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name: paid-advertising description: "Plan, structure, and audit paid media campaigns across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Microsoft, ChatGPT, programmatic, retail media, native, and audio — campaign hierarchy, audience architecture, bid strategy, budget allocation and pacing, creative strategy, and current platform API changes (Google Ads v24/v25, Meta v25). Produces campaign plans, platform audit scorecards, budget models, creative briefs, and optimization playbooks. Triggers on "/digital-marketing-pro:paid-advertising", "plan a Google Ads campaign", "audit our Meta account", "which bid strategy should we use", "allocate our paid media budget". Reads the brand profile, guidelines, and campaign history via campaign-tracker.py; plans and recommends only — launching is handled by /digital-marketing-pro:launch-campaign."

Paid Advertising

Since August 2026 (verified 2026-10-04)

• Google AI Max auto-upgrade: Search campaigns using automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match auto-upgrade to AI Max starting September 2026; the Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) sunset and its auto-upgrade moved to February 2027. Audit every account for campaigns already flipped, and run the ADOPT_AI_MAX experiment on the rest before Google does it for you. Source: blog.google.

• Google Ads Limited Ad Serving now covers every surface (Search, YouTube, Gmail, Play, Discover), rolling out gradually through 2028 — new advertisers can see throttled delivery while trust builds. Source: Ads policy (posted 5 Aug 2026).

• LinkedIn Marketing API: 202608 made the Matched Audiences API generally available (cap: 1,000 DMP segments per account), added account-level dynamic UTMs and MQL/SQL conversion types, and sunset legacy geo on 31 Aug 2026; 202609 added hashed first/last names in the Conversions API and a 180-day attribution window. Versions 202510 and 202511 sunset on 15 Oct and 16 Nov 2026 — move integrations to 202609. Source: recent changes.

• Amazon Ads (unBoxed, 30 Sep 2026): an "Amazon Ads Agent" unifying DSP and the Ads Console, Full-Funnel Campaigns, Sponsored Services, and an Amazon Ads MCP Server (Lite) — a connector candidate for retail-media workflows. Source: Amazon Ads news.

• ChatGPT Ads — the developer surface is primary-documented (checked 2026-10-04): developers.openai.com/ads documents:

  • an Advertiser API and a Bulk API
  • a Measurement Pixel and a server-side Conversions API, deduplicated on pixel event_id = API id
  • Custom Audiences from customer lists only, unavailable in the EEA and Switzerland
  • Product Feeds plus a Delta Feeds API for price, availability, and title changes
  • a Reporting API, with a 30-day click / 1-day view default
  • Hotel Feeds (limited beta)

  The launch dates, the audience (Free/Go users), the country rollout (31 European markets on 18 Aug, Southeast Asia + Taiwan on 23 Sep) and "Sponsored Agents" remain secondary-sourced: label them "reported, unverified" and confirm availability in the brand's Ads Manager before planning spend. Do not quote CPMs or auction mechanics. Planning, tracking, reporting and feed detail: ads-in-ai-answers.md.

• Google AI Mode ads (checked 2026-10-04): there is no separate campaign type. Google says advertisers reach the new AI Mode formats ("Conversational Discovery ads", "Highlighted Answers") by building on AI Max for Search, AI Max for Shopping, and Performance Max.

  • Direct Offers (a pilot since January 2026) is expanding to promotion bundling, native checkout for UCP merchants, and travel deals.
  • Business Agent for leads (chat inside the ad instead of a form) is due "in the coming months".
  • The post gives no AI-Mode-specific measurement, so report at the AI Max / PMax campaign level and don't promise an AI-Mode-only KPI.

  Source: blog.google (20 May 2026). Detail: ads-in-ai-answers.md.

Recent platform API changes (as of July 2026)

Target Google Ads API v24.2 for stable integrations (v24 line supported into 2027). v25 (July 2026) is the new major release with breaking changes: the legacy CustomerLifecycleGoal/CampaignLifecycleGoal resources are removed (migrate to the unified Goal + CampaignGoalConfig schema), plus new loyalty-retention optimization goals, social-engagement metrics for Shorts ads, duration-level breakdowns for non-skippable YouTube inventory, and YouTube third-party conversion attribution. Adopt v25 deliberately, not by default. Full detail — including AI Max — lives in google-ads.md, the single source for the Google Ads API surface. Sources: release notes · v25 announcement.

Meta (Marketing API v25, in effect): standalone Advantage+ Shopping / App campaigns can no longer be created via the API on any version (since 19 May 2026); v26 (Sept 2026) pauses remaining ones — use the unified Advantage+ setup (details in meta-ads.md). The new Page Viewer metric replaces legacy reach (Post/Page Reach, Video Impressions, and Story Impressions retire from the Graph API) — update any reporting that reads those fields. LinkedIn: version 202607 is live (monthly cadence); it adds an automatic "Not Interested" CTA on Message Ads and a SHA256_IP_ADDRESS identifier in the Conversions API.

Highlights that affect campaign construction:

• v24.2 (24 Jun 2026): first-class Local Services Ads support (AssetGroup.google_local_services_info), landing-page-text auto-generation (AssetAutomationType.GENERATE_LANDING_PAGE_TEXT), and a beta Multi-Party Auth review resource for regulated verticals (finance, health, political).
• v24.1 (13 May 2026) — AI Max: four new experiment types (ADOPT_AI_MAX, ADOPT_BROAD_MATCH_KEYWORDS, OPTIMIZE_ASSETS, PMAX_REPLACEMENT_SHOPPING). Run an ADOPT_AI_MAX experiment before any AI Max rollout — it gives statistically-clean lift numbers vs the baseline. Also adds mobile_device_platform (iOS vs Android) reporting segmentation.
• v24.0 (22 Apr 2026) — breaking: videos + logo_images now REQUIRED on DemandGenVideoResponsiveAdInfo/VideoResponsiveAdInfo (and business_name on the latter); Campaign.video_brand_safety_suitability REMOVED (moved to the Customer level); CallAd/CallAdInfo fully removed (use Call Assets).
• v23.1 (25 Feb 2026): text_guidelines.term_exclusions + text_guidelines.messaging_restrictions on AI-generated Performance Max and Search assets — pipe a brand's banned-word list (profile.json → restrictions.md → banned_words) and approved messaging straight into PMax asset-gen guardrails.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when the user's request involves any of the following:

• Creating, auditing, or optimizing campaigns on Google Ads, Meta/Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, or TikTok Ads
• Designing campaign structures, ad groups, or ad set hierarchies on any paid platform
• Selecting or troubleshooting bid strategies (manual CPC, target CPA, target ROAS, maximize conversions, etc.)
• Building audience strategies including prospecting, retargeting, lookalike/similar audiences, or custom audiences
• Allocating or pacing budgets across platforms or campaigns
• Setting up or optimizing Google Shopping, Performance Max, YouTube Ads, or Display campaigns
• Working with Meta Advantage+ campaigns or manual campaign structures
• Running LinkedIn Ads with account-based marketing (ABM) targeting
• Launching TikTok Ads including Spark Ads or TikTok Shop integrations
• Programmatic advertising including DSP selection, connected TV (CTV), or digital out-of-home (DOOH)
• Retail media networks including Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, Kroger Precision Marketing, or Instacart Ads
• Running Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads) campaigns, including Google Ads import and Microsoft Audience Network placements
• Planning native advertising campaigns on content discovery networks (Taboola, Outbrain, Nativo)
• Buying audio or podcast advertising across streaming platforms (Spotify, Pandora/SiriusXM, iHeartRadio) or programmatic audio
• Ads inside AI answers: ChatGPT Ads (planning, Pixel + Conversions API tracking, reporting, product/delta feeds) or reaching Google AI Mode through AI Max and Performance Max
• Any question about paid media strategy, creative strategy for ads, or paid channel mix decisions

Brand Context (Auto-Applied)

Before producing any marketing output from this module:

1. Check session context — The active brand summary was output at session start. Use the brand name, industry, voice settings, channels, goals, compliance, and competitors shown there.
2. If you need the full profile, read: ~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/profile.json
3. Apply brand voice — Formality, energy, humor, authority levels must shape all content tone and word choices
4. Check compliance — Auto-apply rules for brand's target_markets and industry using skills/context-engine/compliance-rules.md
5. Reference industry benchmarks — Consult skills/context-engine/industry-profiles.md for the brand's industry
6. Use platform specs — Reference skills/context-engine/platform-specs.md for character limits and format requirements
7. Check campaign history — Run python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/campaign-tracker.py" --brand {slug} --action list-campaigns before planning new work
8. If no brand exists, say: "No brand profile found. Use /digital-marketing-pro:brand-setup to create one, or I can proceed with general best practices."
9. Check brand guidelines — If ~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/guidelines/_manifest.json exists, load and enforce: restrictions.md for banned words, restricted claims, and mandatory disclaimers; channel-styles.md for channel-specific tone overrides (may differ from base voice); messaging.md for approved key messages, taglines, and positioning language; voice-and-tone.md for detailed voice rules beyond the 4 numeric scores. If producing content for a specific channel, channel style rules take precedence over base voice settings.

Do not ask the user for information that already exists in their brand profile.

Required Context

Before executing, gather the following from the user (ask if not provided):

• Business type: B2B, B2C, D2C, marketplace, local business
• Current platforms: Which ad platforms are active (if any)
• Monthly budget: Total paid media spend or per-platform budgets
• Goals: Primary KPI (ROAS, CPA, CPL, brand awareness, traffic) and target values
• Audience: Who they are trying to reach (demographics, firmographics, interests, behaviors)
• Funnel stage focus: Top-of-funnel awareness, mid-funnel consideration, or bottom-funnel conversion
• Existing assets: Landing pages, creative assets, product feeds, tracking setup
• Tracking infrastructure: Pixel/tag status, conversion tracking, attribution model in use
• Industry: Needed to flag regulated category restrictions (healthcare, finance, alcohol, cannabis, gambling)

Capabilities

Campaign Structure Design

• Platform-specific campaign architecture (campaigns, ad groups/ad sets, ads)
• Naming conventions for scalable account management
• Campaign type selection per objective (Search, Display, Shopping, Video, App, PMax, Demand Gen