Welcome to Getting Granular; the podcast where digital marketing experts from the agency Granular talk about the latest trends, tried and true best practices, and share their unfiltered thoughts about the industry. Based in Milwaukee, and laser-focused on PPC.
Episode Highlights Biggest Platform Shift Google is beginning to move Local Services Ads into Google Ads as specialized Performance Max campaigns. While bringing everything into one platform should make management easier, advertisers will lose some control, including manual bidding and service-level target CPA settings. Historical performance reports also won’t transfer, making it important to…
Introduction (00:23): Host Chris Cesar welcomes listeners back to Getting Granular for the 50th episode of the podcast and introduces Noah Hardy, one of Granular’s newest team members. Noah shares a bit about himself, including his nearly decade-long career in digital marketing, love of travel, video games, cooking, and life in Grafton, Wisconsin. Getting an Early Start in Digital Marketing…
Introduction (00:12): Host Chris Cesar welcomes listeners back to Getting Granular and introduces Paid Media Analyst Connor Lom, Granular's youngest hire and a graduate of the company's mentorship program. Connor shares a bit about himself, including his love of music, marathon training, and community service. From College to Paid Media (07:15): Connor explains how he discovered Granular through a…
Jeremy Packee and Emily Anderson break down June's biggest paid media updates, including Google's AI Max delay, new Smart Bidding controls, OpenAI's expanding advertising platform, and Meta's latest AI creative tools. They also discuss Reddit's growing role in product discovery, new Google Analytics reporting features, and what these changes mean for advertisers navigating an increasingly…
Introduction (00:01): Host Chris Cesar welcomes listeners back to Getting Granular and introduces fellow Granular team member Chris Gerasi, joking about having yet another Chris on the team. Meet Chris Gerasi (01:47): Chris shares his background growing up in Dallas, Texas, why he chose to move to Milwaukee, and how his passions for music, home brewing, and building community made Wisconsin feel…
Jeremy Packee and Emily Anderson break down the biggest paid media story of the year so far: Google Marketing Live 2026. The episode explores Google's vision for an AI-powered future, including major updates to AI Mode, AI Max, Demand Gen, Merchant Center, measurement, creative workflows, and agentic commerce. The hosts discuss how search is becoming more conversational, why first-party data is…
Jeremy Packee and Emily Anderson break down April’s biggest paid media updates, including Google’s aggressive AI Max expansion across Search and Shopping campaigns, Microsoft launching AI Max for Search, and OpenAI officially entering the ad platform space with self-serve ChatGPT ads and CPC bidding. They also discuss Google’s new AI-powered qualified call lead tracking, Meta opening AI connectors…
Jeremy Packee and Emily Anderson break down March’s biggest paid media updates, including OpenAI’s shift away from experimental tools like Sora and Meta’s continued push into AI-powered campaign management with Manus. They also explore Google’s expanding Performance Max capabilities, new cross-channel budgeting tools in Google Analytics, and Apple’s long-awaited move into ads within Apple Maps.…
Episode Notes Meta Embeds Manus AI Into Ads Manager Meta has begun embedding its Manus AI assistant directly into Ads Manager, allowing advertisers to analyze campaign performance conversationally within the platform. While early tests show potential, the hosts caution that advertisers should treat these tools as assistants rather than autonomous strategists. Jeremy Packee and Emily Anderson break…
Episode Notes OpenAI Tests Ads in ChatGPT Ads rolling out to Free and Go users in the U.S. ~$60 CPM chatter for high-intent queries Strict privacy guardrails emphasized Relevancy and user trust will determine long-term viability TikTok Smart Plus + Platform Updates Smart Plus automation reduces manual setup TikTok One centralizes creator tools and production Pulse Suite expands premium adjacency…