PMax campaigns are configured.
9 min read - Strategy
Google Says Users Prefer AI Search. The Survey Evidence Is Less Clear.
Google regularly cites a Google/Ipsos survey as evidence that users prefer AI-powered search. SEO analysts have challenged the methodology, pointing to data gaps that inflate AI search preference claims. Before making channel strategy decisions based on this data, performance marketers should understand what the survey actually measures.
9 min read - Platform
Google Ads Auto-Classifies Conversion-Based Customer Lists: What Advertisers Must Provide
Google Ads began automatically classifying conversion-based customer lists in June 2026, requiring advertisers to provide clearer signals about where audiences sit in the customer journey. Here is what the classification changes, which signals you need to supply, and how this affects Smart Bidding.
8 min read - Platform
Google Ads Passkeys for Sensitive Actions: What Changes July 15
Google Ads is mandating passkeys for sensitive account actions starting July 15, 2026, replacing password-based login for operations like billing changes and user management. For agencies managing multiple client accounts, this requires setup across every account before the deadline.
8 min read - Platform
Google Search Console Now Tracks AI Search Visibility: What the Beta Reports Show
Google is testing dedicated AI Search performance reports in Search Console, with UK sites receiving the first access to AI-specific impressions and click data. Here is what the beta reports show, how to access them, and how to measure AI search visibility until the rollout reaches your market.
9 min read - Platform
Google Ads API v20 Sunsetted June 10: Migration Guide and Priority Order
Google Ads API v20 officially sunsetted on June 10, 2026. Calls to v20 endpoints return errors immediately. This is the migration priority order: what breaks first, what to fix first, and which version to target.
7 min read - Strategy
Google AI Search Is Building a Two-Tier Internet: Where B2B Marketers Stand
A study of 44 major US publishers found aggregate organic search traffic rose 5% after AI Overviews, but nearly all gains went to institutional brands. B2B content marketing teams in the middle tier are experiencing the opposite - structural traffic erosion with no algorithmic remedy.
8 min read - Strategy
AI Search Sends Clicks to Local Domains, Not Global Brands: What 87 Million Visits Show
An analysis of 87 million AI search visits across 10 markets found that clicks from AI-generated answers go to local domain variants, not global brand defaults. For performance marketers, this changes the geo-targeting and domain strategy calculus.
7 min read - Platform
Google Ads Brand Lift Now Measures Association: What the New Metric Reveals About Creative
Google Ads introduced the Association metric in Brand Lift Studies in April 2026. It measures whether your campaign moves how consumers connect your brand to specific attributes - filling the gap between raw awareness and purchase consideration.
7 min read - Platform
Google Ads Bid Strategy Testing in 2026 Requires CRM Data, Not Just Campaign Metrics
Google Ads has shifted bid strategy validation toward conversion value by time and first-party CRM data. Testing on campaign metrics alone now produces false positives. Here is the operational setup teams need before running any bid experiment in 2026.
7 min read - Platform
Google Ads API Now Reports Product-Level Metrics for PMax, Video, and Demand Gen
Google Ads API adds product-level cost and conversion data for Performance Max, Video, Demand Gen, and App campaigns on June 15, 2026. Agencies and in-house teams can now build automated product-ROI alerts without manual UI extraction.
6 min read - Platform
Meta Developer Policy 10.5: What Agencies and Ad Platforms Must Do Before February 2027
Meta updated Developer Policy 10.5 and 10.6a, effective February 3, 2027, requiring all ad-buying solutions -- agencies, platforms, and resellers -- to disclose complete spending and campaign data directly to the advertiser client. Here is what the policy requires, who it affects, and the compliance steps to complete before the deadline.
8 min read - Analytics
How to Set Up GA4 Correctly in 2026: The Task Assistant Checklist
Google Analytics 4 now includes a Task Assistant that guides property setup through six structured categories, launched in May 2026. For marketing teams configuring a new property or auditing an existing one, this guide covers what each category contains, why it matters, and what the most commonly skipped steps cost you in data quality.
8 min read - Platform
Instagram Caption Links in 2026: How to Replace Link-in-Bio and Drive Direct Traffic
Instagram now supports clickable links directly in post captions, eliminating the link-in-bio constraint that shaped Instagram marketing strategy for a decade. For in-house marketing teams using Instagram for traffic acquisition, this guide covers setup, UTM tracking in GA4, and what to watch in the first 30 days.
7 min read - Platform
YouTube CTV Advertising in 2026: Two-Click Checkout, Google Pay, and What It Means for Attribution
YouTube connected TV advertising now supports two-click checkout via Google Pay on CTV remote controls, available through Google Display and Video 360. For performance marketers, this makes CTV a measurable direct-response channel -- and it breaks standard attribution models that assume all conversions happen on a browser.
8 min read - Platform
LinkedIn Event Ads 2026: Off-Platform Targeting, Lead Gen Forms, and Full-Funnel Measurement
LinkedIn Event Ads launched off-platform targeting, native lead gen forms, and full-funnel pipeline measurement in April 2026. For B2B marketing teams running webinars or in-person conferences, here is what changed, why it matters, and how to configure it in Campaign Manager.
8 min read - Analytics
How to Diagnose Rising Churn: The Marketing Framework That Actually Finds the Cause
Rising churn is usually treated as a product or success team problem. In practice, the root cause is often in marketing -- wrong-fit customers acquired through channels that attract high-churn cohorts, onboarding gaps for specific acquisition sources, or awareness decay that reduces the trust customers need to stay. A structured diagnostic funnel finds the real cause in days, not weeks.
10 min read - Analytics
The Marketing Divide: Only 20% of Companies Are Data-Driven (New Benchmark)
A study of 252 companies representing $53 billion in combined annual marketing spend found that fewer than 20% actively practice data-driven marketing. More than 60% have no documented process for prioritizing campaigns. Nearly 80% don't run controlled experiments. The gap between the data-driven 20% and the remaining 80% shows up directly in financial performance.
10 min read - Analytics
Why ROI Is the Wrong Metric for Brand Campaigns (And What to Measure Instead)
When the CFO asks for ROI on brand campaigns, the correct answer is not "we can't measure it" -- it is "ROI is the wrong metric for this type of spend." Return on Investment is methodologically valid only for direct-response marketing where the lag between action and purchase is days, not months. Applying it to brand campaigns produces misleading conclusions and causes marketers to cut the spending that protects future acquisition costs.
10 min read - Performance
Google Product Packs: How to Win E-Commerce Traffic in 2026
Google Product Packs have become the primary e-commerce traffic channel for merchants who appear in them -- and a dead zone for those who don't. Analysis of 63,000+ merchants shows specific visibility gaps between winners and losers. The differences are not in bidding. They are in feed quality, structured data, and pricing competitiveness.
10 min read
