The Ad Spend

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Notes on running an account that remembers

Field notes and research on paid media, memory, and the difference between a number and a decision.

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Guides & ResearchJuly 1, 2026

Why Did My CPA Go Up? The 8-Cause Checklist (2026)

CPA doubled overnight? The eight causes worth checking, in order: account changes, budget increases, tracking breakage, learning resets, and auction shifts.

7 min read
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Guides & ResearchJune 30, 2026

AI Agent That Monitors Your Ads vs One That Edits Them

Most agentic ad tools want to edit your campaigns. The case for an AI agent that watches your ads instead — and only changes things with your approval.

7 min read
A hand flicking a lighter in deep shadow beside a wastepaper basket
ProductJune 30, 2026

Ask Questions About Your Ad Performance in Slack

Ask The Ad Spend questions about your ad performance in Slack — why CPA jumped, what changed last week — and get answers grounded in a permanent change record.

6 min read
A man seated on the floor sorting through scattered printed reports
Guides & ResearchJune 29, 2026

ChatGPT Google Ads Integration: What Changed in 2026

The old answer — ChatGPT can analyze ads but not change them — is outdated. Here's what ChatGPT can actually do with Google Ads in 2026, verified.

6 min read
A person carrying a bundle of yellow document folders under one arm
Guides & ResearchJune 29, 2026

Best MCP Servers for Marketing in 2026: An Honest Roundup

The best MCP servers for marketing in 2026, by category: official ad platform servers from Meta, Google, and Amazon, plus analytics, CRM, and warehouse picks.

8 min read
A person carrying a bundle of yellow document folders under one arm
Guides & ResearchJune 29, 2026

Alert Fatigue Is Killing Your Ad Ops: The Case for Forecast-Backed Monitoring

Static-threshold alerts cry wolf until the real ones get ignored — the same failure that broke security operations. The fix isn't more alerts. It's smarter ones.

2 min read
A man leaning down from his chair to gather papers scattered across red carpet
Guides & ResearchJune 28, 2026

LinkedIn Ads MCP: No Official Server Yet (July 2026 Guide)

LinkedIn has no official Ads MCP server as of July 2026. Here's what community options exist, their risks, and safer ways to get LinkedIn Ads data into AI.

7 min read
A woman kneeling on a paper-covered floor sorting pages into piles
Guides & ResearchJune 28, 2026

How to Connect Claude to Meta Ads: Official MCP Setup

How to connect Claude to Meta Ads with the official MCP at mcp.facebook.com/ads — setup steps, known errors, and the limits nobody mentions.

5 min read
A woman crawling across a floor completely covered in scattered papers, reaching for a page
Guides & ResearchJune 27, 2026

Google Ads MCP Limitations: Read-Only and Self-Hosted

Google's official Ads MCP is read-only and self-hosted, with three tools. What that means in practice, every limitation, and how it compares to the API.

5 min read
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Guides & ResearchJune 27, 2026

How to Connect Google Ads to Claude (Official MCP Guide)

Step-by-step guide to connecting Google Ads to Claude via the official MCP server — plus what the read-only connection still can't do after setup.

5 min read
Three colleagues gathered around a monitor in a dark office, one seated and typing
Guides & ResearchJune 26, 2026

Meta Ads MCP Not Enabled? Fixing is_ads_mcp_enabled: false

Seeing is_ads_mcp_enabled: false or a redirect_uris error? What each Meta Ads MCP error means, verified fixes, and rollout status as of July 2026.

5 min read
A man at a desk holding a pen, seen across the shoulder of a colleague reading a document
Guides & ResearchJune 26, 2026

What Meta Ads MCP Can and Can't Do (July 2026)

Meta's official Ads MCP ships 29 tools for reporting and campaign edits — but no memory, no monitoring, no change history. The full verified inventory.

5 min read

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