The End of an Era: Google Optimize's Last Sunset

Hey 👋

This is Pipe Rise. Your tour guide around the wild wild west of tech and performance marketing in less than a 5-minute read.

In Today's Email:

1. The End of an Era: Google Optimize's Last Sunset

2. The Ad-Free Twitter Experience: Soon to be a Reality

3. The Podcasting Crunch: New Shows Hit an All-Time Low

WHAT SMART PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT TODAY 👀

#1 - The End of an Era: Google Optimize's Last Sunset

Attention all Google Optimizers, your party is coming to an end. As of September 30, 2023, both Google Optimize and Optimize 360 will be taking their final bow as Google has announced we can't use them anymore. But don't worry, you can still run your experiments and personalizations until the curtain falls. Just make sure to wrap up any active ones before the big day.

It's been a wild ride with Optimize for the past 5 years, helping businesses test and improve their user experiences. But, as with all good things, it must come to an end. The team at Google is now focusing on bringing you even better solutions through A/B testing in Google Analytics 4. Let's just say, Optimize wasn't cutting it with all the features and services you were requesting.

But, before the final curtain call, make sure to download all your historical data from the Optimize backend. And for those looking to read more about this straight from the horse's mouth, you can find Google's official announcement here.

#2 - The Ad-Free Twitter Experience: Soon to be a Reality

Twitter's fearless leader, Elon Musk, has finally acknowledged the elephant in the room (or should we say, the ad in the timeline) - there are simply too many ads on the platform, taking up too much precious screen real estate. But fear not, dear Twitterati, for salvation is on the horizon in the form of a shiny new, higher-priced subscription tier that will banish ads from your feeds forevermore.

It's been a long time coming, but it seems Twitter users' pleas for an ad-free option have finally been heard. And while we don't yet know how much this new subscription will set you back, it's a mixture of good and bad news for the rest of us. Good news for us as end users since we'll stop seeing all the bad ads clogging up our feeds, but bad news for us as performance marketers since we'll have less real estate to advertise on which will start to drive up the price of leading indicators like CPMs and CPCs.

In related news, the Financial Times reported that Musk will be required to make the first interest payment on the $13 billion loan he took out to complete the $44 billion purchase of Twitter, leaving the company in a precarious financial position. But we're sure he'll figure something out, he's always full of surprises.

#3 - The Podcasting Crunch: New Shows Hit an All-Time Low

Well folks, it looks like the podcasting world is in a bit of a slump. According to recent data, it seems the number of new shows popping up on our feeds has taken a nosedive - down a whopping 80% since 2020. Yikes.

It's no secret that launching a podcast has become a bit of a herculean task in recent years, even for those at established studios with some marketing muscle. But for independent creators, it's practically Mission: Impossible. And it's not just hearsay, the numbers don't lie. The number of new podcasts created in 2022 is a far cry from the glory days of 2019, and even lower than pre-pandemic levels.

But before you start panicking and stocking up on canned goods, there's a glimmer of hope. While the number of new podcasts may be in the doldrums, new episodes are still being churned out at a steady pace. Though not as high as the heady days of 2020, the number of new episodes published in 2022 still trumps the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019.

So, what's the deal? Well, it seems creators are wise to the fact that the podcast discovery system is struggling to keep up with the sheer number of shows out there. And until that changes, launching a podcast may not be the most profitable venture. But hey, that just means more room for the existing shows to shine, right?

CHUCKLE OF THE DAY 😂

It's been a blast G Optimize . Thank you for your service 🫡