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Consumer Tech Newsletter | Google Strategies for Growth📈

Plus: 📢 Meta vs Google Ads for D2C - Which Should You Focus On?

Author

Rafe Houston
April 30, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

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Welcome to Consumer Tech, your trusted newsletter for updates and analysis on the marketing trends shaping the consumer tech industry.

Editor’s Pick 🌟

Marketing thought leadership has a tendency towards binaries. The funnel is either completely dead or very much alive. Brand marketing is either pointless or the solution to all your problems, and ChatGPT is ending 30 years of search overnight.

At Fospha, we love the measurement challenge of any new channel that offers our clients ways to reach more customers. However, Google is still very much the biggest advertising platform. Performance Max (PMAX) and Search products alone represent around 30% of our clients’ digital share of wallet.

In uncertain times, it’s more important than ever for brands to nail these core channels, so we produced the definitive best practice guide on PMAX and Paid Search. Here were our top findings:

  • ⚖️ Best performing brands allocate 55% of Google budget to PMAX and 12% to Paid Search.

  • 🏆 Brands that pair Search and PMAX with ~50% of their budgets in YouTube, Demand Gen and Paid Social see optimal results.

  • 🎨 Especially for PMAX, high-volume creative is key for AI-powered optimization.

Sector Spotlight 🎥

INNOVATIVE LAPTOP DESIGN

Laptops are advancing rapidly, offering features that present significant opportunities for marketers seeking devices that support advanced workflows and showcase innovation. With dual OLED touchscreens (Asus Zenbook Duo), glasses-free 3D displays (Acer ConceptD 7 SpatialLabs Edition), and rollable or foldable screens (Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable), laptop form factors now enable experiential demonstrations, in-person collaboration, and adaptable presentations, setting new standards for marketing engagement.

Customizable hardware (Framework), top-tier GPU performance with liquid cooling (Lenovo Legion 9i), and specialized product differentiation—from high refresh rates (Alienware m18 R2) to unmatched security features (Purism Librem 14)—address distinct professional needs such as rapid content creation, data privacy, and immersive client pitches. These breakthrough designs reflect trends marketers can leverage to align tech investments with brand values, productivity, and distinct consumer experiences in a competitive market.

SMART LIVING SOLUTIONS

For marketers, the convergence of connected home devices such as robot vacuums, smart blinds, digital photo frames, and accessible VR headsets presents a roadmap for multi-channel engagement and tailored messaging. Emphasizing ease of use, safety, and emotional connectivity will resonate with caregivers and families seeking reliable solutions for loved ones. Ultimately, success in this space hinges on synthesizing convenience, adaptability, and peace of mind—delivering on both functional needs and emotional reassurance.

PRODUCT DESIGN EXCELLENCE

The 12-inch MacBook remains a benchmark in design innovation, representing Apple's willingness to disrupt norms for the sake of portability and aesthetics. Despite its limited connectivity and underwhelming processing power versus the MacBook Air, its ultra-thin form factor and Retina display aligned it more closely with the ambitions of an iPad—compact, mobile, and premium. Marketers should recognize how radical minimalism and premium positioning can set a product apart, even in highly competitive categories.

HOME SECURITY INNOVATION

Three low-cost, high-rated home security cameras—TP-Link Tapo, Kasa Indoor Smart, and Blink Mini—offer strong connectivity, flexible recording, compatibility with major smart platforms, and verified customer satisfaction, making them relevant, practical choices for marketers seeking accessible smart home insights.

PRODUCT INNOVATION

Motorola’s Razr Ultra 2025 sets a new standard for flip phones with a larger battery, faster charging, expansive displays, enhanced cover screen AI, and advanced camera features. For marketers, these upgrades increase market differentiation and highlight areas where Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 7 must improve to maintain relevance and consumer appeal. Staying attuned to these trends offers valuable insight for positioning and product strategy in the competitive mobile sector.

Influencer Corner 📢

Meta Ads vs. Google Ads: Which One is Better for D2C Brands?

Meta ads excel at:
👉 Building brand awareness.
👉 Nurturing new customers with engaging content.
👉 Retargeting cold leads who didn’t convert initially.

Google ads are great for:
👉 Capturing demand when people are actively searching for solutions.
👉 Generating high-intent traffic with low CPC.
👉 Converting cold leads into paying customers quickly.

Which one should you focus on?
👉 Meta ads work best if you’re focusing on top-of-funnel and brand-building.
👉 Google ads work best when you’re ready to convert customers actively searching for your product.

Rumour has it that OpenAI might be quietly working on a native Shopify checkout inside ChatGPT.

Apparently ‘leaked’ code shows:

👉 'shopify_checkout_url'
👉 'buy_now'
👉 'product_offer_ratings'

No redirects. No search. Just chat, compare, and buy in one flow. Unconfirmed, but catching attention.

If this happens?

Google, TikTok, even product pages as we know them are all about to change.

Optimization Hub ⚙️

SEARCH INNOVATION

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) integrates traditional SEO with AI-focused strategies, ensuring content is both visible in classic search results and cited by AI models like ChatGPT or Perplexity. Marketers must structure content to answer specific questions, prioritize authority, and track AI-driven citations. Adapting to GEO is essential for maintaining discoverability in an AI-driven search landscape.

DISCOVERY COMMERCE INNOVATION

TikTok Shop’s newly released playbook, developed with Accenture Song, provides marketers and brands actionable frameworks for driving growth through discovery commerce, leveraging real-time creator content and robust measurement. With TikTok Shop rapidly capturing eCommerce market share, ignoring these trends risks falling behind competitors capitalizing on content-driven online retail.

INNOVATIVE PERSONALIZATION STRATEGIES

Cookieless personalization is reshaping digital marketing by requiring brands to use first-party and zero-party data, contextual targeting, and server-side solutions instead of third-party cookies, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. This shift enables marketers to maintain effective, consent-driven customer engagement while safeguarding user privacy. Marketers must adapt quickly to sustain relevance and trust.

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