PPCChat | Managing Digital Ads During World Chaos | 14th April 2026

This week’s discussion focused on expert perspectives on what’s happening in the industry right now—are clients concerned, and are they noticing a dip in performance? Julie F. Bacchini led the conversation.

Q1: How are you generally feeling with all that is going on in the world right now?

i’m tired boss.. @Aaronlevy

@Aaronlevy dude – same. Most of you probably don’t know that my degree is in international politics, so I understand more than I wish I did sometimes. @NeptuneMoon

It’s really exhausting going about our “normal” lives with WWIII going on in the background. @navahhopkins

I may be like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, but in times like these, I try to insulate, focus on family, hobbies, work, and meaningful human connections. That’s not to say I completely ignore news, but I don’t let it drag me down. @teabeeshell

@teabeeshell that is a valid coping mechanism. @NeptuneMoon

I am not political, so don’t get too caught up in stuff to be honest. I just adjust as needed for my clients depending on how things may be impacting them (if at all). I don’t know enough about global politics to have a big opinion otherwise. @Ichasse

@Ichasse I believe the term “hot mess” applies well right now. @NeptuneMoon

It’s such a roller coaster…@revaminkoff

I’m scrolling through the available emojis and finding them inadequate. @aldwin

Trying to be a voice of stability for clients these days.  Focusing on what I can impact, which is a lot. @KurtHenninger

I did not get wrapped up in Biden’s super high inflation and I did not get too wrapped up in Trumps tariffs, etc… Without knowing what is presented in the national security briefing each morning, I don’t know enough about if we needed to mess with Iran, etc.. I stay way away from politics, because it just seems to get folks mad depending on what side you are on. I don’t have a political team so to speak, lol. @Ichasse

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz is a global catastrophe on multiple levels. @NeptuneMoon

So here’s the thing: we’re at a point where some ad platforms can’t (or won’t) distinguish between what’s political and what’s not. I get ads all the time for content that’s absolutely political and thinking about the advertisers (even if I disagree with them and have thoughts and feelings about an American presenting brand being based in the UAE), they’re being forced to waste money on humans who have provided signals they’re not interested through reporting and blocking. @navahhopkins

It’s so frustrating how much I feel like this is a) human caused b) bullying and c) feeling like there’s not much to do about it. @revaminkoff

That’s nuts to me – regardless of what thoughts/feelings has on the state of the world – I’m dumbfounded by the creative/targeting/compliance pieces. @navahhopkins

@navahhopkins we had to have a lotttt of those conversations with clients in our last 19 once-in-a-lifetime events. “we don’t want to be on any content about the war or covid”. ok well that’s going to eliminate most news, blogs and social media” @Aaronlevy

@navahhopkins The “not interested” functions are a joke and blocking ads doesn’t stop similar ones from getting to you either @NeptuneMoon

@navahhopkins , @Aaronlevy I’m grateful we haven’t gone down that avenue yet, because I worry it would be impossible. @revaminkoff

The biggest issues for clients are things like the cost of the shipping for products overseas, which let’s be honest is where most of our products are made (you can argue if that is right/wrong and there are good discussion points on both sides), but that impacts product pricing quite a bit. Fuel is going to cost as much as it did under Biden here soon and that also impacts product cost. These things unfortunately impact margins for brands and decreases the discretionary spend folks have for spending on products. That is probably the biggest issue currently is the erosion of margins if companies try to keep prices stable for their products. @Ichasse

I’m really grateful that Microsoft has strict no political ad policies – some editorial is always going to slip through because no one is perfect – it’s just an area that is really helpful to have a stance on. @navahhopkins

instability is not good for business, but it does help advertising. We can cut to the chase to deliver results.
I am really concerned with supporting tech behemoths that do not seem to support our well being
I have been using everything going on to turn my focus more local economies and reassess the value of sending dollars to somewhere that does not have a vested interest in where I live
Also, I buy an extra bag of rice every week when I grocery shop – just in case. @Chriskostecki

@NeptuneMoon you can filter out political content on LinkedIn (again – nothing is perfect) – it can help though! @navahhopkins

linkedin is vv good at eliminating politics. i would love if it could eliminate slop, but suppose that goes for the whole internet @Aaronlevy

My inner world is already chaotic, just dealing with day-to-day life. I’ve gotten to a point where I’m so focused on getting through each day that adding politics and the economy on top of it feels like it could push me over the edge. Right now, my paid media work doesn’t require me to stay informed, but by next month, it will. @DiiPooler

Q2: How/is your work in PPC being impacted with all that is going on in the world right now?

I have been seeing an uptick in posts about performance dipping or dropping and I try to remind people that volatile times typically result in pulling back on spending for both consumers and businesses. @NeptuneMoon

Clients are definitely more hesitant to invest in growth.  PPC budgets are tight. @KurtHenninger

It’s better than it was last year so far :knock on wood: but I’m still afraid that the economic and political issues are going to lead people to cut back budgets and be less willing to take risks, or even invest in marketing at all. @revaminkoff

In my experience, the biggest impacts include: @teabeeshell

• COGS increasing due to fluctuating tariffs, etc., which means margins erode…which means advertising performance feels the “stress”
• Consumer confidence decreases, which reduces “disposable” income…which means advertising performance feels the “stress”

honestly there have been so many fluctuations for so many different reasons the last 3-4 years it’s so hard to pinpoint “why’d this break.” as much as the middle east is causing messes, most of the pressure (on both agencies and clients) seem to be coming from within. @Aaronlevy

We also have some clients who are convinced there’s no way any of this effects them and their clients. And then they want to know why their sales are down…@revaminkoff

I am trying to take on ai slop slingers impacting local marketing in my small area. offering artisanal digital marketing for discerning businesses. @Chriskostecki

i’ll say from the last few “crises,” at least where things were predictable (e.g. tariff on steel starting in 6 months) pulled a bunch of buyers forward so it was an opportunity to capitalize, but then the bottom would fall out later @Aaronlevy

Ugh @revaminkoff the “macro factors don’t impact us” people drive me insane. Because yes, they do. @NeptuneMoon

Also, from a different note there are days I’m just distracted from all that’s going on and feel like I can’t bring my full self to work, which is frustrating. @revaminkoff

from a personal “work” perspective, getting a lot of “are you seeing this across all your clients??” questions, but performance is changing by industry by hour by region by day, so it’s harder to pinpoint than normal @Aaronlevy

@Aaronlevy, There is also a lag that varies by industry that can both shift and be hard to quantify. @NeptuneMoon

I’m sure Ginny is in the same boat: I have never felt more motivated to be useful to you all @navahhopkins

Look politics causes a TON of emotion no matter which side of the aisle you are sitting on with a particular issue. These emotions lead to consumer confidence whether right or wrong. If you want proof of that, just look at what happens when any political even happens and then what the market does that day. Nothing essentially happened with a business, but it may have had it stock value go up by 5% or down 5% with no real business meaning behind it. @Ichasse

Now like @teabeeshell said, there are real issues like the COGS that are real impacts of decisions and that 100% impacts us as marketers trying to make money for our brands. I feel like it is a little rougher right now, because we have the politics of things + AIing of everything possible that are causing a lot of disruption in our world. If that is not enough, add to is that the big platforms increase CPC costs or reduce the “good inventory” every year by 1-3%+. We are having to modify pricing and reduce or increase budgets appropriately. It just makes our jobs that much more difficult to give our brands good results. @Ichasse

AI is not just the tools, it is also the data centers and cost of components for their servers. Look at RAM prices if you want a really good example of some of the impacts AI is having on consumer goods, lol. RAM is stupid expensive, and guess what every company has for the workers – computers. That is just one thing… There is a lot happening. @Ichasse

I think times like these also force businesses to have to take a harder look at how “essential” their product or service really is. Because when spending gets pulled back, are you still in the buying category? Or do you move to the later category? @NeptuneMoon

As mentioned in the other thread, I have been really questioning my role as a consumer, and that can’t help but be reflected in what I do. I don’t feel bad working for Keurig for a number of years, though I did catch some flack, and idk if I would feel the same way about it today @Chriskostecki

Q3: Are you seeing performance dips in our accounts? What industry or industries are you advertising for? And does it vary by platform?

I am doing more audit or strategy-type work and less ongoing management work these days, so I am not the best person to report on this. Other than seeing what people in the community are talking about. And in that regard there seems to be a lot of “hey our performance dropped last week and I don’t know why” type of posts. @NeptuneMoon

1: Big resistance to long term contracts/planning. agencies are getting shorter term requests from clients and/or out clauses and same for tools
2: discretionary/luxury purchase either a: pushed way out/abandoned or b: completely random
3: have seen a downturn in luxury goods (Happens every time oil fluctuates) but suspect it’ll last longer than normal @Aaronlevy

Most of my brands are doing just fine currently. This does not mean they will be in a year if things continue. My brands span from medical/dental, consumer goods and even vacation rental. We have honestly been impacted mostly by 2 things currently. (1) cost of goods and (2) platform changes for the worse. @Ichasse

If you’re seeing any Microsoft performance fluctuations absolutely submit them through support – we heavily index our support as a signal on where to focus. @navahhopkins

I’ll be reviewing on an account in this space next month, so these PPC Chat questions are a bit early for me. That said, I’m not seeing any performance dips, this season/quarter is typically when our niche industry performs best. @DiiPooler

In times like this it would be helpful to have benchmarking reports out a lot more frequently so businesses can see it’s not just them… I mean from platforms and widely used management tools @NeptuneMoon

My ears are burning.. @Aaronlevy

I have a lot of friends with big agencies and they are seeing clients dropping them and/or reducing contracts with them in order to stay on. I think a lot of this is the impact of AI however vs. the global stuff (for now). It does not help that in a Google account in 2019 you used to see a ROAS of 10x and now in 2026 you are seeing a ROAS of 6x (just an example) for the same spend. Again, this is a negative platform change that caused this, but we had inflation numbers hitting almost 9% under Biden and I think last month we had it hit 3.3%+ under Trump which anything about 1-2% is tough for companies to constantly increase prices on stuff folks expect to be paying $X for. @Ichasse

Because we all know what to check when we see performance get wonky. But when everything is ok but performance is still off, it leads to wanting to say “Yes, Jeff, I see performance is down but look around” which would go over better if you could say “XYZ platform or tool just released performance data showing our industry is experiencing a dip in performance. @NeptuneMoon

@NeptuneMoon we’re working on something…. we have benchmark reports in the platform and are working on a macro level one but tbh it’s a tough thing to do at scale because people track SO many different things. one persons conversion is another persons first step. @Aaronlevy

Performance has been generally good but I think the discretionary income B2C companies who are trying to be up year over year are struggling a little bit, from what I can see. @revaminkoff

buuuut if there are specific industries, just ask @Aaronlevy

You know Google is going to mess with the data to show what they want though, lol. You really need a reputable 3rd party with no horse in the race to do the benchmarks if you want to actually trust them. @Ichasse

See, I think it would actually be in a platform’s best interest to tell advertisers, “it’s not just you” to keep t hem from doing dumb things or pulling back, etc. But what do I know? @NeptuneMoon

Oh it would be, but it would mean being honest… @Ichasse

Certainly a lot more scrutiny on performance externally..@KurtHenninger

I agree – if it’s affecting the whole industry, marketing teams will face a much easier battle than when their execs are convinced everyone else is doing really well (and that’s not true). @revaminkoff

Also, for everyone’s mental health, let me say this… Some clients are just delusional. It’s not your fault. @NeptuneMoon

And….a lot more concessions being advertised via ads.  More so than normal in real estate industry. @KurtHenninger

Primarily working in B2C lead gen within the health services industry, I’ve not seen too much change that I’d attribute to current events. But this may be a unique vertical that is relatively “current-event-proof” in that when someone has a need for health services, the price of gas is not typically a concern. Although I’m sure there are some ways in which the larger market impacts either the businesses that I’m working with (or their customers). @AnthonyMcDaniel

Q4: Are you clients or stakeholders worried about anything right now that is changing how they are working with you or what they are asking you to do?

From a closing new business perspective, things are taking longer. Which generally happens when there is uncertainty. My shorter commitment offerings are also getting more interest than say, traditional PPC management. AI is hijacking work from consultant and agencies right now too. @NeptuneMoon

Curious if anyone else is struggling with cookie issues – feel like data is getting lost under the new cookie regs when it’s not a first party situation, and it seems explainable, but not recoverable – definitely causing issues for clients trying to measure ROI though. @revaminkoff

Honestly, it is still questions around AI mostly. The political stuff is mostly operations issues, but I am constantly being asked about how can we utilize AI to help with stuff. There are so many articles about AI doing everything and doing amazing and those are the articles the execs are looking at not the ones showing how AI is a trainwreck in most cases still, lol. @Ichasse

I think we are doing to see a swing to DIY until this iteration of AI flames out. I have a service now called AI PPC Strategy Double Check for this very reason. Let me tell you if your AI is recommending things that are wrong before you deploy them across your accounts…@NeptuneMoon

@revaminkoff platforms are using the perceived enthusiasm for AI to put more and more behind the curtain. Add to that regulatory pressures for data protection and you get where we are now. Unless, of course, you want to upload the data you own and are responsible for… then it’s like privacy schmivacy – we aren’t liable anymore! @NeptuneMoon

I think the pressure to “be in AI Overviews” has become overwhelming. It’s frustrating that we (advertisers) do not have (real) control over impressions across that surface, specifically. On the flip/positive side, SEO + Paid Search are becoming more closely aligned, so GMC Next management is a service offering that has become instantly critical. @teabeeshell

@revaminkoff Google specifically has changed their tagging so often over the past 5+ years that I know in some cases there are some big issues. Not saying it could be that, but maybe ensuring the latest tags are in place etc… could help. A good technical audit of the site could be useful here from a web dev company to make sure there are not old code snippets on the site. I know in some upgrades folks will just add the new code and not remove the old (yes it happens more than you think). As a first troubleshooting tactic, I would have someone do a technical audit on the site to at least rule that out. Then you can look at other issues, but technical is where I generally start with most things. @Ichasse

Yeah, SEO is even more important these days. The SEO is dead conversation has at least died down again, lol. I don’t do SEO, but I am and have always been a huge advocate for them with the brands I work for (Good SEOs, not the crappy ones). SEO + PPC are always going to get you more wins together if done right. @Ichasse

Q5: Are you feeling extra stress about managing PPC or life in general right now with all that is happening in the world? And if so, how are you dealing with that?

I do wake up thinking “what fresh hell will we encounter today” pretty much every day @NeptuneMoon

Sometimes I find myself saying, “I didn’t ask for this…” It’s one thing when it’s a Google-mandated change. It’s another when it’s a human-made world crisis that trickles down to my ability to work efficiently. @teabeeshell

And it is always more stressful to manage ad accounts when the economy is not booming. And harder to close new business too @NeptuneMoon

I just don’t watch the news = happier life, lol. Seriously though, I stay away from negativity in most forms. Cortisol the stress hormone is VERY bad for the human body, so nothing good happens if you focus on stuff you cannot control. I also just kind of roll with the punches when platforms make their changes, because again, I have almost zero control of what they will change and implement. Best thing is to find ways to lessen the impact for brands and find out how to best use it to your advantage. @Ichasse

Don’t be discouraged if people start telling you things like “wow, that is expensive” or “I’ve never paid that much to start.” Those are not your people! I have heard this recently and I know my pricing is very solid. Best of luck with your $500 person. @NeptuneMoon

I tell that to my wife who sells her art also. Someone says that is too expensive and I just tell her, that is not your customer, so don’t worry about it. You get what you pay for at the end of the day unless you can beat a good person with too much empathy down, but then they won’t feel good about the work they are doing for you, so it may not be a real win. With my own pricing, I tell them you can always find someone cheaper if that is what you want. I remember a saying someone had that said Cheap, Good, Fast and you can only pick 2. Price yourself what you are worth. If you constantly get great profitable results for your clients, you deserve to be compensated well for that effort. If you struggle, have a lower price until you are good enough, but then raise your rates when you are consistently performing well. @Ichasse

Do not let someone get you to do the proposed scope of work for less just because they want to pay less! If you lower price, adjust scope. @NeptuneMoon

Stress levels are so much higher than they were pre-current US administration. @revaminkoff

PPCChat Participants

• Julie F Bacchini @NeptuneMoon
• Reva Minkoff @revaminkoff
• Lawrence Chasse @Ichasse
• Anthony McDaniel @AnthonyMcDaniel
• Aaron Levy @Aaronlevy
• Navah Hopkins @navahhopkins
• Chris Kostecki @Chriskostecki
• Dii Pooler @DiiPooler
• Travis @teabeeshell
• Aldwin @InquisitiveMarketer
• Kurt Henninger @KurtHenninger

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