Blog
Insights, tutorials, and updates from the Soku AI team.
ChatGPT Ads Conversions API Guide: Server-Side Setup, Deduplication and Why OpenAI Now Says Use Both
On 2026-10-14 OpenAI rewrote the intro of its ChatGPT Ads Conversions API docs. It no longer calls CAPI more reliable than the pixel alone; it now says use both, with deduplication. This guide quotes the old and new wording, then covers the full server-side setup: endpoint, auth, batches, event and user fields, oppref and obref forwarding, app events, the dedup key, a Pixel vs CAPI decision table and a pre-launch dedup test plan. Last verified 2026-10-14.
18 min read · October 14, 2026
What Does a Creative Strategist Do? The Paid Social Creative Strategy Playbook
A creative strategist decides what a paid social ad should say, to whom, and why, then proves it with a test. This playbook defines the role against designers, media buyers and creative directors, walks through a weekly creative-strategy loop with the five artifacts it produces (research doc, hook bank, brief, test matrix, learnings log), defines hook rate, hold rate, CTR and CPA by concept from Meta and TikTok documentation, and covers tools, pay data and hiring.
22 min read · October 14, 2026
How Much Do YouTube Ads Cost in 2026? CPV, CPM and Budget Examples
What YouTube ads cost advertisers in 2026, format by format: which ads bill per 30-second view, per 10-second Shorts view or per impression, what Google's help center says about budgets, the few benchmarks with a named sample ($0.05 CPV and $9 CPM in a $1.04M B2B dataset; CPMs down 21% year over year in Q1 2026 per Tinuiti), and budget examples you can rerun. Verified 2026-10-14.
18 min read · October 14, 2026
ChatGPT Ads Manager User Roles and Permissions: Admin, Member, Viewer and Agency Access
How access to ChatGPT Ads Manager actually works: the five roles OpenAI documents (global admin, Ads admin, and the per-account Admin, Member and Viewer), Ads SSO policies, SCIM groups, the highest-role rule, safe offboarding, and how agencies should structure client accounts, API keys and multiple Pixel IDs. Includes a role-by-task matrix, an agency setup checklist and an access audit. Last verified 2026-10-13.
17 min read · October 13, 2026
Meta Advantage+ Catalog Ads: Setup, Feed Fixes and Creative Overlays
How to set up Meta Advantage+ catalog ads (formerly dynamic ads) from Meta's own documentation, plus a step-by-step diagnostic for the classic problem: a 2,000-SKU catalog where only about 50 products ever get delivery. Includes a feed-field checklist, a troubleshooting table and the three ways to add price overlays. Verified 2026-10-13.
19 min read · October 13, 2026
What Is Media Buying? A 2026 Guide for In-House and Agency Teams
Media buying is the work of purchasing ad placements and running them against a budget and a goal. This 2026 guide covers media buying vs media planning, the four ways to buy (programmatic guaranteed, deals and auctions, direct IOs, remnant), how Google and Meta auctions actually price ads, CPM vs CPC vs CPA vs CPV, in-house vs agency, the KPIs, a worked budget example, and a Monday-to-Friday media-buying week marked task by task.
19 min read · October 13, 2026
ChatGPT Ads Conversion Value: Per-Unit Item Amounts, Event Totals and ROAS
OpenAI redefined contents[].amount in the ChatGPT Ads Pixel and Conversions API: it is now the price of one unit, and the event amount is the value of the whole event. What changed word for word, who sent the wrong number, how purchase value and ROAS depend on it, and a step-by-step audit with JPY and multi-item examples. Last verified 2026-10-12.
16 min read · October 12, 2026
TikTok Ads Cost in 2026: Minimum Budgets, CPM and Bidding by Campaign Type
What TikTok ads cost in 2026: a $4.08 median CPM and $17.07 median CPA across 5,900+ e-commerce brands (Triple Whale, third-party), and the minimum budgets TikTok documents per campaign type: $50 per campaign, $20 per ad group, and 10x to 50x your CPA to get through learning. Covers Smart+, GMV Max and Spark Ads, plus a budget planning template. Verified 2026-10-12.
17 min read · October 12, 2026
TikTok GMV Max: Setup Checklist, ROI Targets and How Many Videos It Needs
TikTok GMV Max explained from TikTok's own help center: Product vs LIVE GMV Max, how to set the ROI target, how it attributes organic and affiliate orders, ROI protection, Max delivery, and the creative-volume numbers TikTok publishes. Includes a setup checklist and a creative-supply planning table. Verified 2026-10-12.
19 min read · October 12, 2026
ChatGPT Ads Bulk Upload and Bulk API: How to Create and Edit Campaigns at Scale
How to create and edit ChatGPT Ads campaigns at scale: the Ads Manager bulk upload template and Export for edit workflow, the developer Bulk API (bulk_mutation_jobs, 1,000 operations per job), create vs update rules, field limits, where the two OpenAI documents disagree, and a pre-upload checklist. Last verified 2026-10-09.
20 min read · October 9, 2026
Creative Automation for Paid Social: Platforms, Workflows and What to Automate First
Creative automation is seven jobs, not one tool. Which platforms automate templating, DCO, feeds, generative AI, QA and trafficking, with pricing checked today.
18 min read · October 9, 2026
ChatGPT Ads Review: Why Ads, Products and Accounts Get Rejected or Paused
How review works in ChatGPT Ads: business verification, industry and domain approval, ad creative review, brand review, and what edits restart review or pause serving. OpenAI's exact wording on rejections, appeals, the Account, Brand and Legal Name rules, where the Help Center and developer docs disagree, what is still email-only, and a fix checklist. Last verified 2026-10-08.
17 min read · October 8, 2026