Experience

On Monday, I spoke with the CEO of a NASDAQ-listed hospitality company. Honestly, this guy's my hero – not just because he's navigated his own tough-as-nails journey, but because operationally, he's a machine. 

Compared to him, sometimes I feel like I'm still figuring this whole CEO thing out. (Spoiler: I am definitely still figuring this CEO thing out!)

We were chatting about how things were going at work. And he dropped two simple but super-profound questions on me:

• What am I doing that I should STOP?

• What am I NOT doing – that I should START?

Then something clicked in my mind – a big change just happened in digital marketing too: the DOJ's recent court cases involving Google.

August 2024: Google was found to have violated antitrust laws related to exclusive search agreements. 

April 2025: Google faced another ruling related to monopolizing digital advertising.

If even a giant like Google needs to rethink their approach, what about the rest of us? 

It’s a moment to reflect: Are we marketers also stuck in our old patterns?

Reflection

As digital marketers, we need to STOP equating ‘search’ exclusively with Google. 

Consumer behavior has evolved – Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, even Boomers are now searching on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Snap, and YouTube. 

Yet, many media plans still look like the one below (I know this, because this is often the existing plan we’re hired to improve on when we start a new performance media engagement with a new brand):

• 40% PMax (Google's automated ad campaigns)

• 30% Branded search (capturing existing intent)

• 30% Non-branded keywords (hoping for discovery)

So, what should we START doing? Yes. Adjusting digital ad investments to align with real consumer behavior. 

(Including with the Amazon DSP – even if you're a service brand, leveraging Amazon’s first-party search intent data and their DSP, really matters).

Consider your own career: How many habits and outdated practices are you holding onto?

Or even more simply, what do you need to STOP doing in your work? And what do you need to START doing if you want to move up faster? 

Action

Here's your straightforward to-do list:

• Step 1, Get uncomfortable: Ask your media team exactly 

  • A) where your audience searches (show them the above graph), and 

  • B) in which platforms (from the graph) are you investing your ad dollars?

• Step 2, Demand this clear output: 

  • Rows = platforms (TikTok, Pinterest, Instagram, Amazon, etc.) 

  • Column A = % of time your audience spends on those platforms

  • Column B = % of budget your team invests in those platforms

• Step 3, Shift your mindset: You're not buying ads; you're creating markets. Invest your dollars strategically where your audience lives – at the required ROI.

• Step 4, Career ‘insurance’: Become indispensable by showing diversified and always increasing ROI from your digital ad investments. (Note: you want to be especially indispensable when the economy stands on shaky ground, and the CEO or CFO may be looking at trimming expenses).

(By the way, these four steps make up my Return on Marketing Career (RoMC) framework—more on that here.)

Real talk: When did you last truly question your marketing approach?

References

1. DOJ Antitrust Cases against Google (2024, 2025). U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Google violated antitrust laws related to search and digital advertising.

2. eMarketer, 2024: "Gen Z and Millennials prefer platforms like TikTok and Instagram over traditional Google searches for product discovery."

3. Amazon DSP Insights, 2023: Brands successfully leverage Amazon's first-party search data for targeted off-site campaigns.

4. HubSpot Marketing Trends, 2024: Companies diversifying search investments saw a 33% rise in customer engagement.

5. McKinsey Report, 2023: Diversified search budgets led to a 25% average improvement in Return on Ad Spend (RoAS).

If you’d like to discuss your career journey with me one-to-one, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or message me on LinkedIn.

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