Notes from the work · Tag

#who-keeps-score

An agency worktable at dusk where a hand-kept ledger lies open beside a stack of printed ad cards, each with two small grade boxes, and a small glowing magenta figure checks one figure on the page with a magnifying glass

How we keep our own score

The platforms count the results of the ads they sell. Part 10 of Who Keeps Score, the last: the rules we use to grade ads and write reports so that a platform's number never becomes the verdict on its own.

David SteelOctober 24, 20267 min read

A small town main street where three tall toll booths stand in front of a row of storefronts, a gym, a spa and a salon, while beside them a narrow garden path with no booth leads straight to a studio's front door, a small glowing magenta figure walking along it

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

Three companies take most of the ad money. Here is how to test your dependence.

eMarketer forecasts that Google, Meta and Amazon will take 62.3% of worldwide digital ad spending in 2026. Part 9 of Who Keeps Score: what the filings show, what one iPhone setting did to Meta, and how a local business can measure its own reliance.

David SteelOctober 24, 20267 min read

A small studio's front desk where a referee in a striped shirt, seen from behind, holds both the whistle and the scorecard, while a ledger on the counter sits open beside a small glowing magenta figure keeping its own tally

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

The platform that sells the ad also reports how well it worked

Google predicts some of the conversions it takes credit for, Meta changed which attribution windows its API returns, and two advertiser lawsuits show what happens when the numbers are wrong. Part 8 of Who Keeps Score.

David SteelOctober 24, 20267 min read

A small salon back office with two ledgers on a desk, one thick and locked in a drawer, the other thin and open beside a mail slot, while a small glowing magenta figure slides a single slip of paper through the slot

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

The EU fined Meta over terms on other advertisers' data. Meta is appealing.

In 2024 the European Commission fined Meta €797.72 million over terms that let it use rival advertisers' ad data for Facebook Marketplace. In the U.S., Meta beat the FTC in 2025. Part 7 of Who Keeps Score.

David SteelOctober 24, 20267 min read

A quiet gym at closing time where a referee's striped shirt and whistle hang on a hook beside a blank scoreboard, while the gym's own worn membership ledger sits open and full on the front desk

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

Two U.S. courts found Google broke antitrust law. What changed, and what didn't

A Washington court ruled on search in 2024 and a Virginia court on ad tech in 2025. Both ordered remedies, neither broke Google up, and both cases are headed for appeal. Part 6 of Who Keeps Score.

David SteelOctober 24, 20268 min read

A boutique studio front counter with a velvet rope and a small brass bell, where a small glowing magenta figure has set a neatly filled membership card on the counter and waits while a hand reaches in to sign it

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

Checkouts are for humans: where Shopify and Amazon draw the line on AI agents

Shopify's robots.txt tells agents a person must review the order before payment. Amazon's terms now spell out how agents must identify themselves. A federal appeals court says the user is the one who shops. Part 5 of Who Keeps Score.

David SteelOctober 24, 20267 min read

A shop doorway in daylight with a long brass key rack beside it where nearly every hook holds a key with a dark tag, while one magenta key hangs on its own and a small glowing magenta figure studies the rack

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

Amazon locks out the AI agents, but not Googlebot

Amazon's robots.txt tells 99 named bots to stay out, including AI crawlers and shopping agents from Google, OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic and Perplexity. Google's search crawler is not on the list. Part 4 of Who Keeps Score.

David SteelOctober 24, 20267 min read

A long hallway of apartment mailboxes in a building that houses a small gym on the ground floor, where a building manager's ring of keys hangs beside the boxes and one box glows softly

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

The inbox has a landlord. Here are the house rules for your email.

Google writes Gmail's sender rules, ranks the Promotions tab, sells the ad slot in Gmail and summarizes mail before it is opened. Part 3 of Who Keeps Score: what each of those means for a studio, spa or gym that sends email.

David SteelOctober 24, 20266 min read

A salon's front window where an old paper notice taped to the glass has a newer notice pinned over one corner, while inside a stylist's own booking book sits open on the counter

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

Google changed its Gmail ads promise. Here is the wording, old and new.

In 2017 Google said consumer Gmail would not be used for ads personalization. On October 16, 2026 it added an opt-in exception. Part 2 of Who Keeps Score: what the new wording says, what it does not say, and where your best offers should live.

David SteelOctober 24, 20266 min read

A row of brass mailboxes outside a small fitness studio where each envelope sticking out of a slot is blank, while a single sealed ledger sits safely on the studio's own front desk inside

Playbooks · Who Keeps Score

Amazon stopped saying what you bought. Read the email it sends now.

In July 2026 Amazon's order emails stopped naming products. Part 1 of Who Keeps Score: what changed, what Amazon says, what it has not said, and what your own booking emails should carry.

David SteelOctober 24, 20268 min read

See your own locations in it.

Book a walkthrough with David Steel. Bring last month's lead count and one location you are worried about.

Book a walkthrough See the eight tools