David Pombar

CRO @ Trackingplan
Building AI for marketing data.
Writing about analytics, AI agents, broken tracking and what we're learning along the way.

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

Hi 👋 I'm David. I'll be writing here about digital marketing, AI, agentic analytics and running ad campaigns with AI.

Mostly lessons from the field, few hot takes, zero hype.

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

@Meta @Adweek Whatever the final terms say, the operating rule is the same.

Automate the work. Keep the checks.

What do you review before an AI-edited ad goes live?

Adweek's report: https://t.co/pJpho1VvOO

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

Who's responsible when an AI feature you didn't build changes your ad?

@Meta's revised commercial terms tried to answer that. They're on hold now, but worth reading 🧵

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

@Meta @Adweek Meanwhile, advertisers were already pulling Meta ads that came back with unwanted AI "glow-ups".

That's the real lesson: automated creative needs the same QA as automated tracking. If you didn't check what went live, you don't know what you're paying for.

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

@datolaes Jajajaja que malvados

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

Cinco de cinco 🎉
🌊 La Quinta, la gran fiesta de los datos · 📍 A Coruña, 23 y 24 de abril · 🍽️ con cena

¿Te subes a la ola? https://t.co/v2ZVfDQkfi

@datolaes #Datolada

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

How to catch them: open the SQL behind the answer and check the table, the dates, the filters, what is counted, and whether a join or UNNEST duplicates rows.

Then compare with a number you already trust.

The full guide: https://t.co/5vZaMXVsce

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

A data agent always answers. That's its strength and its risk.

It will return a confident number from a query that counted the wrong thing.

These are the six errors agents make most often on GA4 data in BigQuery, and how to catch each one 🧵

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

6. Hiding missing values in one big unlabelled bucket.

(not set) and NULL end up in a row nobody reads. If that row is large, it's telling you something about your tracking.

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

@trackingplanco That's how it spots when something breaks, and where.

If the journey has no order, the data has to be right at every step, not only the last one.

@ThinkwithGoogle on the 4S: https://t.co/pLjdcAikOz

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

Google keeps telling marketers the funnel is dead.

Its Messy Middle research found people loop between exploring and evaluating. Its 4S framework says they stream, scroll, search and shop at the same time.

No fixed order 🧵

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

Small confession: at @trackingplanco we've been funnel atheists since 2021. Turns out we were just early.

Our agent doesn't depend on journeys or funnel definitions. It learns from real traffic: every event, property and value, whatever path people take.

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

@Meta Meta's announcement: https://t.co/cRjT15IOAn

Would you let an agent move your budget today?

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

At Advertising Week, @Meta said it's testing an Ads Manager assistant that plans campaigns and adjusts audiences and budgets from a chat.

It also opened its Ads MCP: outside agents can now stage campaigns as drafts in Ads Manager.

The question nobody's asking 🧵

[David Pombar @DavidPombar_ENG]

@Meta So before you hand an agent your budget, audit the signal it will optimize on.

GA4 and Meta will never match exactly. The question is whether the gap is the one the rules produce:
https://t.co/w90wRACrU0