u/Boonshark

Can you think of a time time when you implemented a Google Ads improvement so smart that you stepped back and just thought "I'm pretty good at this"

I'm wondering if he actually witnessed​ secret US military tech that located him. I seem to remember there being a big fuss about finding this guy, which seemed bit overblown, maybe it was because the means of discovery was significant...

On Night Shift's Doomer Friday tonight Chris Ramsay leaves the crew aghast as he describes a hybrid encounter at this year's Contact In The Desert. The live chat went crazy when he talked about it.

Time stamped link from the livestream

https://www.youtube.com/live/DSJWC9G6eLc?t=2086&si=bK6HqUanAhKWVWv_

Yo, I'm a static video editor about to go ​slowmad. Currently have a beefed up Windows ​PC with about 10tb of files stored on HDD (and on Dropbox)

I'm shitting it a bit that I am going to have to create​ an optimal setup to take out to South East Asia for a multi year mission and wondered how your setup looks like?

Key concerns-

1. Is there a Windows Laptop that is actually decent performance or should I ditch Windows & just bite the Mac bullet?

2. ​Will a single screen setup​ do my head in?

3. ​What is the go to portable drive?

Any guidance very much appreciated

Dear Meta,

I want to start by saying thank you. Not for helping businesses advertise, connect with customers, or generate sales. Those are all lovely side effects. I want to thank you for creating the world's first software platform where experienced professionals can spend £100,000 a year and still have absolutely no confidence that clicking "Publish" will produce the outcome they expect.

That's genuinely impressive.

Most software becomes more predictable as it matures. Ads Manager seems to have chosen a different path.

Every few months another feature arrives. AI will create your ads. AI will optimise your ads. AI will improve your targeting. Meanwhile, advertisers all over the world are performing the same ritual every morning: opening Ads Manager and immediately looking for ways to disable whatever has just been added.

That's the bit I find fascinating.

Normally, when people like a feature, they use it.

With Ads Manager, people create YouTube tutorials explaining how to avoid it.

There are Reddit threads full of advertisers swapping survival tips like they're trapped in a natural disaster.

The strangest thing is that nobody seems interested in asking the obvious question: if all these features are so useful, why do so many experienced advertisers spend so much time trying not to use them?

My theory is that too many software companies have become addicted to adding things. Every quarter requires a launch. Every launch requires a feature. Every feature requires a presentation explaining how it will transform the industry. Before long, the software starts to resemble a loft where nothing has ever been thrown away.

The people building it become obsessed with possibilities.

The people using it are obsessed with getting their work done.

Those are very different goals.

Most advertisers don't wake up in the morning thinking, "I hope there's a revolutionary new campaign creation workflow today."

They wake up thinking, "I hope I can launch this ad before lunch."

Which brings me to the bugs.

The bugs are no longer occasional inconveniences. They've become part of the user experience.

Campaigns refuse to publish.

Ads fail for no obvious reason.

Changes don't save.

Duplications break.

Settings randomly reset.

Error messages appear with all the diagnostic detail of a Victorian doctor.

"Something went wrong."

Thank you, Meta. That narrows it down considerably.

The platform now feels like one of those old British cars where the owner develops a collection of little tricks to keep it running.

"Oh yes, sometimes the campaign won't publish, but if you duplicate it, delete it, recreate it, clear your cache, switch browser, sacrifice a goat and wait 20 minutes, it usually works."

Nobody should have folklore about advertising software.

The solution is surprisingly simple.

Stop asking what else can be added.

Start asking what can be removed.

Put a genuinely varied group of advertisers in a room. Small businesses. Agencies. E-commerce brands. Local businesses.

Then remove the AI evangelists, the product egos and anyone whose bonus depends on shipping another feature.

Ask one question:

"What gets in your way?"

Then listen.

And here's the experiment I'd love to see.

Launch Ads Manager Lite.

That's Ads Manager with most of the clutter removed.

Campaign. Ad Set. Ad. Audience. Budget. Creative. Results. Done.

No recommendations.

No AI shit.

No floating suggestions.

No feature that shits out random unwanted slop.

Then let the market decide.

If advertisers choose the full version, you've proven us wrong.

If they choose Lite, you've learned something valuable.

Reliability is what we seek.

Most advertisers don't want software that feels clever.

They want software that works.

Yours sincerely,

A suffering advertiser

Using the desktop version.

Whoever developed this must have been smoking something pretty damn strong.

- Can't save and reuse template presets to retain consistency - this literally takes me 5-10 minutes just to scroll through thousands of templates to find the one I use

- Can't edit caption mistakes without it freaking the eff out and ruining stuff and losing timing.

- Caption highlighting - sometimes after editing, it just randomly highlights a whole group of words instead.

It's literally been like this for years. I can't understand why people aren't complaining about this every single day

Been in the game 6 ​years.

I've never seen CPMs like right now.

If this doesn't resolve then it's game over for us ​and ​Meta Ads, I'll be diverting spend.

Aside from the blood, the gurgling, the feeling that you didn't empty it, after 10 years with Ulcerative Proctitis I realised that some of the worst symptoms are the mental ones.

I'm talking irritability, overwhelm, brain fog, general loss of articulacy.

It's harder on your partner who has to be on the receiving end and doesn't know if you're in a flare or not.

Does anyone relate?