Scale & Strategy
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This is Scale & Strategy, the heart rate monitor of business newsletters (we help you check the market’s pulse).
Here’s what we got for you today:
- What we learned from 180 Google Ads
- Altman senses ‘rough vibes’ as Google pulls ahead
What we learned from 180 Google Ads
A study from WordStream broke down 180 top-ranked Google Ads to see what actually moves the needle. The patterns are about as straightforward as it gets.
- “Today” dominates.
It showed up in 230 ads, with “Call” right behind it. Search intent is immediate. People want the thing solved now.
- “Now,” “Free,” and “Get” still pull weight.
They hit trust, emotion, and logic all at once. Urgency wins, but value words weren’t far behind.
- Numbers matter.
358 ads used them. They cut through noise and add instant credibility. $2,500 or 0% reads faster and builds more trust than a sentence.
- Quality beats price.
“Price” barely showed up. Words that signal reliability, like “expert,” outperformed everything. Even cost-conscious buyers prioritize competence.
- Superlatives work.
“Top” was the winner. If you’re the best at something, lead with it.
- Phone calls are still the strongest CTA.
Over half the ads used clear CTAs, and calls were the most common. For service businesses, nothing beats a direct lead.
- “Luxury” topped the adjective list.
Only 20 percent of headlines used adjectives at all. It’s low-hanging fruit. One well-placed descriptor lifts perceived value.
- Ampersands and hyphens outperform loud punctuation.
The best ads leaned clean and professional. No yelling, no gimmicks.
The bigger takeaway: people overthink copy. The ads that win stick to fundamentals. Urgency, clarity, and precision still drive the click.
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Altman senses ‘rough vibes’ as Google pulls ahead
OpenAI’s usually unshakable confidence took a hit. According to The Information, Sam Altman sent an internal memo last month warning staff about “rough vibes” ahead as Google’s latest breakthroughs land with real force. Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro aren’t just shiny releases; they’re putting pressure on OpenAI in places that matter.
The key points:
- Altman told employees Google’s momentum could “create temporary economic headwinds” and that he expects “the vibes out there to be rough for a bit.” Translation: brace yourselves.
- Google’s pretraining gains are hitting a sensitive spot. OpenAI has been wrestling with scaling challenges on GPT-5, and Google’s progress doesn’t help.
- Altman pushed the team to stay locked on long-term swings: automated AI research, synthetic data, and the kind of bets that might look slow now but compound later.
- The memo also teased a new model, codename “Shallotpeat,” positioned as OpenAI’s next attempt to close the gap.
OpenAI doesn’t usually show this kind of vulnerability. Google’s run this week clearly landed. Still, this sector flips fast. Holiday season is historically when the big players drop their wild cards, and nobody in this race stays on top for long.
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