The Anti-Playbook
What not to do in the Andromeda and PMax era.
Meta's Advantage+ and Google's Performance Max now decide where most of your budget goes. The old playbook is costing advertisers money every day. This is a field guide to the specific mistakes, what each one costs, and what to do instead.
"The algorithm did it" isn't an answer anyone accepts
Your cost per acquisition has crept up since Advantage+ took over, and you can't fully explain why. Performance Max is spending on placements you can't see. Andromeda now rewards creative variety that a small team struggles to produce.
Free advice doesn't help much. Platform documentation is written by the platform. Agency blogs are undated. Forum threads are confident and unverifiable.
What's inside
A correction guide, not a course. Six of the most expensive, most preventable mistakes in Meta and Google right now. Each one: the old tactic and what it costs, what to do instead, and exactly how to make the change.
The Cannibalization Fix
PMax quietly spending on your own brand searches.
The Learning-Reset Trap
Budget changes that throw campaigns back into learning.
The 15-Creative Rebuild
What Andromeda's creative variety ranking actually wants.
The Blind Spend Audit
Finding what PMax won't show you.
The Premature Automation Trap
Handing over to AI before the account is ready.
The early-kill rule
When to switch off an ad, decided by your own account's history.
Plus a 20-minute leak finder: a self-scoring check that points you to your most expensive mistake first.
Why listen to us
Daniel Vienings has run paid media for over a decade, including more than $20M for a single brand and six straight years of beating lead targets for South Africa's largest private education institute. Blue-chip clients across banking, telecoms and FMCG.
He's also spent $15k (and counting) on his own brand learning what not to do in the new AI-run ad platforms. The Anti-Playbook is built from both.
Who it's for
- Media buyers and agency owners running Meta and Google
- Founders running their own ads
- Marketers handed Advantage+ and PMax and told to "let the AI work"
Not for complete beginners, or anyone looking for an "AI does it all for you" promise.
Questions
When does it launch? When the waitlist tells us it's wanted. Join and you'll hear first.
What format is it? A PDF guide with short companion videos, updated when Meta or Google change the rules.
Is it a course or a community? No. No modules, no calls, no group. Open it and fix something the same day.
Will it go out of date? The platforms change often, so the guide is dated and updated. Buyers get updates at no charge.