Lunio

We’ve heard some 'interesting' claims about invalid traffic in recent years 🙉 Not only is disinformation around invalid traffic (IVT) misleading, it’s also costing advertisers a lot more than you probably think. For some industries, IVT is a total budget killer. Financial services advertisers, for example, face average IVT rates of 7.52%, with some campaigns seeing as much as 60% invalid traffic - imagine spending more on advertising to bots than to real people! In order to raise awareness (and set the record on IVT straight), we’ve compiled a list of the most common myths surrounding invalid traffic, and debunked them in our latest blog. Learn more using the link in the comments 👇

Should you bid on branded keywords 2025? A recent article from Search Engine Journal outlined the key benefits and drawbacks of brand bidding, sparking a discussion around whether it’s worth doing in 2025. In our latest webinar, we spoke with PPC Expert Chris Nightingale to get his take on whether businesses should bid on branded keywords next year. Here’s what he had to say: 🎯 Ultimately, yes. Bidding on your own branded keywords is typically a no-brainer—protecting profitability and ensuring your ads dominate the SERP for your brand. However, there’s one main exception: If you’re a retailer bidding on a manufacturer’s branded terms (e.g "[Your Brand] + [Manufacturer]"), tread carefully. These scenarios can: ⚠️ Strain relationships with manufacturers. ⚠️ Cause confusion about where traffic should ultimately land. 👉 Key takeaway: For your own brand, bidding is almost always a good idea. But if other stakeholders are involved, align with them to avoid potential conflicts. Missed the webinar live? Catch up on-demand or read the key takeaways via the link in the comments. 

A report from Aberdeen Strategy & Research found that web scraping impacts up to 14.7% of annual eCommerce revenue – and during events like Black Friday, bot attacks surge, with 98% of incidents involving scraping and scalping tools. Web scrapers don’t just steal your data—they can: ❌ Undercut your pricing strategy. ❌ Skew your analytics and waste your ad budget. ❌ Steal product info and intellectual property. Fortunately, there are ways businesses can fight back 💪 Our latest blog breaks down: 🔍 How web scraping works ⚖️ The gray areas between ethical, unethical, and illegal scraping 🛡️ Proven strategies to defend your site from bots and protect your revenue Find the link to the full guide in the comments 👇 Image source: Akamai 

🚀 Big News at Lunio! 🚀 We’re very excited to welcome Nick Morley as our new CEO! Nick brings over 30 years of MarTech leadership experience, having driven growth at industry giants like Adobe, Integral Ad Science, and Efficient Frontier. Nick will continue to work closely with our founder, 🌈 Neil Andrew, who is transitioning to the role of Chief Strategy Officer due to ongoing health challenges. Neil’s focus will now be on product vision and feature development, ensuring we continue to help brands extract even more business value from every dollar they spend on paid media. Nick steps into this role at a pivotal moment. With average invalid traffic rates exceeding 8.5%, businesses are collectively losing billions in wasted ad spend.  Lunio’s mission has always been to put advertisers back in control—and under Nick’s leadership, we’re doubling down on that promise. With Nick’s expertise and the continued vision of founder Neil, we’re ready to: 💡 Expand our global footprint 💡 Drive product innovation to eliminate invalid traffic 💡 Help performance marketers further maximize their returns Happy to have you lighting the path, Nick—here’s to the next chapter of innovation, growth, and empowering advertisers to drive real results 🎉 To read more about Nick’s appointment, and Lunio’s growth plans for 2025, check out the full story linked in the comments 👇

Would you advertise on Bluesky if you had the chance? 🦋 Bluesky recently announced that they're not planning to run ads on the platform anytime soon. But would you want to? Bluesky recently surged in popularity, and now has over 24 million users. Yet it's still a long way off X's estimated 588 million users. Despite this, Bluesky is shaping up to be a more appealing platform to advertise on, and more engaged users seem to be leaving X for Bluesky in droves. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this one!

Missed yesterday's branded search campaign webinar with Chris Nightingale? Watch it on-demand or get a written summary via the link in the comments 👇 In a 60 minute session, we discussed: • Why branded CPCs are rising, and actionable strategies to help negate the problem • The case for excluding branded terms from PMax campaigns • Time-saving scripts to auto-exclude negative keywords • Real-world examples of branded ad copy that converts • How Sitelink Extensions maximize ad performance • Target impression share bidding strategies to balance visibility and cost ...And a whole lot more. If you're frustrated by rising CPCs and want to improve your branded search campaigns as we step towards 2025, you won't want to miss this one. Huge thanks to Chris Nightingale for joining us, and for providing genuinely thought-provoking insights and strategies on one of the biggest challenges marketers are currently facing. Special shoutout to Teodor Yordanov for sharing his incredibly useful negative keyword script with us - a link to which can be found in our webinar recap. And finally, a big thanks to everyone who joined the session live, contributed to the ongoing discussion throughout, and provided in-depth questions for Chris to answer at the end 🙌 Link below!👇

Today's the day - join us live at 2PM GMT to discover why branded search campaigns have become so expensive, and learn actionable strategies to help combat soaring CPCs. Joining us is PPC Expert and Founder of Can-Do Digital marketing, Chris Nightingale. We'll be discussing: 📈 The underlying reasons driving the ongoing rise in branded CPCs  ⚠️ Why and how to exclude branded terms from PMax campaigns  📜 Scripts to auto-exclude negative keywords from branded campaigns  💸 Real-world examples of high-performing branded search ad copy  🔗 How to maximize visibility & ad performance with Sitelink Extensions  🎯 Target impression share bidding strategy settings for optimal performance 👇 Save your spot via the link in the comments (can't make it today? Register anyway, and we'll send you the session recording afterwards) & bring your questions - Chris will be answering them in a Q&A at the end 🚀 See you there! Image source: Search Engine Land

What is exactly is SearchGPT? Type this question into ChatGPT, and it will cheerfully tell you that “SearchGPT is like the friendly librarian of the internet, but on turbo mode and with an uncanny knack for understanding exactly what you're looking for”. …Luckily, AI is shaping up to be far more effective as a search engine than as a creative writer 😬 SearchGPT is an upcoming conversational search engine from OpenAI (and a healthy $10bn investment from Microsoft) that aims to rewrite search as we know it. While some remain skeptical, Adriaan Dekker's poll shows that the majority of marketers believe it will take traffic away from Google Ads. The question is, how much? To help marketers prepare, we've create a guide outlining everything you need to know about the upcoming search engine. Expect to learn: - What SearchGPT is, how it works, and why it’s a big deal - What performance marketers think about SearchGPT - How to optimize marketing strategies for AI search, and what marketers should be doing today - How SearchGPT is likely to impact paid media, and the marketing industry as a whole As always, a big thanks to the performance marketers who contributed to the discourse by sharing their opinions on the upcoming conversation search engine - Adriaan Dekker, Morten Kofod, Brian Stewart, Derek Merrill, Jordan Baldwin, Mazen Lahham, and Eric M. Hoover 🚀 Read the full guide via the link in the comments 👇 #SearchGPT #PerformanceMarketing #AISearch

Are branded search campaigns doomed? 🤯 Once the go-to strategy for attracting high-value customers at a low cost, branded search campaigns have seen CPCs rise exponentially in recent times. But why is this happening—and what can you do about it? 🔍 A few key drivers behind skyrocketing branded CPCs: • Increased competition - competitors are bidding more aggressively on your brand terms. • AI-driven auctions - platforms like PMax dynamically prioritize high-value outcomes, often at a higher cost. • Limited inventory - search real estate isn’t growing, but demand is—and that drives prices up. So, how can performance marketers adapt and maintain profitability? In our upcoming webinar, we’ll be sitting down with Chris Nightingale, Founder of Can-Do Digital Marketing and seasoned PPC expert. With a decade of experience working with brands like AO.com and Matalan, Chris will share actionable strategies to overcome today’s challenges. 📅 When? • Next Tuesday, December 3rd • 2pm GMT 💡 What you’ll learn: • Why branded CPCs are rising—and how to counteract them. • The case for excluding branded terms from PMax campaigns. • Time-saving scripts to auto-exclude negative keywords. • Real-world examples of branded ad copy that converts. • How Sitelink Extensions maximize ad performance. • Target impression share bidding strategies to balance visibility and cost. 💬 & Make sure to bring your questions for the live Q&A at the end 📅 Can’t make it live next Tuesday? No problem—register anyway and we’ll send the recording directly to your inbox. Register via the link in the comments 👇 #PerformanceMarketing #BrandedSearch #GoogleAds #DigitalAdvertising

Looking to drive incremental growth with PMax while protecting your brand? 🤔 During our PMax webinar earlier in the month, Lucy Smith highlighted the importance of strategically managing brand terms within your PMax campaigns. Her testing revealed that completely excluding brand terms or relying solely on standard shopping campaigns wasn't the most effective approach. Instead, she saw the most success using a hybrid strategy: • Maintain your standard PMax setup, excluding brand terms to focus on new customer acquisition. • Create a dedicated "catch-all" PMax campaign where brand terms are allowed, but only for Shopping ads. This ensures brand visibility and captures high-intent users without cannibalizing your other campaigns. This approach helps maximize reach and conversions while safeguarding your brand from irrelevant or low-value placements. Get more insights on PMax incrementality from our panel of experts on-demand via the link in the comments 👇