JB’s Digital Update 7th October 2025

Google’s phasing out Call-Only Ads, GA4 still can’t behave across domains, marketers are measuring the wrong KPIs, GenAI search might ruin discovery, and TikTok just booked a flight into travel ads. Here’s what’s happening — and what smart marketers should do next.

Google’s decided it’s time to hang up on Call-Only Ads. By early 2026, you won’t be able to create new ones, and by 2027, they’ll vanish entirely. Calls will be folded into Responsive Search Ads through “call assets.” Google says this will make things simpler; in practice, it means you’ll need to rebuild your approach to call-based lead generation before the switch flips.

I’ve seen this before: when Google “simplifies,” advertisers lose a little more control and data visibility. For anyone who relies on phone leads — think local services, restaurants, medical practices, or high-touch consultancies — this isn’t just a format change. It’s a full rethink of how to track, attribute, and optimise for real-world calls.

If you’re still running call-only campaigns, the clock’s ticking. Start converting them into RSAs with call assets, test them side-by-side, and make sure your call conversion tracking actually works. The last thing you want is to lose attribution overnight because Google decided to tidy the ad menu.

If your campaigns rely on the phone ringing, now’s the moment to update your Search & PPC Strategy. Let’s make sure your next “call” doesn’t go unanswered.

GA4’s cross-domain tracking continues to trip people up. It’s the bit that tells Google Analytics a user who moves from brandA.com to checkout.brandB.com is the same person — not three new ones. Without it, you end up with fractured sessions, broken attribution, and bad decisions built on dodgy data.

It’s mind-numbingly dull to set up, but it’s essential. I’ve worked with brands that lost a third of their apparent conversions because GA4 treated internal navigation as “new users.” If your business spans multiple domains, regions, or brands, you can’t afford to skip this.

Take a couple of hours this week to audit your GA4 tagging. Add your referral exclusions, check user flows in real-time, and test across mobile and desktop. Think of it as a dental clean for your analytics — boring, but you’ll regret skipping it later.

Data should tell the truth, not a convenient story. If you’re not confident it does, it’s time to look at Analytics & Performance. I’ll help you turn your tracking setup from guesswork into something you can actually act on.

Cost-per-conversion feels like a solid KPI — until you realise it’s tricking you. When you obsess over the lowest cost possible, you end up teaching ad systems to chase only the easy wins. Sure, your numbers look pretty, but your growth flatlines.

I’ve seen too many teams throttle performance because they celebrated efficiency over scale. The smarter play is to treat cost-per-conversion as a guardrail, not a finish line. Define your profitable limit, then focus on volume and quality within that range. That’s where meaningful growth hides — not in shaving two dollars off a lead.

Here’s a simple test: raise your budget by 10% and watch what happens. If your cost goes up slightly but total revenue jumps, you’ve just found profit left on the table. That’s the part the “cheap” strategy misses.

If your campaigns are stuck in efficiency mode, it’s time for a reset. Let’s talk about Digital Marketing Strategy and get your metrics pointing toward outcomes that actually matter.

AI search is being sold as a revolution — “Ask a question, get one neat answer.” The problem is that neat answers flatten everything. GenAI search tools don’t just summarise; they decide what’s worth showing. That means your brand might be technically ranking… and still invisible.

This shift is a double blow: shoppers lose variety, and marketers lose visibility. AI overviews strip away nuance, options, and brand differentiation — all in the name of convenience. I’ve said it before: when a single AI answer replaces a set of search results, marketers lose both control and competition.

The fix isn’t flashy. Keep building deep, authoritative content that’s clearly attributable to your brand. Use structured data, original insights, and clear authorship. Make sure your site speaks “machine” fluently enough to earn inclusion in the AI’s data sources — or risk being summarised out of existence.

If your brand visibility depends on search, we need to talk about SEO & Content Strategy. The search landscape’s changing faster than Google admits — and being findable tomorrow starts with action today.

TikTok’s decided it wants to sell you your next holiday. The platform’s new travel ad formats let brands showcase destinations, experiences, and deals right in the feed. Given how much travel inspiration already starts on TikTok, this feels like a natural (and lucrative) next step.

For travel and hospitality marketers, this could be a goldmine — or a money pit. TikTok’s targeting engine is unmatched for discovery, but its conversion tools are still maturing. If you’re used to Meta or Google’s level of precision, expect to do more creative testing before you see consistent ROI.

That said, the timing couldn’t be better. As younger audiences use TikTok for trip planning, the brands that master vertical storytelling will win. Authentic short-form video is the new travel brochure — but you’ll need to blend creativity with data to make it profitable.

If you’re curious whether TikTok deserves a spot in your paid mix, explore my Paid Social & PPC Services. We’ll run smart experiments that tell you whether it’s worth expanding — or just another shiny distraction.

So, this week: Google’s tidying up ads (again), GA4 still needs babysitting, marketers are chasing vanity metrics, AI’s eating discovery, and TikTok’s moonlighting as a travel agent. Business as usual — if “usual” means constant reinvention.

If you’d like help making sense of any of this — or turning these shifts into strategic wins — get in touch. After twenty-odd years in this game, I can tell you: staying adaptable beats staying busy, every time.

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