My take on the Cambridge Analytica story

There’s a big controversy right now about Cambridge Analytica and how they influenced the US presidential election and the Brexit referendum. Some even claiming they “hijacked” or “stole” the result.

Me? I’m not buying it.

While it looks like they broke Facebook’s data rules,

(A)   Many of the things they’ve been accused of didn’t happen. They couldn’t have happened. They’re literally not possible within Facebook.

(B)   And everything else they’ve been accused of, you could do without breaking Facebook’s rules. All you need is a big enough budget, big enough data set, and smart enough marketers.

(C)   I’m not sure (more…)

The dirty secret about PPC qualifications

Let me tell you a story…

A prospect contacted me recently. He was using a PPC agency, but his ads weren’t profitable.

At one point during our conversation, he said to me, “The agency has all the relevant qualifications…”

I let him into a secret. And, today, I’m going to let you into the same secret: PPC “qualifications” are worthless.

I’ll explain … (more…)