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Digital news to watch: Google Ads ties new customer value to ROAS

In this week’s digital news, Google Ads is testing a ROAS-based tool that suggests conversion values to help advertisers bid smarter for new customers. Cloudflare will auto-convert HTML to Markdown for AI crawlers, cutting tokens by 80%.

Google’s John Mueller explains how a leftover HTTP homepage invisible to Chrome users can cause site-name and favicon problems in search results. UK creative agencies saw their largest staff exodus on record in 2025, with headcount falling over 14%, driven largely by AI disruption and cost-cutting.

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Google Ads adds ROAS-based tool for valuing new customers

Google Ads is introducing a feature that calculates suggested conversion values for new customers using a target return on ad spend (ROAS). Designed for acquisition campaigns, advertisers input their desired ROAS and receive an aligned value, reducing reliance on manual estimates. The tool helps address a common weakness in performance bidding, where flat values may not reflect profitability or long-term goals. While it doesn’t yet adjust dynamically by auction, campaign, or product, early feedback is positive. If expanded to more granular optimisation, it could significantly influence how advertisers value and pursue new customer growth.

Read more here.

Cloudflare launches “Translator” tool for AI assistants

Cloudflare has introduced a new tool called “Markdown for Agents” designed to help AI assistants, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, navigate the web more efficiently. Traditionally, these AI bots have had to wade through mountains of messy website code to find answers, which is slow and expensive for them to process. This new feature acts as a “translator,” instantly converting complex webpages into a simplified, text-only format known as Markdown, making it much easier for AI bots to “read” and understand a site’s content.

By making it cheaper and faster for AI crawlers to digest your information, your website is significantly more likely to be accurately cited and recommended in AI-generated answers. The impact is a shift in focus as businesses must now ensure their technical infrastructure is “AI-friendly” so that digital assistants can find and use their data without getting lost in the code.

Read more here.

The “Hidden Page” trap hurting brand visibility

Google has identified a common technical glitch where “hidden” or old versions of a website are causing brand names to display incorrectly in search results. Even if a business has a modern, secure website (HTTPS), if an older, unencrypted version (HTTP) still exists in the background and has not been properly redirected, Google’s systems may get confused. This can result in Google displaying an outdated or incorrect “Site Name” next to search listings, which can look unprofessional and mislead potential customers.

If Google cannot clearly identify your official site name because of these hidden “ghost” pages, it can weaken your brand’s presence and trust in the search results. To fix this, website owners must ensure that every single version of their site points directly to the main, secure one. This ensures that Google’s automated systems always see a single, unified brand identity, protecting how a business appears to the public.

Read more here.

UK ad agencies undergo their biggest exodus of staff as AI threatens the industry

UK creative agencies saw their largest staff exodus on record in 2025, with headcount falling over 14%, driven largely by AI disruption and cost-cutting. Total employment dropped to 24,963, with creative agencies losing more than 2,000 roles. Younger workers were hardest hit, with under-25s declining by 19.2%, while nearly 60% of departures were resignations. Job vacancies fell 41% and graduate recruitment also slumped. Around 24% of agencies expect AI-related job cuts this year. Industry leaders warn the trend threatens future talent pipelines, urging agencies to co-create with AI rather than treat it purely as an efficiency tool.

Read more here.

How ChatGPT cites social media

Social media continues to play a growing role in AI sourcing. Reddit dominates with 3-4% of all citations, 99% of which are individual threads rather than profiles. YouTube and LinkedIn reward authority, with 65% of YouTube citations pointing to channels and 47% of LinkedIn citations to personal profiles. Instagram favours content, as reels and posts make up 65% of citations versus 30% for profiles.

Read more here.

Consumers will accept ads in AI chatbots but trust issues remain

A Forrester poll in the US, UK, and Canada found that 83% would accept ads in AI chatbot free tiers, while only 6% would switch to a paid tier to avoid ads. OpenAI expects ads to help cover about $1.4tr in computing costs and projects that 8.5% of users (about 220 million people) will pay for an ad-free plan, while Anthropic is avoiding ads and targeting enterprise buyers. Trust in large tech companies is falling (from 32% to 24% since 2020), and concern is growing that ads could influence chatbot answers.

Read more here.

For more information on any of this week’s stories or for support with your digital marketing efforts. Our friendly team would be more than happy to discuss your requirements. Drop us an email at team@modo25.com

Author

Tom Pickard

Author

Tom Pickard

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