The lab notes
What we're learning
from $48M in ad spend
Campaign teardowns, platform changes that actually matter, and the maths behind decisions we make for clients. Written by the media buyers, not a content team.
Latest articles
Worth your ten minutes
Nov 2026
Why your Meta CPMs keep climbing, and the three levers that still work
Auction pressure is real. So is what you can do about it. Oct 2026 We audited 40 ad accounts this year. The same five mistakes kept showing up
Broken tracking, orphaned campaigns and the boost button tax. Oct 2026 TikTok ads for local businesses: a realistic playbook for 2026
Cheap CPMs are real, but the feed punishes lazy creative. Sep 2026 Five years after iOS14: what actually works for tracking now
CAPI, first-party data and accepting you'll never see everything. Sep 2026 How much should you spend on ads? The maths-first answer
Work backwards from what a customer is worth. Formulas inside. Aug 2026 Retargeting isn't dead, you're just doing the creepy kind
Same product, same person, 14 times. Stop that.
Auction pressure is real. So is what you can do about it. Oct 2026 We audited 40 ad accounts this year. The same five mistakes kept showing up
Broken tracking, orphaned campaigns and the boost button tax. Oct 2026 TikTok ads for local businesses: a realistic playbook for 2026
Cheap CPMs are real, but the feed punishes lazy creative. Sep 2026 Five years after iOS14: what actually works for tracking now
CAPI, first-party data and accepting you'll never see everything. Sep 2026 How much should you spend on ads? The maths-first answer
Work backwards from what a customer is worth. Formulas inside. Aug 2026 Retargeting isn't dead, you're just doing the creepy kind
Same product, same person, 14 times. Stop that.
What we write about
Auction and CPM trends
Account audits
Creative teardowns
Tracking and attribution
Budget maths
Platform updates that matter
Why we publish this
Everything here is free,
even if you never hire us
We write the notes we'd want to read: what the auction is doing, which tactics still work, and where the money actually goes. If it helps you fix your own account, great. If it convinces you to hand the account to us, even better.
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articles written by a content teamLive workshop
Fix your funnel
before the holidays
A 60-minute working session with Marcus and Eliza. Bring your ad account, leave with a written list of what to change. Free, but capped at 40 seats because it's genuinely hands-on.
0days
00hrs
00min
00sec
- Dec 10, 6pm AEDT · Google Meet
- Live teardowns of two volunteer accounts
- Replay sent to everyone registered
The Friday teardown
One real campaign dissected every week. The wins, the flops and the invoice-sized lessons.