Cookie deprecation blinds ad platforms like Google and Meta to on-site conversion quality. Marketers can gain a significant performance edge by creating a feedback loop, pushing their attributed first-party data (like lifetime value and margins) back into the platforms' AI systems in near real-time.

Many brands use subdomains for landing pages, which often breaks data tracking back to platforms like Meta unless meticulously configured. This can result in duplicated purchase events and misreported data, causing ad platforms to optimize against an artificially high CPA and hurting performance.

New measurement tools are moving beyond probabilistic models (guessing based on IP/device) to deterministic view-through attribution. By using first-party data like platform logins, marketers can now directly match an ad impression to a purchase, solving a major measurement challenge.

Conventional engagement metrics like likes and shares are often misleading. A more valuable indicator of content quality is dwell time. In an environment where users can easily skip content, their choice to spend more time with an ad is a powerful behavioral signal that the message is resonating.

Google's February update emphasizing landing page relevance wasn't just another tweak. It was a strategic signal for marketers to improve message matching and navigability in preparation for AI-driven ad models like AI Max, which automatically evaluate these factors.

Direct attribution models are flawed because platforms like Google and Facebook use tracking pixels to claim credit for sales that would have occurred anyway. Smart marketers are returning to older methods of measuring lift from campaigns rather than relying on misleading platform data.

Meta's new "Value Rules" feature allows advertisers to set account-wide bid modifiers that are independent of ad-set targeting. This enables them to bid more for high-LTV customer segments and less for low-LTV ones, optimizing ad spend for long-term profitability over simple, immediate conversions.

Using third-party tools on a subdomain (e.g., Unbounce) breaks user tracking when visitors move to your main Shopify site. This feeds messy, duplicated conversion data to platforms like Facebook, corrupting their optimization algorithms and potentially causing CAC to skyrocket. Build pages natively on your root domain.

Standard top-of-funnel campaigns like "video views" often target low-quality audiences that Facebook's algorithm has already identified as non-buyers. True top-of-funnel marketing requires a unique method for capturing attention, like viral TikTok content or major creator partnerships.