The Skeptical Marketer

Big Tech is under the microscope — and we’re not looking away. The Skeptical Marketer is your guide to the digital world we’ve built, featuring sharp, unfiltered conversations about antitrust trials, ad fraud, platform accountability, and the truth behind your media spend. Hosted by Jake Surrey, this show brings together legal experts, watchdogs, and insiders to unpack the forces shaping tech, trust, and transparency. New episodes every week.

If you’re wondering where digital marketing is heading and how seismic shifts at Google and across the internet are impacting brands, then this episode of the Skeptical Marketer with guest Charlie Grinnell is a must-listen. Charlie is the co-CEO and co-founder of Right Metric, a strategic insights partner specializing in analyzing huge digital datasets across web, search, social, and advertising for major brands. With a background spanning creative video production, brand-side marketing at Red Bull, and deep data analytics, Charlie brings a uniquely broad and data-powered perspective. Simply put, he’s witnessed digital marketing’s evolution from the front lines and now helps brands see big-picture trends that affect everyone.Key takeaways & lessons:The “Seismic Shift” in marketing: Charlie dissects why what we’re experiencing now isn’t just about AI or “faster change” but a true seismic shift—driven by audience behaviour, content saturation, and the explosion of new channels. He shows how these changes aren’t just hype—they reshape how brands succeed.The decline of traditional search: Both Jake and Charlie discuss how Google’s dominance is fragmenting, why paid and organic search are less reliable, and how consumer trust and search habits are changing. Expect actionable advice on why you can’t just rely on search and what to do instead.Where to find your audience: The episode covers practical strategies—like using SparkToro, testing unexpected channels (Reddit, Discord, dark social), and focusing on “fishing where the fish are”—to reach people where they actually spend time.The return of creativity & media thinking: Discover why success now depends on marketing “like a media company,” creating content ecosystems people love even before they’re ready to buy, and why always-on, audience-first engagement matters more than ever.The future of ads, privacy & measurement: Get clarity on cookies, privacy, antitrust forces, GA4’s challenges, and why small businesses must rethink their approach to get results in the new era.Charlie Grinnell’s LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/charliegrinnellRightMetric’s Website: https://www.rightmetric.coRightMetric’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rightmetric This episode is brought to you by clearmotive marketing, in partnership with Ptak & Co. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure you subscribe to the show and give us a five-star review on your preferred platform. It really helps the show!

If you’ve ever wondered whether Google’s ad products are helping your business—or bleeding it dry—this episode of The Skeptical Marketer with guest Arielle Garcia is essential listening.Arielle is the Chief Operating Officer of Check My Ads Institute, an independent nonprofit watchdog advocating for transparency in digital advertising. A former Chief Privacy & Responsibility Officer at a global media agency, Arielle has seen the ecosystem from both the inside and outside—and she’s not holding back.Key takeaways & lessons:The market has failed: Arielle explains why digital advertising today is riddled with conflicts of interest, opacity, and unchecked platform power. Google sets the rules, controls the auction, and serves both sides—and that’s a recipe for systemic failure, not free market success.Performance Max, exposed: You’ll hear what happened when Check My Ads ran a small business-style test campaign using Google’s default Performance Max settings. Spoiler: zero legit publisher placements, kids’ videos, and park domains galore. It’s a damning look at how Google quietly profits off ad dollars without oversight.From watchdogs to whistleblowers: Arielle walks through why she left the holding company model, how Check My Ads is helping shape regulatory policy, and why self-regulation in digital media just doesn’t cut it anymore.Brand safety and the CSAM scandal: This episode dives into shocking recent research showing major ad platforms—including Google—serving ads on websites known for child sexual abuse material. Arielle explains why this isn’t a tech glitch—it’s a lack of due diligence and accountability.What marketers can do: Jake and Arielle close out with practical advice for marketing leaders: don’t blindly trust platform defaults, demand transparency, and stay skeptical. Because what you don’t know about where your ads are running can hurt your brand—and your bottom line.Arielle Garcia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariellesgarciaCheck My Ads Institute: https://checkmyads.org/This episode is brought to you by clearmotive marketing, in partnership with Ptak & Co. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure you subscribe to the show and give us a five-star review on your preferred platform. It really helps the show!

If you think analytics is just about dashboards and attribution models, Stéphane Hamel is here to ruin your day—in the best possible way.In this episode of The Skeptical Marketer, Jake sits down with Stéphane Hamel, a digital analytics veteran, ethics advocate, and lecturer at Université Laval. With decades of experience and a sharp outsider’s lens, Stéphane isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions: Who benefits from your marketing data? What are the hidden trade-offs in automation? And why does the industry keep confusing “more data” with “better decisions”?This is a conversation about ethics, incentives, and the systems we’ve blindly accepted.Key takeaways & lessons:The illusion of objectivity: Stéphane unpacks how data is never neutral—it reflects the assumptions, biases, and motivations of those who collect and interpret it.Marketing’s moral blind spot: Expect a frank discussion about consent theatre, tracking culture, and the lack of ethical frameworks guiding how brands use data to influence behaviour.When Google owns the scoreboard: Stéphane and Jake dive into the anti-trust concerns around Google’s dominance in ad tech—and why performance metrics might be more about protecting the platform than serving the marketer.Why GA4 broke trust: Hear why even seasoned analysts are walking away from Google Analytics, and what it signals about the future of measurement.Accountability in an automated world: With AI, automation, and opaque systems becoming the norm, Stéphane challenges marketers to think beyond efficiency—and start asking who’s left behind.Stéphane Hamel’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamelUniversité Laval’s Website: https://www.ulaval.ca/This episode is brought to you by clearmotive marketing, in partnership with Ptak & Co. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure you subscribe to the show and give us a five-star review on your preferred platform. It really helps the show!

What happens when the world’s biggest ad platform in the world starts hiding the receipts?In this episode of The Skeptical Marketer, Jake sits down with Ed Leake, founder of God Tier Ads and one of the world’s leading Google Ad’s experts and trainers, to get under the hood of how Google Ads is working in the wild. Ed’s seen it all: the wins, the faceplants, and the dashboards that look brilliant right up until your actual sales tank.With a healthy distrust of platform defaults and a background in building tools that challenge them, Ed brings a sharp, unfiltered POV on where ad automation is heading — and what marketers need to do right now to stay in control.Key takeaways & lessons:The Performance Max paradox: Ed explains how PMax often “performs” beautifully on the surface, while quietly spending on irrelevant or low-intent placements that never convert.Measurement, redefined: From data gaps to delayed conversions, the conversation explores how the way platforms report success is often disconnected from what actually drives business outcomes.The Google Ads black hole: Hear why seasoned media buyers are flying blind in Google’s current ecosystem — and how even smart brands are falling for shiny reporting without asking the right questions.Client education is survival: Ed shares why agencies and marketers need to do a better job of setting expectations, showing real value, and pushing back on baked-in platform bias.The future of tools and transparency: Jake and Ed chat about the rise of micro SaaS for marketers, and why more independent tools — not fewer — might be the antidote to over-trusting Big Tech.Ed Leake’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edleakeGod Tier Ads: https://www.godtierads.comAdEvolver: https://www.adevolver.comThis episode is brought to you by clearmotive marketing, in partnership with Ptak & Co. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure you subscribe to the show and give us a five-star review on your preferred platform. It really helps the show!

Ad fraud isn’t a bug in the system. It is the system.In this episode of The Skeptical Marketer, host Jake Surrey sits down with Nasser Ouijdane, CEO of Tapper AI, to dig into the hidden mechanics of fraudulent traffic, botnets, and the black-box incentives that make digital advertising feel more Wild West than regulated marketplace. With experience as an entrepreneur and founder in the SaaS space, Nasser stumbled into ad fraud by accident—and uncovered just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Today, he’s building technology to fight back, but he’s also brutally honest about the scale of the challenge.Key takeaways & lessons:The real cost of fake clicks: Nasser explains how invalid traffic inflates CPAs and CAC, drains budgets, and devalues legitimate publisher inventory—while fraudsters pocket billions.Winners, losers, and enablers: Advertisers and users lose, fraudsters win, and ad tech intermediaries quietly profit. Fraud thrives because volume looks like success.Programmatic’s dirty secret: Multiple resales of low-quality inventory, invisible ad placements, and a supply chain where “fraud is a feature, not a bug.”Why regulation fails: Even after a decade of warnings, industry self-policing hasn’t worked. Nasser draws parallels with finance—where misrepresenting money has consequences—and argues for transparency mandates.What marketers can do now: Don’t assume the platforms have your back. Audit your traffic quality, look for anomalies, prevent fraud proactively, and hold vendors accountable. Otherwise, you’re just optimizing for noise.The bigger picture: If left unchecked, ad fraud will slowly bleed confidence out of digital marketing, shifting spend to closed ecosystems, squeezing out smaller players, and ultimately making advertising less effective for everyone but criminals.Nasser Ouijdane’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nassero/Tapper AI Website: https://tapper.aiThis episode is brought to you by clearmotive marketing, in partnership with Ptak & Co. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure you subscribe to The Skeptical Marketer and leave us a five-star review on your platform of choice. It really helps the show!