# The SEM Dispatch > An open, community-contributed publication for search engine marketing. Vetted practitioners, editor-reviewed, paid-media led. The SEM Dispatch is published by SEM Community. Search engine marketing, written by the people who actually run the accounts. Every piece is written by a vetted practitioner with at least 1 year in the field and is reviewed by an editor before it goes to press. Content policy: you may read, index, quote and cite this content with attribution to the author and a link to the canonical article URL below. Do not reproduce full articles. Key resources: - Front page: https://www.semdispatch.com/ - Authors register: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors - The Vault (scripts, queries, workflows and prompts): https://www.semdispatch.com/vault - The Jobs Board (search marketing roles): https://www.semdispatch.com/jobs - Contribute: https://www.semdispatch.com/contribute - Sitemap: https://www.semdispatch.com/sitemap.xml - Main RSS feed: https://www.semdispatch.com/rss.xml - Latest articles feed: https://www.semdispatch.com/feed.xml - Paid Media RSS feed: https://www.semdispatch.com/feeds/paid-media - SEO RSS feed: https://www.semdispatch.com/feeds/seo - AI & Automation RSS feed: https://www.semdispatch.com/feeds/ai-automation ## Sections - Paid Media: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media: The flagship desk. Strategy, structure and hard-won field notes from practitioners who run the accounts, across search, social, programmatic and video. - News: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/news: What changed this week, and why it matters to your accounts. - Strategy: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/strategy: Account architecture, budget logic and the thinking behind the tactics. - Measurement: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/measurement: Attribution, incrementality and the experiments that prove what your spend really drives. - PPC: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc: Search advertising, from match types to bidding to query mining. - Display Ads: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/display-ads: Display planning, creative and measurement that actually holds up. - Programmatic: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/programmatic: DSPs, supply paths and the operational reality of programmatic buying. - Social Media Advertising: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/social-media-advertising: Paid social across Meta, LinkedIn and the rest of the feed. - Video Advertising: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/video-advertising: YouTube and the wider video funnel, planned and measured properly. - TikTok Search: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/tiktok-search: The emerging search surface inside TikTok, treated as a performance play. - SEO: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo: Technical depth and editorial judgement for search. Algorithm shifts, site health and the link and content work that compounds over years. - News: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/news: Algorithm updates, SERP shifts and the platform changes that move rankings. - Enterprise SEO: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/enterprise-seo: SEO at scale, where process and politics matter as much as tactics. - Google Algorithm Updates: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/google-algorithm-updates: Reading the updates without the panic, and what to do next. - International SEO: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/international-seo: Hreflang, market structure and multi-region search done right. - Link Building: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/link-building: Digital PR and the honest end of earning authority. - Local SEO: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/local-seo: Maps, profiles and the signals that move the local pack. - On-Page: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/on-page: Content, structure and the on-page craft search still rewards. - AI Search & GEO: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/ai-search: Generative search, AI Overviews and the GEO and AEO work that earns the citation. - Mobile SEO Strategy: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/mobile-seo-strategy: Mobile-first realities, from rendering to performance. - Technical SEO: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/technical-seo: Crawl, render, index: the engineering side of search. - Web Dev for SEO: https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/web-dev-for-seo: Where front-end decisions meet search outcomes. - AI & Automation: https://www.semdispatch.com/ai-automation: Where AI and automation actually meet the work. Generative search and GEO, the AI layer inside the ad platforms, and the scripts and workflows that take the manual graft out of the account. - News: https://www.semdispatch.com/ai-automation/news: Model launches, AI search moves and the platform shifts that change the playbook. - AI in Advertising: https://www.semdispatch.com/ai-automation/ai-advertising: AI Max, Advantage+, automated bidding and generative creative across the ad platforms. - Automation & Scripts: https://www.semdispatch.com/ai-automation/automation: Google Ads Scripts, GAQL, n8n and the workflows that take the manual work out of the account. - Content (desk opening soon): https://www.semdispatch.com/content: Editorial craft for search marketers. The content desk is opening soon; contributions are welcome. - News: https://www.semdispatch.com/content/news: What is changing in content, and how it lands. - Content Strategy: https://www.semdispatch.com/content/strategy - Editorial Craft: https://www.semdispatch.com/content/editorial-craft - Social (desk opening soon): https://www.semdispatch.com/social: Community and organic social for marketers. The social desk is opening soon; contributions are welcome. - News: https://www.semdispatch.com/social/news: Platform changes and the social moves worth knowing. - Community: https://www.semdispatch.com/social/community - Organic Social: https://www.semdispatch.com/social/organic-social ## Paid Media articles - How Feed Optimisation Drove 37% More Revenue, Beating Peak Season: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/how-feed-optimisation-drove-37-more-revenue-beating-peak-season: Google only knows what your feed tells it. Recategorising one client's 17K-product feed, no-bid, budget, or structure changes, drove +37% revenue and +32% ROAS, beating the previous peak season. Here's how it works. - How to Run a Paid Search Experiment You Can Actually Trust: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/measurement/how-to-run-a-paid-search-experiment-you-can-actually-trust: How to design a Google Ads experiment you can trust, choose the goal metric that keeps you honest, and act on a result that comes back inconclusive. - tCPA and tROAS Are Getting a Makeover. Here Is What to Do Before 17 August: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/news/tcpa-and-troas-are-getting-a-makeover-here-is-what-to-do-before-17-august: If your budget-limited campaigns have been beating their tCPA or tROAS targets, Google will start enforcing the number in settings from 17 August. Here is what to review and adjust before the deadline. - How two months running ChatGPT Ads had me unlearning Google Ads: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/how-two-months-running-chatgpt-ads-had-me-unlearning-google-ads: Every PPC instinct you have built on years of Google habits breaks on ChatGPT Ads, and this piece maps where. - Why Being Great At Google Ads Isn’t Enough: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/why-being-great-at-google-ads-isnt-enough: The best PPC results don’t come from better bidding strategies alone. They come from understanding the business behind the account, asking better questions and building the relationships that give you the answers. - Are AI Overviews Killing Your PPC Performance? What The Data Tells Us: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/are-ai-overviews-killing-your-ppc-performance-what-the-data-tells-us: Find out how AIOs are disrupting PPC performance, and what actions you can take today to protect your campaigns. - AI Max for Search Is No Longer Optional: What the September Migration Means for Every Advertiser: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/ai-max-for-search-is-no-longer-optional-what-the-september-migration-means-for-every-advertiser: Google is auto-migrating DSA, broad match, and auto-assets to AI Max from September 2026. Here is what you actually control, and how to migrate on your own terms first. - The Death of Last-Click: a Measurement Model Your CFO Will Trust: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/measurement/death-of-last-click: Attribution has quietly become a board-level argument. A pragmatic, defensible framework for moving beyond last-click without losing the finance team's confidence, drawn from three years of rebuilding measurement at scale. - Performance Max Gets Real Controls: Campaign-Level Negatives, Brand Exclusions, and Channel Reporting Are Now Live: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/performance-max-negative-keywords-brand-controls-2026: Campaign-level negative keywords, granular brand exclusions, and channel-level reporting have all landed in Performance Max. Here is what actually changed and how to use it. - What Andromeda Actually Changed and What Your Account Structure Should Look Like Now: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/social-media-advertising/andromeda-account-structure-post-2025: Andromeda rewired what Meta optimises for. Most accounts still fight the algorithm. Here is the structural response that actually works in 2026. - Meta's AI Creative Stack in 2026 Is a Volume Lever, Not a Magic Button: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/social-media-advertising/meta-ai-creative-tools-2026-volume-strategy: Meta's generative AI tools doubled adoption to 8 million advertisers in four months. They are genuinely useful, but not for the reason most coverage suggests. - YouTube Shorts as a lower-funnel channel: what the data actually shows: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/video-advertising/youtube-shorts-lower-funnel: YouTube Shorts inventory has matured enough to evaluate seriously as a performance channel. The CPMs are lower than long-form, the audience size is substantial, and there is now enough campaign data to understand when it earns its place in a media plan. - Performance Max versus Standard Shopping: a decision framework for ecommerce teams: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/pmax-vs-standard-shopping-decision-framework: The debate about Performance Max versus Standard Shopping campaigns has produced more heat than light. The honest answer depends on the account, the catalogue and the measurement setup. A structured framework for making the right call for your specific situation. - Auditing your Advantage+ Shopping campaigns before they quietly waste your budget: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/social-media-advertising/meta-advantage-plus-shopping-audit: Advantage+ Shopping campaigns are Meta's version of Performance Max: powerful when structured correctly, capable of spending inefficiently when left to their own devices. A systematic audit checklist for accounts that have been running ASC for three months or more. - Performance Max feed architecture: the variables Google does not tell you about: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/performance-max-feed-architecture: Most Performance Max underperformance is a feed problem. The campaign structure and bidding get the attention, but it is the product data quality, title logic and custom labels that determine what gets served, to whom and at what margin. - Geo holdout testing: a practitioner's guide to your first run: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/measurement/geo-holdout-testing-first-run: Geo holdout tests are the closest thing paid media has to a controlled experiment. Here is the operational detail most guides skip: how to design a valid test, pick your markets, set your confidence threshold and read the results without fooling yourself. - Broad match deserves a second look, with the right safeguards in place: https://www.semdispatch.com/paid-media/ppc/broad-match-second-look: Broad match has a reputation it mostly earned in 2018. The match type has changed significantly, and dismissing it entirely is leaving incremental volume on the table. Here is how to give it a fair trial without blowing your budget on irrelevant queries. ## SEO articles - Stop Clicking, Start Prompting: How I Use GSC’s New AI Features (Agency vs. In-House Playbook): https://www.semdispatch.com/seo/ai-search/stop-clicking-start-prompting-how-i-use-gscs-new-ai-features-agency-vs-in-house-playbook: You'll know exactly how to use GSC's AI Configuration Bar and Generative AI reports to work faster, report smarter, and optimise for Google's AI-driven search experience. ## The Vault (working tools library) - Google Ads Scripts: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts: Copy-paste Google Ads Scripts for monitoring, reporting and housekeeping. Read-only by default: every script reports before it ever touches an account. - Account Anomaly Pulse: compare yesterday with the last four of the same weekday: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/account-anomaly-pulse: A read-only Google Ads Script that measures yesterday's cost, clicks and conversions against the average of the same weekday over the previous four weeks, and flags any metric that has drifted past your tolerance. - Negative keyword conflicts manager (MCC level): find the negatives blocking your own traffic: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/adsscripts-negative-conflicts-mcc: An Adsscripts.com tool that scans every account under an MCC for negative keywords silently blocking active keywords and search terms. - Brainlabs' Google Ads Scripts repo: an agency's working code, versioned on GitHub: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/brainlabs-google-ads-scripts: Brainlabs Digital's open-source GitHub repository consolidating its published Google Ads scripts into one maintained, version-controlled collection. - Budget Pacing Guardian: know by 9am if the month is drifting: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/budget-pacing-guardian: A read-only Google Ads Script that compares month-to-date spend with where the month should be, projects the landing figure, and emails you when the pace drifts. - Change History Sentinel: know within hours who changed what in the account: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/change-history-sentinel-script: A read-only script that queries the change_event log every few hours and emails you when someone makes a burst of edits or removes a campaign or budget. - Disapproval Sentinel: know the morning an ad gets knocked back: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/disapproval-sentinel: A read-only Google Ads Script that checks every serving ad for a disapproval or a limited-serving status each day, lists the policy topics behind each one, and optionally emails you the digest. - Final URL Health Checker: catch the broken landing pages before your spend does: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/final-url-health-checker: A read-only Google Ads Script that gathers the final URLs from your enabled keywords and ads, requests each one, and flags any answering 4xx or 5xx into a Google Sheet and optional email. - Geo Waste Finder: the locations quietly spending your budget with nothing to show: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/geo-waste-finder-script: A read-only Google Ads Script that ranks every location by spend against conversions, writes the worst offenders to a Sheet and optionally emails the wasted-spend list. - Google's Ads Scripts solutions gallery: the first-party starting point: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/google-ads-solutions-gallery: Google's own gallery of ready-made Ads Scripts for anomaly detection, budget management and reporting, installable straight from the Ads UI documentation. - Nils Rooijmans' free Google Ads scripts list: the community's standing index: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/nils-rooijmans-scripts-list: A curated index of 400-plus free Google Ads scripts covering bidding, ad testing and reporting, maintained by a dedicated Ads scripting specialist since 2019. - PMax Insights by Mike Rhodes: the Performance Max report Google does not give you: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/pmax-insights-script-mike-rhodes: The community's standard script for splitting Performance Max spend and results by channel, with search category and asset group detail written to a Google Sheet. - RSA Asset Auditor: list every headline Google has quietly rated LOW: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/rsa-asset-auditor-script: A read-only script that reads responsive search ad asset ratings, lists every headline and description Google has labelled LOW to a Sheet, and never touches the ads. - Search Terms N-gram Auditor: find the wasteful words hiding across your queries: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/search-terms-ngram-auditor: A read-only Google Ads Script that breaks 30 days of search terms into one, two and three word n-grams, ranks the spend that converts nothing, and writes the full table to a Google Sheet. - Shabba's Placement Exclusions script: cleaning junk placements across PMax and Demand Gen: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/shabba-placement-exclusions: A free, open-source Google Ads Script that scans placements across Display, Performance Max and Demand Gen and semi-automates excluding the junk, from a maintainer still shipping in 2026. - Vallaeys' PMax search-terms-to-Sheet gist: the category box Google keeps shut: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/google-ads-scripts/vallaeys-pmax-category-terms: A free Google Ads Script gist from Frederick Vallaeys that pulls Performance Max search terms and category labels into a Sheet, prising open a box Google's reporting keeps shut. - GAQL Library: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/gaql: Ready-to-run Google Ads Query Language for the reports the UI does not want to give you. Paste into the API, scripts or your favourite runner. - GAQL account hygiene: disapprovals, budget caps, conversions and change history: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/gaql/gaql-account-hygiene-pack: Four read-only queries that surface disapproved ads, budget-constrained campaigns, the state of your conversion actions and who changed what recently. - Asset performance across RSA and Performance Max, in one query set: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/gaql/gaql-asset-performance-pack: Ready-to-run GAQL for creative asset ratings across responsive search ads and Performance Max asset groups, so you can find weak headlines and images in one query set. - Demand Gen performance: the GAQL to break open a single-line campaign: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/gaql/gaql-demand-gen-performance-pack: A cookbook of Demand Gen GAQL queries that splits spend, conversions, asset ratings and audiences out of the campaign line Google reports as a single figure. - GAQL for Performance Max: seeing what the black box will let you see: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/gaql/gaql-pmax-visibility-pack: A pack of read-only queries that pull asset-group performance, the listing-group tree and campaign spend out of Performance Max, with an honest map of where the API stops. - GAQL waste finder: four queries for the spend that earns nothing: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/gaql/gaql-waste-finder-pack: A pack of read-only Google Ads queries that surface search terms, keywords, placements and whole campaigns taking budget while returning no conversions. - GAQL query overview and the interactive query builder: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/gaql/google-gaql-query-builder: Google's own reference for the Google Ads Query Language, paired with an interactive builder for constructing and validating queries against the current API version. - SEO Toolkit: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo: Search Console exports, redirect maps, crawl checks and the small scripts that save an afternoon of spreadsheet drudgery. - advertools: the Python toolkit that replaces a drawer of SEO scripts: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/advertools-python: An open-source Python package for crawling, sitemap and robots.txt analysis, SERP tooling and log-file parsing, all under one pip install. - ai.robots.txt: drop-in files to block the AI crawlers you do not want: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/ai-robots-txt: A community-maintained, continuously updated list of AI crawlers, shipped as drop-in robots.txt, htaccess, Nginx and Caddy files so you can block or allow AI bots in minutes. - Cloudflare AI Crawl Control: see which AI bots read your site, and gate them: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/cloudflare-ai-crawl-control: A Cloudflare feature, free on every plan, that shows exactly which AI crawlers hit your site and lets you allow or block them per bot with one click. - Search Console Bulk Export to BigQuery: unsampled search data, past the row cap: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/gsc-bulk-export-bigquery: Google Search Console's own feature that schedules a free daily export of full, unsampled search performance data into a BigQuery dataset you own, past the thousand-row UI cap. - GSC winners and losers: the 28-day click swing, written to a Sheet: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/gsc-winners-losers-apps-script: A Google Apps Script that reads Search Console for the last 28 days against the prior 28, computes the click deltas by query and page, and writes Winners and Losers tabs. - Internal-Link Opportunity Finder: the pages that mention a term but never link to it: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/internal-link-opportunity-finder: A Python script that cross-references your ranking queries against a site crawl to find pages that mention a term but do not yet link to the page ranking for it. - Lee Foot's search-solved: five years of a working consultant's SEO scripts: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/lee-foot-seo-scripts: A public GitHub repository of over 100 Python scripts, Streamlit apps and mini-APIs for keyword research, content analysis, redirect mapping and site migrations. - llms.txt starter: a first draft for a publisher or brand site: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/llms-txt-starter-template: A ready-to-adapt llms.txt for a content or brand site, with a name line, a short summary, and grouped link sections, plus honest guidance on what to include and what to leave out. - Redirect map builder: match old URLs to new ones before a migration: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/redirect-map-builder-python: A dependency-light Python script that matches an old URL list to a new one, exact first then fuzzy, and writes a redirect map plus a list of everything it could not place. - Automating the URL Inspection API: Screaming Frog's guide to bulk index checks: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/screaming-frog-url-inspection-api: The reference tutorial for bulk-checking indexing status through Google's URL Inspection API in the SEO Spider, including working within the 2,000 URLs per day quota. - Search Analytics for Sheets: bulk Search Console data without the export cap: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/search-analytics-for-sheets: A free Google Sheets add-on that pulls query, page, device and country Search Console data straight into a spreadsheet, past the UI's export limit, with scheduled backups. - Striking Distance: the Search Console queries sitting just off page one: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/seo/striking-distance-gsc-apps-script: A Google Apps Script that pulls Search Console data into a Sheet and lists every query ranking between positions eight and twenty with impressions worth chasing. - Analytics & Measurement: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics: GA4 BigQuery SQL, tagging utilities and consent-safe measurement patterns, written for people who have to defend the numbers. - dbt-ga4: the community standard for modelling the GA4 BigQuery export: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/dbt-ga4-package: A dbt package that turns the raw GA4 BigQuery export into report-ready models for sessions, users, ecommerce and attribution. - GA4 BigQuery starter pack: unnest event_params, count users, rank pages: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/ga4-bigquery-starter-pack: Three foundation queries for the GA4 BigQuery export: the event_params unnesting pattern, daily users and sessions, and top pages by view, all with a date filter that controls scan cost. - GA4 channel and campaign SQL: session source, medium and conversions from BigQuery: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/ga4-channel-campaign-sql: Session-scoped source, medium and campaign reporting from the GA4 BigQuery export, aggregating sessions and conversions per channel, with an honest note on why it will not tie out to the GA4 UI. - GA4 Data-Quality Auditor: the BigQuery checks to run before you trust the numbers: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/ga4-data-quality-auditor-sql: BigQuery SQL that audits your GA4 export for unassigned traffic, missing event parameters, possible PII in page URLs and broken purchase revenue before anyone trusts the dashboard. - GA4 purchase funnel SQL: view_item to purchase with step conversion rates: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/ga4-purchase-funnel-sql: A BigQuery ecommerce funnel across view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout and purchase, counting distinct users per step and the step-to-step drop, using conditional aggregation instead of fragile joins. - The GA4 sample ecommerce dataset: a free BigQuery sandbox for practising SQL: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/ga4-sample-ecommerce-dataset: Google's free public BigQuery dataset of obfuscated Merchandise Store GA4 events, the standard sandbox for practising GA4 SQL with no live property and no setup cost. - GA4BigQuery.com: tutorials built specifically for the raw export: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/ga4bigquery-tutorials: A dedicated tutorial site of example SQL and lessons for querying the raw GA4 BigQuery export, with interviews from the dbt/GA4 ecosystem. - GA4Dataform Community: raw GA4 export into clean session and user models: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/ga4dataform-community: An open-source Dataform package that turns raw GA4 BigQuery export tables into clean session, user and event models, maintained by a team of well-known GA4 analytics engineers. - GA4SQL: a no-code builder for GA4 BigQuery queries: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/ga4sql-query-builder: Pick metrics, dimensions and a date range in a form, and this free tool generates the matching GA4 BigQuery SQL for you. - The GTM Community Template Gallery: install before you hand-code a tag: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/gtm-community-template-gallery: Google's official directory of community-built GTM tag and variable templates, web and server-side, that install straight into a container instead of a hand-coded custom HTML tag. - Simo Ahava's Consent Mode template for Google Tag Manager: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/analytics/simo-ahava-consent-mode-template: The community-gallery GTM template for Google Consent Mode, adjusting tag behaviour from the visitor's recorded consent state. - Paid Social: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social: Meta and paid-social working papers: signal debugging, naming governance and creative-testing structure that survives contact with a real account. - Hook Rate and Hold Rate: a Sheets calculator for paid-social creative: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/creative-hook-rate-calculator: A Google Sheets template that turns a Meta Ads Manager export into hook rate, hold rate and cost per ThruPlay, so creative decisions rest on retention, not gut feel. - Creative-testing log: the column set that keeps a test honest: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/creative-testing-log-template: The exact columns for a paid-social testing sheet, plus the three decision rules that stop a test being read too early, judged on the wrong number, or forgotten before it teaches you anything. - Meta Conversions API Gateway via Stape: a practitioner's setup guide: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/jon-loomer-capi-gateway: A step-by-step walkthrough of implementing Meta's Conversions API Gateway through Stape, aimed at lifting Event Match Quality without hand-rolling a server. - Meta Ad Library: every live Facebook and Instagram ad, free to search: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/meta-ad-library: Meta's official public database of every active ad on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, searchable by advertiser, keyword and country with no login, the baseline paid-social spy tool. - Meta Business SDK for Python: the official way to pull your own ads data: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/meta-business-sdk-python: Meta's official Python SDK for the Marketing, Conversions and Pages APIs, the first-party way to pull ads data for custom reporting without a third-party wrapper that breaks on API changes. - Meta's Conversions API best practices: the reference every CAPI guide cites: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/meta-capi-best-practices: Meta's own documentation on implementing the Conversions API correctly and improving Event Match Quality, the baseline every third-party CAPI tutorial is checked against. - Meta signal health checklist: what to check before you blame the algorithm: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/meta-signal-health-checklist: A working checklist for Meta pixel and Conversions API signal quality, covering event match quality, deduplication, advanced matching and the consent-mode interaction that quietly zeroes your EU signal. - TikTok Creative Center Top Ads: what is actually winning right now: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/tiktok-creative-center-top-ads: TikTok's official gallery of high-performing auction ads pulled from real campaigns, filterable by industry, region, objective and format, free to browse with no ads account. - UTM governance pack: one naming convention and the formulas that enforce it: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/paid-social/utm-governance-pack: A naming convention for paid-social UTMs plus a few Google Sheets validation formulas that flag a broken tag before it ships, so your reporting stops splitting one campaign across nine spellings. - Email & CRM: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/email: Open-source email frameworks, proven transactional templates and lifecycle patterns that hold up in every client, Outlook included. - Maizzle: Tailwind utility classes for production email: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/email/maizzle: An email framework that pairs Tailwind utility classes with an automated build pipeline, the best fit for teams already on Tailwind who want utility-class email authoring. - MJML: the established markup framework for bulletproof email HTML: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/email/mjml: A markup language and compiler that turns semantic tags into bulletproof responsive email HTML, the most established open-source email framework with a deep template ecosystem. - React Email: components for mail that survives Gmail and Outlook: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/email/react-email: Resend's unstyled React and TypeScript components for building emails that survive Gmail, Outlook and dark mode, the modern standard for transactional mail in a React codebase. - A transactional receipt component in React Email, ready to send: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/email/transactional-receipt-react-email: A ready-to-ship React Email receipt component with a typed props interface that renders order line items and totals, and survives Gmail and Outlook. - Automation & n8n: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation: Importable n8n workflows and automation recipes for monitoring, digests and reporting. Bring your own credentials; the wiring is done. - Awesome n8n templates: 280+ free workflows, organised by use case: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/awesome-n8n-templates: A curated, continuously updated GitHub collection of free n8n templates spanning marketing, sales, content and operations automation. - IndexNow Submitter: an n8n flow that pings the engines the moment a page ships: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/indexnow-submitter-n8n: An importable n8n flow that watches your sitemap, spots new or changed URLs and pings IndexNow so Bing and Yandex hear about a page the moment it ships. - Meta Spend Anomaly to Slack: an n8n early-warning for the day the spend jumps: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/meta-spend-anomaly-slack-n8n: An importable n8n flow that reads Meta account insights daily, compares yesterday against the trailing week and posts to Slack when spend swings beyond your threshold. - Search Console weekly movers: the queries that gained and lost, emailed every Monday: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/n8n-gsc-weekly-movers: A weekly n8n workflow that pulls the last 28 days of Search Console clicks against the 28 before, writes the biggest query winners and losers to a Google Sheet, and emails the top movers. - Zero-click query tracker: an n8n flow for brand-new Search Console queries: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/n8n-gsc-zero-click-queries: A free n8n workflow that finds brand-new Search Console queries from the last week and splits them into zero-click and already-clicking, surfacing emerging keyword opportunities daily. - Competitor Meta creatives to Telegram: an n8n ad-library watcher: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/n8n-meta-ads-creative-monitor: A free n8n workflow that watches the Meta Ads Library for new creatives from named competitors, logs them to a Sheet and alerts on Telegram with just the new-ad count. - Platform changelog watcher: a daily digest of the ad-platform news that matters: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/n8n-platform-changelog-watcher: A daily n8n workflow that reads your chosen ad-platform news feeds, keeps only the items matching a keyword list, and emails a short digest on the mornings when something actually changed. - PPC campaign intelligence: Google Ads scored daily to Sheets and Slack: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/n8n-ppc-campaign-intelligence: A daily n8n workflow that scores Google Ads performance against a rules system, logs it to Sheets, and alerts Slack on wasted spend or scaling openings. - Google Ads search term triage with Gemini, posted to Slack: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/n8n-search-terms-gemini-slack: An n8n workflow that fetches Google Ads search terms, has Gemini flag wasted spend and opportunity terms, and posts the sorted list straight to Slack. - Automate SEO reporting with Search Console, GA4 and Sheets: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/n8n-seo-reporting-gsc-ga4: An n8n workflow template that pulls Search Console rankings and GA4 organic traffic on a schedule and writes both into a shared Google Sheet. - Sitemap diff monitor: know the moment a page appears or disappears: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/automation/n8n-sitemap-diff-monitor: A daily n8n workflow that fetches your sitemap, compares the URL list against yesterday's run held in workflow static data, and emails you when pages appear or disappear. - AI Prompts & Skills: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts: Working prompts and agent skills for marketing tasks, written to be edited, not worshipped. Every card states its inputs and its failure modes. - Aleyda Solis' AI prompt generator for SEO and digital marketing: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/aleyda-solis-prompt-generator: An interactive tool that builds tailored AI prompts for SEO and digital marketing tasks, teaching sound prompt construction rather than handing over a canned template. - Anthropic's Agent Skills repo: the spec and template for your own Claude skills: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/anthropic-agent-skills: Anthropic's official repository of Agent Skills, the reusable instruction folders Claude loads on demand, plus the Skills spec and a template for building your own marketing skills. - Copyhackers' AI prompt library: conversion frameworks turned into prompts: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/copyhackers-ai-prompts: A free library of AI prompts built from Copyhackers' own conversion-copywriting frameworks, covering voice of customer, value proposition, headlines, and landing pages. - A Google Ads account-audit Claude Skill, as a SKILL.md you can edit: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/google-ads-audit-skill: A complete Claude Agent Skill, delivered as a SKILL.md file, that walks an agent through a structured Google Ads account audit and names the GAQL resources to pull. - The official Google Ads MCP server: your account, in an agent's hands: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/google-ads-mcp-server: Google's official Google Ads API MCP server, giving an AI agent tools to search accounts and fetch resource data straight from the API, announced on the Ads Developer Blog. - The official Google Analytics MCP: query GA4 straight from Claude: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/google-analytics-mcp-server: Google Analytics' own MCP server, exposing GA4 report and realtime tools so Claude or Cursor can query your Analytics data directly without writing API glue. - Landing page teardown: a severity-ranked read against the ad promise: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/landing-page-teardown-prompt: Paste the page copy and the promise your ad makes, and get a ranked teardown across message match, clarity, evidence, friction and forms, ending with the three fixes to make first. - MarketingSkills: Corey Haines' marketing playbook as open-source Claude Skills: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/marketingskills-claude-skills: An open-source collection of Claude Skills covering CRO, copywriting, SEO, analytics and growth engineering, built by the founder of Swipe Files. - Meta Ads MCP by Pipeboard: manage campaigns from an AI assistant: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/meta-ads-mcp-pipeboard: An MCP server that lets an AI assistant manage Meta campaigns end to end, launch, upload creatives, adjust budgets and pull performance, built by a badged Meta Business Partner. - Monthly account narrative: a client-ready story the data actually supports: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/monthly-account-narrative-prompt: Paste a KPI table with month-on-month and year-on-year columns and get a 250-word narrative of what happened, why, and what comes next, with invented causes forbidden. - RSA copywriter: 15 headlines and 4 descriptions that fit the first time: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/rsa-copywriter-prompt: A prompt that turns a product, an audience and your proof points into responsive search ad assets inside the character limits, with a self-check pass that recounts every length. - Search term clusterer: themes, spend totals and a keep, negate or watch verdict: https://www.semdispatch.com/vault/ai-prompts/search-term-clusterer-prompt: Paste a search terms export and get themed clusters with spend totals, a verdict per cluster, proposed negatives with match types, and the assumptions the model made to get there. ## Authors - Alex Aguirre: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/alex-aguirre: 🌐Experienced Global Paid Media Manager with a strong background in digital marketing and PPC. Starting as a freelance graphic designer, I advanced to marketing roles in both Spain and the UK, eventually specializing in search marketing. My career includes positions at leading agencies like Dentsu, where I quickly moved up to be Senior Paid Search Analyst, and my current role at FlixBus managing the global paid media strategy for over 40 markets. 💡My expertise spans strategy development, PPC management, and data analysis, with certifications in Google Ads and a solid foundation in web design and development. - Ana Kostic: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/ana-kostic: Ana Kostic has been inside Google Ads, Meta Ads (and other Ads) accounts since 2009, long enough to stop trusting the default dashboard and start asking what a number actually means. She is the Co-founder and Head of Paid Media at bigmomo in Spain, where she still runs live accounts and leads the PPC team. She writes from the unglamorous end of paid media: budget pacing when spend drifts, reporting that survives a platform update, and whether the CRM agrees with what Ads Manager is celebrating. Search, Shopping, Performance Max and lead gen across multiple markets. Give her a spreadsheet, a business target and a problem that needs fixing before end of day, and she is in her element. - Azeem Ahmad: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/azeem-ahmad: Azeem Ahmad joins The SEM Dispatch. - Carmen Domínguez: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/carmen-dominguez: Carmen Domínguez joins The SEM Dispatch. - Craig Graham: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/craig-graham-2: Craig Graham is the co-founder of Grayvault Consulting, a paid media and attribution consultancy working across e-commerce, lead generation, and healthcare. He has spent 15 years running paid media (Search, Shopping, PMAX, YouTube, Meta/Facebook, ChatGPT, and others) accounts, with a focus on the measurement and account-structure problems that show up once spend gets serious. He works mostly with complex, multi-location and high-spend advertisers, and writes about attribution, experiment design, and the gap between what platforms report and what actually drives revenue. - Dan Truman: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/dan-truman: Dan Truman joins The SEM Dispatch. - Dez Calton: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/dez-calton: Dez Calton is the founder of Precisionly, a PPC consultancy specialising in helping businesses improve efficiency and commercial performance from their paid media. With more than 15 years’ experience and over £40 million in managed ad spend across GoogleAds, Microsoft Ads and more, Dez has worked with businesses ranging from ambitious startups to multi-million-pound brands. A regular industry speaker, including Hero Conf, Paid Search Association, PPC Live and BrightonSEO, Dez is passionate about turning advertising spend into measurable business outcomes through relevance, commercial thinking and continuous optimisation rather than chasing the latest trends. - Gabriella Earl: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/gabriella-earl: Gabriella Earl joins The SEM Dispatch. - Georgi Zayakov: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/georgi-zayakov: Georgi Zayakov joins The SEM Dispatch. - Hannah Strong: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/hannah-strong: Hannah Strong is a Google & LinkedIn Ads Consultant for Brands with Local Customers. She's based in Newcastle, UK and has 14 years experience supporting direct clients and agencies exceed their lead gen, revenue, ROAS, brand awareness and footfall objectives. - Heidi Sturrock: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/heidi-sturrock: Heidi Sturrock joins The SEM Dispatch. - Indi Rai: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/indi-rai-2: Indi Rai is Head of Digital. - Jamie Edwardson: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/jamie-edwardson: Jamie Edwardson joins The SEM Dispatch. - Joss Froggatt: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/joss-froggatt: Joss Froggatt is a Product Marketing Manager at Adthena and a multi award-winning paid search mind. He spent years in the PPC trenches at leading UK agencies. Before this Joss served as a police officer. This background gave him an unconventional edge in threat detection and behavioural analysis. He translates this investigative mindset into modern search strategy, and has a big fascination around the decision making process. His day job sees him delivering top notch positioning, enablement and GTM for AI Search products. - Konstantinos Papadopoulos: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/konstantinos-papadopoulos-2: Konstantinos Papadopoulos joins The SEM Dispatch. - Kyryl Terletskyi: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/kyryl-terletskyi: Senior Paid Marketing Specialist at Pivotal with 5+ years of experience running performance-driven PPC campaigns across Google Ads, Meta Ads, and Microsoft Ads. I specialise in Google Shopping, PMax, and feed optimisation, managing a diverse portfolio of e-commerce and lead generation clients. Based in Norwich, UK, I combine data-driven strategy with hands-on campaign execution to maximise ROI and client results. - Lee Britton: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/lee-britton: Lee Britton joins The SEM Dispatch. - Lorenzo Bonari: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/lorenzo-bonari: Being a guy who loves making pivot tables almost as much as he loves making music, I have learned to apply my creative mind to very technical tasks, enabling me to find alternative solutions to most problems. - Matt Beswick: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/matt-beswick: Matt Beswick joins The SEM Dispatch. - Mery Hayles: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/mery-hayles: With a background managing millions in ad spend for major brands, Mery Hayles is an ex-agency PPC expert turned Senior Product Marketing Manager at Adthena - the AI search intelligence platform used by enterprise brands and agencies to track competitive paid search activity across Google and emerging AI surfaces. She specialises in translating search intelligence into actionable insight for paid search teams. - Mollie Ellerton: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/mollie-ellerton: Mollie Ellerton joins The SEM Dispatch. - Nadja Bröhr: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/nadja-brohr: Nadja Bröhr joins The SEM Dispatch. - Nathan Ifill: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/nathan-ifill: Nathan Ifill joins The SEM Dispatch. - Richard Hexter: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/richard-hexter: Richard Hexter joins The SEM Dispatch. - Scott Carruthers: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/scott-carruthers: Scott Carruthers is Senior Paid Search Director at Journey Further. - Teodor Yordanov: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/teodor-yordanov: Founder of BYLT Media, a paid media agency, and Sr. Partner at the performance marketing consultancy Marketise Me; I organises SEM Stories & More, Scotland's dedicated performance marketing conference, and serve as Reviewing Editor of The SEM Dispatch. - Vassi Marinova-Kaseva: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/vassi-marinova-kaseva-2: Vassi Marinova-Kaseva is a Senior SEO Manager at Merkle Bulgaria, part of Dentsu, with over 15 years of experience in search marketing. She specialises in both SEO and PPC, recognising that organic and paid search work together as part of a holistic search strategy to better understand user intent and maximise online visibility. Alongside her expertise in technical SEO, content strategy, and search performance, Vassi actively works with the evolving landscape of AI-powered search, including Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Large Language Models (LLMs), helping businesses adapt to the future of search. She is also the SEO & PPC expert behind Bulgaria's leading educational platform, Ucha.se, and its international counterpart, Eduboom, where she drives sustainable organic growth and paid search performance across multiple markets. - Winnie Ho: https://www.semdispatch.com/authors/winnie-ho: Winnie Ho joins The SEM Dispatch.