Industry Analysis

Deep dives into advertising economics, platform incentives, and structural challenges facing enterprise retailers in automated ad systems.

January 19, 202611 min read

The Google Ads Black Box: Why Shopping Performance Breaks at Scale and Why Incentives Matter

Most advertisers assume Google and advertisers want the same thing. That assumption breaks at scale. When automation increases opacity at the exact moment enterprises need clarity, performance plateaus are often incentive conflicts, not execution failures. Understanding this dynamic is critical for making confident budget decisions.

Adam Sturrock