Unbound

I Spent $500 on OpenAI Ads. Here’s What I Found. https://www.unbound.nz/digital-advertising/i-spent-500-on-openai-ads-heres-what-i-found/ marketing

I Spent $500 on OpenAI Ads. Here’s What I Found. TL;DR: OpenAI Ads are early-stage, opaque, and lack key controls—for now, organic search delivers far better ROI We put NZ$500 to work on OpenAI Ads Manager in Waikato. The ads sit awkwardly at the bottom of the chat, offer zero query transparency, and lack basic optimisation levers. Interestingly...

Marketing news from the last week -

Customer Match can now match on IP address and interaction timestamp. Match rates should increase in NZ, AU, and the US. Check your consent setup and clean your CRM exports before you upload.
Meta unveiled Muse Charm at Connect. It's a keychain device for talking to Muse, Meta's personal AI agent, due in December. Muse can already shop through Shopify, Walmart, Sephora and more, so agent-led buying is becoming something marketers have to plan for. Looking back at our article a couple of months back on the death of destination web.
Google wrapped a quality refresh. Thin, scaled content lost ground, while pages with original data and real expertise earned AI Overview citations. AI Overview clicks stay in the standard Search Console report, with no separate filter planned.
Swipe for the details, and save it for your Monday sync.

Which one are you acting on first?

A bit late on this one. Busy start to the week, but last week's updates are still worth your two minutes.

AI keeps taking over, one platform at a time:

Google Ads dubs your videos for free. Asset Studio now translates and dubs video ad voiceovers into up to 33 languages and accents, at no extra cost.

Campaign language settings are going away. Search and AI Max will match language automatically from the query, ad copy and landing page. You won't get a manual override.

Search Console generative AI reporting is now global. You can track impressions and clicks from AI Overviews anywhere, so start benchmarking now.

Swipe for the details, and save this for your next team sync.

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News from the marketing world last week: Google gave you more visibility. Meta took some away.

PMax now reports by channel — Search, Maps, YouTube, Display, Discover — instead of hiding everything behind "Cross-network."

Meta's going the other way: placement exclusion checkboxes are disappearing on Sales and Leads campaigns. You get bid reductions up to 90% instead of an actual off switch.

And Search Console finally added filters for AI Overviews and AI Mode impressions, so AI traffic stops hiding inside your organic numbers.

Two of these need action this week. Check your Meta exclusions before they vanish, and grab a GSC AI baseline while the data's still new.

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Thank you, David Ferguson for leaving us a review.
Read full review: https://birdeye.cx/06d797

The Polka-Dotted Masterclass: What a Masked Canadian Rock Band Teaches Us About 3D Positioning https://www.unbound.nz/strategy/the-polka-dotted-masterclass-what-a-masked-canadian-rock-band-teaches-us-about-3d-positioning/ marketing

The Polka-Dotted Masterclass: What a Masked Canadian Rock Band Teaches Us About 3D Positioning TL;DR: 3D Positioning and the Power of Being Radically Different What can a masked, avant-garde Canadian rock band teach you about marketing? A lot. To survive in a crowded digital landscape, you must abandon the “best practice” echo chamber and adopt 3D Positioning. By ensuring your brand is De...

The Best Marketing Agencies in Hamilton: 2026 Waikato Growth Guide https://www.unbound.nz/marketing/55593/ marketing

The Best Marketing Agencies in Hamilton: 2026 Waikato Growth Guide Most “Top Marketing Agency” guides on the web are built on flashy promises, overinflated claims, or paid placements by overseas directory sites that have never set foot in the Waikato. We do things differently. We are Unbound – a high-performance Hamilton digital marketing agency with a tech o...

Digital Day Out 2026: The Unbiased Recap, Key Takeaways, and Honest Review https://www.unbound.nz/marketing/digital-day-out-2026-the-unbiased-recap-key-takeaways-and-honest-review/ marketing

Digital Day Out 2026: The Unbiased Recap, Key Takeaways, and Honest Review Last week, Helen and I made the trek up from Waikato to Auckland for Digital Day Out 2026. It was a foggy morning and an early start on the road, but we had a full car to keep us company – Pooja from Ebbetts caught a ride with us, and former Unbounder Hannah was in […]

Google Ads is Removing Your Budget Safety Net https://www.unbound.nz/google-ads/google-ads-is-removing-your-budget-safety-net/ marketing

Google Ads is Removing Your Budget Safety Net TL;DR: Google Ads changes how campaigns limited by budget use target bid stratgies On August 17, 2026, Google Ads is closing the “limited by budget” loophole. The bidding algorithm will now force your performance to match your stated targets (CPA or ROAS) rather than cherry-picking the cheapest ...