Ad Platform Tracker Skill

A comprehensive skill for tracking algorithm changes, policy updates, compliance requirements, and competitive intelligence across Meta and Google Ads platforms.

Four Tracking Modules

When to load each file:

• Meta question → load meta-tracker.md
• Google Ads question → load google-tracker.md
• Compliance/privacy/policy question → load compliance-tracker.md
• Competitor/benchmarking question → load competitive-tracker.md
• General audit or "check everything" → load all four

Quick Assessment Framework

When a user reports a campaign issue or asks "why did X change?", run through this:

1. Platform Change? → Check the relevant tracker file for recent algorithm/feature updates
2. Compliance Risk? → Check if account/vertical is in a sensitive category (health, finance, political)
3. Creative Fatigue? → For Meta: check creative diversity, similarity scores, refresh cycle
4. Structural Issue? → For Google PMax: check channel reporting, negative keywords, asset quality
5. Competitive Shift? → Check if competitors changed messaging, offers, or formats

Output Templates

Daily Update Digest

DATE: [date]
PLATFORM: Meta / Google / Both
CHANGE: [what changed]
SEVERITY: Critical / High / Medium / Low
IMPACT DATE: [when it takes effect]
AFFECTED: [all accounts / specific verticals / regions]
RECOMMENDED ACTION: [what to do]

Campaign Impact Assessment

UPDATE: [name of update]
CURRENT CAMPAIGN STATUS: [affected / not affected]
METRICS AT RISK: [ROAS, CPM, CPA, reach, etc.]
URGENCY: [act now / act within 30 days / monitor]
SPECIFIC CHANGES NEEDED: [list]

Compliance Alert

REGULATION: [GDPR / CCPA / Meta Policy / Google Policy]
RISK LEVEL: High / Medium / Low
DEADLINE: [compliance required by]
AFFECTED CAMPAIGNS: [list]
REMEDIATION STEPS: [numbered list]

Data Sources to Monitor

Meta Official:

• Meta for Business blog: https://www.facebook.com/business/news
• Meta Transparency Center: https://transparency.fb.com/
• Meta Ads Library: https://www.facebook.com/ads/library
• Meta Graph API changelog: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/changelog

Google Official:

• Google Ads blog: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/
• Google Ads Help Center: https://support.google.com/google-ads
• Google Ads Developer Blog: https://ads-developers.googleblog.com/
• Google Marketing Live announcements (annual, May)

Industry Sources (fast-track updates):

• Jon Loomer Digital (Meta expert): https://jonloomer.com
• Social Media Examiner: https://socialmediaexaminer.com
• Search Engine Journal (Google Ads): https://searchenginejournal.com
• WordStream / Search Engine Land: https://wordstream.com
• Foxwell Digital (Meta policy specialist): https://foxwelldigital.com

Competitive Intelligence:

• Meta Ads Library API: https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/api/
• Google Ads Transparency Center: https://adstransparency.google.com/

Scraping Strategy

When asked to monitor or scrape platform updates, use the web-scraper skill (Firecrawl or Apify) to:

1. Official blogs → Firecrawl /crawl on Meta/Google blog URLs, filter for last 7 days
2. Meta Ads Library → Apify actor apify/facebook-ads-scraper for competitor ads
3. Google Ads Transparency → Firecrawl /scrape on specific advertiser pages
4. Industry blogs → Firecrawl /search for recent updates ("Meta algorithm update 2025")
5. RSS feeds → Firecrawl /scrape on RSS feed URLs for real-time monitoring

# Example: Monitor Meta blog for updates in last 7 days
firecrawl_payload = {
    "url": "https://www.facebook.com/business/news",
    "formats": ["markdown"],
    "onlyMainContent": True,
}

# Example: Search for recent Google Ads changes
firecrawl_search = {
    "query": "Google Ads Performance Max update 2025",
    "limit": 10,
    "scrapeOptions": { "formats": ["markdown"] }
}

Current State of Knowledge (as of early 2026)

Meta — Critical Facts

• Andromeda fully rolled out globally October 2025 — creative is now the primary targeting mechanism
• Andromeda uses NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchip, 10,000x increase in model capacity vs. predecessor
• Engaged-view window changed from 10s → 5s in 2025
• Value Rules expanded to Leads objective
• Threads Feed placement added — test for scaling
• Lookalike restrictions on health/finance data (Sept 2025)
• Creative similarity scoring active — too-similar ads punished with higher CPMs
• Sensitive category blocking (health, finance) started January 2025 — blocks mid/lower funnel events
• Meta AI chatbot personalization rolled out Dec 16, 2025 (excluding EU/UK/South Korea)

Google Ads — Critical Facts

• PMax channel-level reporting went live November 2025 for all accounts
• Full Search Terms Reporting in PMax added in 2025
• Campaign-level negative keywords (10k limit) added January 2025
• Search themes expanded from 25 → 50 per asset group
• AI Max launched at Google Marketing Live May 2025 (new search campaign type)
• Power Pack = PMax + Demand Gen + AI Max (Google's new recommended setup)
• Demand Gen showed 26% conversion increase in tests
• Waze ads inventory added to PMax store goals (US only, Nov 2025)
• First-party audience exclusions added to PMax (2026 rollout)
• Budget projection report added to PMax

Compliance — Critical Facts

• 19 US state privacy laws in effect by 2025
• Meta blocks custom audiences with sensitive attributes (health/finance) as of Sept 2025
• GDPR: requires opt-in, up to €20M or 4% global revenue fines
• CCPA/CPRA: opt-out model; requires "Do Not Sell" link
• Health/wellness brands: Add to Cart and Purchase events blocked for optimization (Jan 2025)
• Financial services: new mandatory Special Ad Category (Jan 14, 2025)
• Political ads: "Paid for by" disclaimer required, tighter targeting restrictions

For full deep-dive detail on any module, load the relevant reference file.