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<hr /> We’re in the “All Agents, All the Time” era. You know it. I know it. And it’s not just the persistent media and marketing hype cycle. Agents are sometimes <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.moveworks.com/us/en/resources/blog/what-is-an-ambient-agent">ambient by nature,</a> running continuously in the background to monitor event streams, anticipate needs, and act autonomously without waiting for direct user prompts.So they are, quite literally, doing their thing all the time. No coffee breaks, just constant workaholics – and that’s creating some incredible efficiencies for marketers and brands.We’re still in the early days of the “agentic revolution” (can I use that phrase?), but it’s already yielding some tangible results. I’ve been speaking to numerous agencies and enterprises over the last few weeks, and there’s a growing fervor surrounding agents and how they can be harnessed in meaningful ways.A lot of the discussion has revolved around the orchestration platforms needed to perform this job, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.optimizely.com/ai/">Optimizely's Opal</a> is often at the top of the list. Designed with marketers in mind, Opal allows you to create AI agents for almost any use case imaginable and build intricate workflows that can impact your experiments, accelerate your campaign lifecycles, and drive more business.In my recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/optimizelys-new-agent-orchestration-gives-marketers-a-magic-wand-for-building-custom-workflows">post-Opticon conversation</a> with Optimizely’s SVP of Product, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsyli/">Kevin Li,</a> we talked at length about the importance of customizable workflows, and how Optimizely has been doubling down on delivering an elegant and robust experience that really juices productivity.“As we talk to customers, they’re really excited about the whole workflow aspect,” he said. “How we get to the 10x, 20x productivity gains lies in workflow, so we're excited about the ability to build your own workflows with the agents themselves to actually go get more work done.”Expanding the scope and reach of Opal has clearly been a key objective for Optimizely, and now they’re tapping Google as a force multiplier. The DXP just announced that it is now integrated with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise?hl=en">Gemini Enterprise,</a> Google Cloud’s new platform that enables teams to discover, create, share, and run AI agents in a single destination. With pre-built and custom agents, drag-and-drop workflow design, and Gemini-powered reasoning, Opal can help teams scale marketing performance faster and with greater precision. The combined offering – available via the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/product/optimizely-public/optimizelyopal?hl=en&amp;pli=1&amp;project=main-aura-293403">Google Cloud Marketplace</a> – will unify data across systems while Opal analyzes it to recommend and even execute personalized marketing campaigns.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:89.02%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761169863165.png" alt="A screenshot of a computer

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Optimizely Opal in the Google Cloud Marketplace. Source: Google Cloud Marketplace "We're entering an era where marketing teams need more than just individual AI tools – they need orchestrated intelligence that can adapt, learn, and execute across their entire workflow," said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-dannemann-93858936/">Jessica Dannemann,</a> Chief Partner Officer at Optimizely. “By bringing Opal to the Google Cloud Marketplace, we're making it easier than ever for businesses to access the AI-powered marketing capabilities they need to create exceptional customer experiences.”<h3 id="advanced-reasoning-powered-by-google-gemini-models">Advanced reasoning powered by Google Gemini models</h3>Gemini Enterprise is designed to bring Google's most advanced AI models to businesses to address a variety of workflows. It functions as a kind of central interface for users to interact with AI by querying company data, automating tasks using pre-built or custom AI agents, and creating content. Gemini Enterprise offers an array of features, including a no-code workbench for creating custom agents, secure connections to company data across different platforms, and a governance framework for managing agents and auditing their use. Powered by Google’s Gemini models, Opal’s integration will deliver powerful reasoning capabilities for sophisticated analysis of both text and visuals, powering marketers with essential insights to drive smarter, faster campaign decisions. <h3 id="giving-marketers-more-control-while-breaking-down-data-silos">Giving marketers more control while breaking down data silos</h3>By bringing their technologies together, Optimizely and Google Cloud are tackling two of the biggest challenges that marketers face: fragmented customer data and the difficulty of personalizing content at scale.Through Opal’s integration with Gemini Enterprise, marketers can break down barriers between search, assistance, and intelligent agents. Gemini Enterprise’s extensive network of third-party agents and data connections also allows Opal users to access a holistic view of customers, drawing information from various enterprise systems to enrich the marketing experience."Bringing Optimizely’s agent to Google Cloud provides customers with powerful new tools to advance their digital transformation goals,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/daivu/">Dai Vu,</a> Managing Director, Marketplace &amp; ISV GTM Programs at Google Cloud. “We’re excited to expand our work with Optimizely and see how customers use the Opal agent technology to innovate and help marketers break down data silos.”<h3 id="harnessing-an-agent2agent-interoperability-architecture">Harnessing an Agent2Agent interoperability architecture</h3>Agents are starting to work together, and the real potential lies with these agent-to-agent interactions. With Optimizely and Google’s integrated offering, marketers can now harness the power of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/agent2agent-protocol">Agent2Agent (A2A) capabilities</a> – unleashing an integrated library of tools that allow teams to design and execute automated, effective, and personalized campaigns at scale.Announced in April, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://developers.googleblog.com/en/a2a-a-new-era-of-agent-interoperability/">Google’s A2A protocol</a> marshals a standardized set of design principles from a wide range of industry-leading technology partners. The architecture enables seamless, real-time collaboration between AI systems, eliminating manual data transfers and allowing for complex, automated workflows. A2A focuses on core agentic functions, tight security, and the ambient ability to handle long-running tasks (they keep going and going). It’s also host-agnostic, so it can support agents regardless of how or where they are built.But A2A is also about collaboration, enabling agents to join forces. For marketers, this could mean skipping the Red Bull and instead leaning on agents to perform urgent tasks like industry research overnight – so they have the insights they need to develop rock-solid campaigns as soon as they start their workday. Opal debuted in the Google Cloud Marketplace in July. With this new integration, Optimizely and Google Cloud are deepening their collaboration with an A2A-powered architecture that enables real-time collaboration between the two AI systems. Opal itself runs on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/models">Google’s Gemini models,</a> giving marketing teams powerful, advanced reasoning to analyze complex data and generate intelligent, personalized campaign recommendations.<h3 id="pricing">Pricing</h3>Optimizely Opal can be purchased through the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/product/optimizely-public/optimizelyopal?hl=en&amp;pli=1&amp;project=main-aura-293403">Google Cloud Marketplace</a> via a Private Offer. That's cloud lexicon for contacting Optimizely’s sales to obtain a custom quote. Cloud marketplace listings can be somewhat nebulous at times (that's true of them all), particularly if the product isn't a direct SaaS or subscription model within your account. That said, the listing page does offer access to resources like tutorials and documentation to get things started. <h3 id="the-verdict">The verdict</h3>The hyperscalers have been a well for hydrating AI scalability, but Google in particular has been prolific with its Gemini foundation models (although recent outages aside, AWS Bedrock is making notable progress with its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aws.amazon.com/ai/generative-ai/nova/">Amazon Nova models</a>). Optimizely already runs on Gemini, so that’s clearly accelerating the innovation arc and gaming the efficiencies.Regardless of the AI wizardry under the hood, the real key here is marketers – and Opal is already delivering the kind of frictionless, low-code, drag-and-drop workflow capabilities that are helping them unlock the value of AI. This new integration is evolving that value, connecting Opal’s marketing intelligence with Gemini Enterprise’s network of agents and data sources to provide a unified view of the customer journey. From a tactical perspective, the coordination between the two systems is giving marketing teams the ability to build and run personalized campaigns with greater automation, allowing them to focus on other tasks with creative or strategic imperatives. This, of course, is the real promise of AI: reducing the cognitive load for marketers, who are struggling to manage a multitude of tools in an ever-increasing stack of complexity. There continues to be a lot of AI washing out there, but Optimizely’s roadmap still looks promising in the Opal department, particularly within the scope of its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.optimizely.com/products/">Optimizely One</a> and CMP ecosystems. One of the smartest things they did to validate the use cases and outcomes with Opal was <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.optimizely.com/insights/the-2025-optimizely-opal-ai-benchmark-report/">publishing a Benchmark Report</a> that details how marketers are actually using it – and where it’s paying off. The dimensions of this new integration are certainly worth a look if you’re in the “All Agents, All the Time” mode. I’m not sure it can deliver a four-day work week for marketers, but this integration could help lighten the load.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.61%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/storyblok-joyconf-2025-logo.jpg" /><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Storyblok JoyConf 2025</a></h4>November 4, 2025 – New York, NY November 6, 2025 – Los Angeles, CAJoin us at JoyConf 2025, where the future of content meets the people shaping it. Built for developers, marketers, and digital innovators, this free conference goes way beyond product updates or yet another strategy playbook. It’s where you’ll get inspired, get real, and get connected – to ideas, to the community, and to what’s possible when you build joyfully. Whether you're building lightning-fast frontends or launching cross-channel campaigns, this is where content becomes connection and collaboration becomes second nature. Come for the talks. Stay for the community. Leave with joy. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Save your spot.</a> <img style="width:28.9%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/sitecore-symposium-2025.jpg" /><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2025</a></h4>November 3-5, 2025 – Orlando, FLAt Sitecore Symposium, you’ll learn how to meet your customers where they are – across channels, moments, and touchpoints that didn’t exist a year ago. You’ll hear how the boldest brands in the world are transforming content into outcomes and creating experiences that are fast, relevant, and human. Join 1,500 marketers, digital leaders, and technologists in Orlando to see what’s possible when personalization scales, AI accelerates creativity, and trust becomes your competitive edge. This is the Third Wave of the Internet. And this is your moment to lead in it. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Get your tickets today.</a> <figure class="image image-style-block-align-left image_resized" style="width:28.08%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1759840698475.png" /></figure><h4 id="raise:-lifting-content-into-the-future-with-agentic-cms"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS</a></h4>November 11, 2025 – London, UKJoin Kontent.ai at RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS, a premier free event for forward-thinking marketing and technology leaders shaping the way today’s most ambitious brands create and deliver content. Expect bold ideas, discover innovative strategies, engage with industry leaders, and gain insights that will lift your content strategy to new heights. At RAISE, you'll learn how to deliver faster, more engaging content experiences while AI does the busywork of audits, compliance, and localization with Agentic CMS, built to give you and your teams more time on creativity that matters. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">Reserve your seat today.</a> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761136749603.png" /><h4 id="live-webinar:-can-we-ever-get-composable-without-complexity?"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Live Webinar: Can We Ever Get Composable Without Complexity?</a></h4>November 20, 2025 – 6 PM (CET) / 5 PM (GMT) / 12 PM (EST)Composable architecture promised to simplify digital experience creation by giving organizations the flexibility to combine the technologies that met their needs. But for many enterprises, it’s done the opposite, which has led to complex integrations, spiraling costs, and what some are now referring to as composable regret. In this live conversation, Umbraco CEO Mats Persson joins Matt Garrepy, Chief Content Officer at CMS Critic, for a candid exploration of what went wrong in the first wave of composable and what needs to change. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Register for the webinar.</a> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Optimizely Opal Fuels Marketers with Powerful AI Agents via Google's Gemini Enterprise

matt-garrepy

<h4 id="-"> </h4><h4 id="listen-to-the-full-episode-of-“the-critic's-corner”-podcast-&gt;"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cms-critic-the-critics-corner-podcast/id1801794414?i=1000722088473">Listen to the full episode of “The Critic's Corner” Podcast &gt;</a></h4> <hr /> “I set out to create the Moby Dick of adtech.”I know it was said in jest during the recording of our podcast, but I think <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aripaparo/">Ari Paparo</a> was accurate in his literary self-assessment. Without question, the “Great White Whale” is an apropos metaphor for <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google</a>. And I’ll borrow from Melville here: If Ari’s heart were a cannon, he would have shot his heart upon it.As a historical documentarian of Google’s rise and legal fallout as the preeminent ad tech goliath, Ari is clearly the Ishmael to the DOJ’s Ahab, telling us the story in vivid detail. And what a story it is. After a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-prevails-landmark-antitrust-case-against-google#:~:text=Today%20the%20Antitrust%20Division%20of,%2C%20increasingly%2C%20the%20internet%20itself.">long and sordid legal quagmire</a>, Google’s ad business has been harpooned, with the Department of Justice handing down sweeping remedies. Additional lawsuits are pending, so the saga is far from over.While a complete breakup of Google’s advertising empire is unlikely, the government appears to have prevailed in its quest to stop its overreach. And despite the financial and business impacts on the Big G, the public’s perception of the search giant is clearly tarnished. We now know just how underhanded the manipulation was across Google’s buying and selling exchange, how they squeezed partners and bent the market to its will.But there were unscrupulous players on all sides, as Ari pointed out. Some of that was reactionary, perhaps even predictable. It was all fruit of the poisonous tree. Or, more appropriately, rows of teeth in the whale’s mouth. “It wasn't just Google that was cheating,” he said. “They had a unique ability to cheat, because they were both on the buy and the sell side. But everyone else was cheating, too. The counterparties, in many cases, were doing shenanigans to raise the prices.”In his new book, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.amazon.com/Yield-Google-Bullied-Advertising-Dominance/dp/B0F67HV2BB">Yield: How Google Bought, Built, and Bullied Its Way to Advertising Dominance,</a> Ari takes us on a fascinating journey through the bowels of the burgeoning adtech world over the last two decades. He guides us through the high-stakes industry game that saw Google pit against “The Big Three” (AOL, MSN, and Yahoo) to control the advertising landscape, and how innovation – and shadowy tactics – helped them systematically dismantle the competition. The tale is stranger than fiction. And while one chapter has ended, we’re still roaming the turbulent waters, waiting to see what the whale does next. The intrigue goes beyond Silicon Valley's hallowed and often vulturous vestibules, weaving in Madison Avenue's misanthropic, profit-driven culture. It was like the new Gold Rush – and Ari had a front-row seat on the inside. After some dotcom-era dabbling, Ari joined the pioneering ad powerhouse, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DoubleClick">DoubleClick</a>, and was later shrink-wrapped into the 2008 Google acquisition. In our conversation, we discussed the transformation across these business entities and what the cultural shift was like. While he's not a character in the book, his proximity gave him deeper insight.“I was part of the sale, and I ended up a Director of Product Management at Google, overseeing a lot of the products sold to advertisers and agencies,” he said. “And that was a really important transaction that kicks off the book, and I was just part of that.”Here's a taste of our conversation:<figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/kYM1A2bjdnU"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kYM1A2bjdnU" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure><h3 id="a-tale-in-three-acts">A tale in three acts</h3>Along with his career credentials as a former Googler, Ari is a curious explorer – an adtech guru who worked at the center of the industry and later leveraged his expertise to report the “goings on” for various news outlets. These days, he’s the CEO of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://news.marketecture.tv/">Marketecture Media</a>, a network of podcasts and events in the digital media business, where he continues to keep his fingers on the pulse. As Ari detailed in the podcast, the book is divided into three sections: The financialization of advertising, Google's march to dominance, and the legal challenges that followed. We discussed the profound invention of the ad exchange and how Google’s dual role as both a buyer and a seller allowed it to manipulate auctions.The book is replete with examples of unethical practices – enough to make your head spin. But Ari also explained how the rise of reactive market pressures changed perceptions and created, shall we say, “interesting” responses. That included the advent of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Header_bidding">header bidding</a> (one of many strange terms in the digital advertising lexicon), which allowed other parties to compete with Google on more even footing, further conflating the programmatic advertising landscape.<h3 id="the-‘legal-eagle’">The ‘legal eagle’</h3>Google’s power play remained in a black box – for a while. But as brands and advertisers became painfully aware of its shady practices, a cohort of unlikely bedfellows, including tech and communications giants like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-azure">Microsoft</a>, AT&amp;T, and Verizon (and publishing giants like News Corp, The Daily Mail, and Gannett), tried to shift Google’s course. As the book details, this alliance ultimately failed, leaving the question of whether a single company could control the destiny of media and journalism unanswered.Enter the U.S. Department of Justice, which becomes a pivotal character in the story. As the last line of defense, the courts sought to unravel Google’s advertising empire and render its monopoly inert. During this landmark antitrust trial, Ari decided to camp out in the Virginia courthouse where the action was unfolding. He published a daily newsletter, which, in his words, got “snarky” at times. About midway through, the idea of crystallizing the saga as a book came to him.“I said to myself, this is like a pretty good story, an emotional ‘people story’ about feeling gaslit and betrayed and having your power taken away from you as a publisher or as a monetization professional,” he recalled. “So it was born out of the testimony in the trial."Spoiler alert: As we cover in the podcast, the DOJ is successful, and Google is currently being forced to dismantle its machine – or at least parts of it. And the drama is far from over as additional suits work their way through the courts. While the guilty verdict has ended in calls for a breakup of key business components and interests, Wall Street is still waiting for the judge’s gavel to fall on proposed remedies. The DOJ is even seeking a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.investors.com/news/technology/google-stock-wall-street-awaits-judges-ruling-on-remedies-in-search-antitrust-case/">divestiture of Google’s Chrome browser</a> as part of the regulatory case’s many remedies. In fact, this week, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.perplexity.ai/">Perplexity</a> – the popular AI answer engine with a keen focus on search – tendered an offer to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/ai-startup-perplexity-makes-bold-345-billion-bid-googles-chrome-browser-2025-08-12/">purchase Chrome for the sweet sum of $34.5 billion</a>, although Google claims it’s not for sale.<h3 id="a-people-story">A people story</h3>It would be easy to say this is a tale about tech, but it’s not. As Ari said, it's about people – and our delicate relationship with trust and transparency.During the pod, Ari shared his experience of living through the antitrust trial and preparing to write a detailed book. Not only did he scour thousands of pages of documents in his research, but he also listened closely to the human toll of Google’s abuses, emphasizing the emotional impact on publishers and advertisers.“This isn't just for me, the ad tech uber geek,” he said. “I really had to put it in the historical perspective with the real stories from the people that were involved.”Maybe breaking up Google’s ad server and exchange is a logical next step. Opening its algorithms might also rebalance the equation. But as we discussed in the episode, the industry has already transformed, and AI is a big part of that. As traffic declines, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://searchengineland.com/google-search-zero-click-study-2024-443869">zero-click searches</a> rise, and users shift their preference to answer engines like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT</a>, the advertising world is already playing by a different set of rules – and there’s no going back. During our pod recording, Ari offered some reflections on the future of journalism, the realities of “the open web,” and how consumers and advertisers might coexist in this new ecosystem of business models. As one of the leading minds in the field, he has a sense of where things are heading and how we have to adapt to this new paradigm.“When we talk about what the old-fashioned definition of what the ‘open web’ means – free to consumers on the web, spiderable by search engines – there's no sugar coating it, that's on the decline,” he said. “And the ad-supported portion of that is also on the decline. And I don't think there's anything you can do about that. You have to look at other ways of supporting journalism, be it paid, nonprofit-supported, government-supported, or other things like that.”<h3 id="the-verdict">The verdict</h3>What can I say? I loved this book. It is a tour de force of research, observation, and analysis with an authentic thread of humanity woven across its pages.If you're looking for a powerful read, this is it. Yield is challenging, engaging, and beautifully crafted. It offers a well-balanced exchange of gripping narrative with technical exposition, giving you a deeper understanding of how the field of digital advertising functioned under Google's rule – and all the shenanigans they pulled. It’s a fascinating ride from cover to cover.If you're a marketer, this book is for you. If you're a tech hawk that's obsessed with unpacking the cultural dysfunction of Silicon Valley in its mashup with Madison Avenue, this book is for you. And if you're a fan of documentary-style stories about unthinkable corporate profiteering and legal drama, this book is definitely for you.I highly recommend it – and you can <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.amazon.com/Yield-Google-Bullied-Advertising-Dominance/dp/B0F67HV2BB">purchase your copy here.</a><h3 id="“the-critic’s-corner”-podcast-with-ari-paparo">“The Critic’s Corner” podcast with Ari Paparo</h3> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cms-critic-the-critics-corner-podcast/id1801794414?i=1000722088473">Listen to the full episode &gt;</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cms-critic-the-critics-corner-podcast/id1801794414">Subscribe on Apple Podcasts &gt;</a> <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:59.7%"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cms-critic-the-critics-corner-podcast/id1801794414?i=1000722088473" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/ari-paparo-podcast-image.png" alt="" /></a></figure> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FloridaMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

How did Google buy, build, and bully its way to advertising dominance? Ari Paparo tells us in “Yield” 

<hr /> I have a confession: I’ve never been a fan of writing in my CMS. Any CMS, for that matter. And I've used a lot of them.Call me “old school,” but I entered the tech field at a time when computers were a lot more prone to crashing. You can only take so much of that dreaded “Blue Screen of Death” – or watching your work vaporize after an app fails – before developing a solid case of PTSD: Painfully Tragic System Deletion.Over time, things stabilized. Hardware was more reliable, machine-side applications less fidgety, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/word">Microsoft Word</a> became a de facto standard in the desktop stack. Heck, you could even auto-save your stuff… and that really brought down the blood pressure.But <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management systems</a>? Meh. They were still subject to the whims of a browser and a web connection. Sessions could be unruly, and it wasn’t uncommon to lose content while drafting a blog post or an article. As such, users like me held to a well-founded distrust of authoring directly in the tool.Of course, there’s more to it than a lack of operational integrity. For a long time, most CMSes treated the content creation experience as an afterthought. WYSIWYG editors provided a shallow proxy for what apps like Word delivered: an intuitive, page-like canvas with lots of freedom to write, comment, share, and collaborate. When <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a> emerged, it solved most of the persistent stability issues with web-based content creation. It also introduced the concept of real-time collaboration within a shared document – which was an all-out game changer. CMSes have certainly improved their editing experiences, stitching together more sophisticated tableaus. Every year, I see regular demos of CMS editors, and they’ve gotten remarkably better. That said, most content professionals don’t like being forced to use a specific tool when it comes to their elemental creative process. Governance notwithstanding, choice is a good thing. But for people like me who prefer a Google Doc, I’m still stuck copying and pasting into a CMS to publish. And that’s a tedious exercise replete with formatting issues that can throw wrenches in the machine.Things get more complicated for larger teams. Writing often happens in one place and design in another. Then, after going back and forth with developers, it all kind of gets “knit” together. Errors show up. Stuff gets siloed. What’s worse: If another team member has the CMS keys and is tasked with copying and pasting, you might need a string of emails or tickets to get a single typo fixed. If this all sounds disjointed, that’s because it is. And the real debt to be paid revolves around time, money, and control. This is where <a target="_blank" href="https://pantheon.io/blog/pantheon-vision-content-operations">Pantheon’s vision</a> plays in. The company – which provides an integrated operations, workflow, and governance platform for Drupal and WordPress – has been helping organizations build, host, and secure their digital experiences since 2010.Late last year, I spoke to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshkoenig/">Josh Koenig</a> – Pantheon’s co-founder and CSO – about the company’s consulting <a target="_blank" href="https://pantheon.io/blog/pantheon-and-tag1-support-drupal-7-websites">partnership with Tag1</a> to support Drupal 7 websites. Right on the heels of that, the company announced the launch of a new product called <a target="_blank" href="https://pantheon.io/blog/introducing-pantheon-content-publisher">Pantheon Content Publisher.</a> Content Publisher reimagines the flow for writing, editing, collaborating, and publishing to the web. In a nutshell, this add-on feature enables writers to create in a Google Doc and directly publish to their <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a>, or <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/nextjs">Next.js</a> websites – and do it all safely and securely. As a CMS user, Content Publisher satisfies the urgent need for visualization. As you type and edit in your Doc, you’re served a live preview of how content will render on your website. When you’re ready to roll, a single click pushes it to final review and publishing. Pretty slick. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:79.62%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/02/image-1738705229313.jpeg" alt="A person standing at a podium giving a presentation

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Roland Benedetti at Boye &amp; Company CMS Kickoff 25. Source:Marta Cukierman During the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">Boye &amp; Company CMS Kickoff 25</a> in January, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandbenedetti/">Roland Benedetti</a>, Pantheon’s Senior Director of Product, showcased this nifty tool during our “CMS Idol” competition. I’ve known Roland since his days at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/ez-systems/">eZ</a> (now <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/ibexa">Ibexa</a>), and he's always been one to push the envelope. Needless to say, what I saw was impressive, even at a beta stage – and seemed to address key pain points for many of us in the content ecosystem.What you’re reading right now was indeed copied and pasted from a Google Doc. But with Content Publisher, that rigmarole might be a thing of the past. Here’s a quick snapshot of what this promising new product could deliver for content creators. <h3 id="can-pantheon-fix-what’s-broken-with-web-publishing?">Can Pantheon fix what’s broken with web publishing?</h3>Hmm. Where to start? That would be my first question…Look, it's a big mountain, but Pantheon is trying to scale it. As Roland and co-founder <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharyrosen/">Zach Rosen</a> stated in their official Content Publisher announcement, “The web used to be simple and fun. It’s increasingly become tedious, flaky, and frustrating.” Hard to argue with that.Also true, as I’ve pointed out in my own case: Content creators aren’t sitting down and writing web content directly into WordPress or Drupal, and there's real data to back that up. According to Pantheon's own research, 90% of writers create, edit, and collaborate on content using (you guessed it) Google Docs and Microsoft Word. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="-"> </h4><h4 style="text-align:center" id="“the-web-used-to-be-simple-and-fun.-it’s-increasingly-become-tedious,-flaky,-and-frustrating.”">“The web used to be simple and fun. It’s increasingly become tedious, flaky, and frustrating.”</h4> <hr /> With such a significant shift towards Word and Docs for content authoring, little progress has been made in bridging the gap between these tools and the web layer. Given the complexity of modern CMSes, content originating from outside tools is often shifted to specific team members with CMS access and permissions. As Roland and Zach indicated, it’s possible that these human “copy-paste” stakeholders could miss some critical checks along the way – things like confirming mobile responsiveness, ensuring brand guidelines, and even validating digital accessibility. In effect, the disconnect between these entities amplifies liability.There’s also this notion of “democratizing the web” that Content Publisher is endeavoring to solve. As CMS systems become more complex and convoluted, only fully trained platform experts can facilitate the act of publishing. Further, waiting to clean up any formatting or governance issues at the publishing stage can lead to delays, version conflicts, and missed deadlines – all of which can slow down a marketing team or stymie a campaign.<h3 id="how-does-content-publisher-work?">How does Content Publisher work?</h3>I’ve already framed it, and simplicity is a key part of the appeal. First and foremost, Content Publisher has been architected with modern, API-first fundamentals. This composable posture provides the core integration with Google Docs, giving editors an augmented UI. Below decks is a scalable service operating on <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">GCP (Google Cloud Platform)</a> that handles content discovery and publishing. This surface area exposes authoring and delivery through both REST and GraphQL APIs. Finally, Pantheon powers the core connections to leading web technologies and front-end frameworks via out-of-the-box integrations.From a deployment perspective, the setup is pretty seamless. After you enable Pantheon’s Content Publisher as an add-on in your <a target="_blank" href="https://workspace.google.com/">Google Workspace</a>, you can connect your Google Docs with any website running on Drupal, WordPress, or even Next.js.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:85.15%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/02/image.png" alt="A diagram of a company

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Pantheon’s vision for a creation-production-delivery ecosystem. Source: Pantheon website. I quite like this workflow diagram that Roland presented during his “CMS Idol” intro, which crystallizes Pantheon’s WebOps workflow from creation through ingest to delivery. It elegantly details how they see the broader ecosystem of website and marketing technologies – and it’s clear that more innovation is on the roadmap to bring content, design, code, and teams together. <h3 id="core-capabilities">Core Capabilities</h3>Content Publisher offers some simple yet powerful features. The first is the intuitive direct publishing from Google Docs, where the add-on manifests as a tag-along sidebar while you edit your content.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:81.01%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/02/image-1738705228530.jpeg" alt="A screenshot of a website

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Content Publisher provides access to key features within Google Docs. Source: Pantheon website. This handy panel gives users quick pathways to manage their page metadata, add components like images, and more. Translation: users can deliver structured website content without leaving Google Docs – and that’s good from both a governance and time-saving perspective.  I already mentioned the real-time preview, which delivers visual confidence. As you write, edit, add images, or assemble components, Content Publisher allows you to see how everything will render on your actual website. You can also preview for mobile responsiveness, control your zoom, or even share to collaborate with other team members. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:93.05%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/02/image-1738705228453.jpeg" alt="A screenshot of a computer

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Content Publisher gives users a fully-rendered preview with ample control. Source: Pantheon website. One of the questions I immediately had was about governance. This is, after all, Google Docs – and if multiple users are collaborating, how do you control things like publishing permissions? Pantheon is addressing this with a robust editorial workflow that’s built directly into the software, which will ultimately provide a deeper layer of control while checking for things like brand, accessibility, and compliance issues. Powered by <a target="_blank" href="https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai">Google Vertex AI</a> – a fully-managed, unified AI development platform with access to <a target="_blank" href="https://gemini.google.com/">Gemini models</a> and more – Content Publisher also offers some dynamic features like content summaries, SEO-enhancing metadata suggestions, and advanced search, all guided by user inputs to ensure quality.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:87.2%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/02/image.jpeg" alt="A screenshot of a computer

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Collections allow for seamless structuring of your website’s sections. Source: Pantheon website. We know discoverability is a critical facet of web experience, and there’s some cool stuff happening in Content Publisher from a structural perspective. Using what it calls “Collections,” you can organize documents into sections and sub-sections (like Marketing), curate the order, and choose to hide or reveal them to enhance navigability. You can also define custom metadata schemas, allowing for greater control over your site’s information architecture.<h3 id="the-verdict">The Verdict</h3>While every individual content creator or team works differently, there are some, shall we say, “philosophical” fundamentals we all share. Over time, opinionated tools have guided pathways while driving many of the systemic flaws in modern content operations. In other words, all CMS roads have a common breakdown lane.I applaud Pantheon for taking a bold step towards repairing the cracks in the pavement. It won't be easy, and Content Publisher is addressing just one dimension of where the tooling needs improvement. But their composable approach is driven by choice, flexibility, and adaptability – solid principles for guiding their vision of WebOps and content operations.Let’s be clear: as novel and useful as Content Publisher might be, it’s not a replacement for CMS – it’s more like a companion app that extends the existing boundaries. You still need all the foundational CMS components for your WordPress or Drupal website to realize its benefits. For obvious reasons, Content Publisher isn’t a fit for every kind of content type. It’s perfect for articles, documentation, and other long-form content – stuff you would handily write in a Google Doc (and that might be a good litmus test). Pantheon also suggests test-driving it on your website’s “About” page, and once you’ve mastered the flow, move to more editorially driven content like blog posts or press releases.Personally, I like this tool. I think it will find rapid adoption within organizations, and if you’re someone like me who uses Google Docs, you should take it for a spin. The project is still in beta (<a target="_blank" href="https://pantheon.io/platform/content-publisher#beta">you can request access here</a>), and there are facets of governance that have yet to be fully fleshed out. But the potential is there. Further, if they can unify versioned content with design and code, there could be exciting enhancements on the horizon.At the same time, we’re not really addressing the root problem: that content management systems still haven’t delivered the kinds of rich, trustworthy editing experiences that entice all creators to start within the tool. I know: It’s hard to argue with the robust omnipresence of Word and Docs. So maybe we’ll never get there. Or maybe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Either way, I’m sticking with my Docs. And if Pantheon can kill some of the tedious, time-consuming, error-prone copying and pasting, that’s not a waste – it’s a win.   <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

'Copy and Paste' Makes Waste? Not with Pantheon’s Content Publisher for Google Docs

As AI-generated search grows, Otterly is utterly awesome for marketers. Here’s why

Is Google adding the letters 'CRM' to its Alphabet soup? Ask HubSpot

Spring is in full bloom across the Northern Hemisphere – and so is the "composable" movement. The phenomenon has spread like pollen, germinating in almost every conversation about the future of CMS.
That was certainly the case in January at the <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff24" target="_blank">Boye &amp; Company CMS Kickoff</a> in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-kickoff-2023-draws-global-attendees-focuses-on-the-future-of-content-and-composable/">"Great Debate"</a> over composable played throughout the sessions. 
As you dodge the discomfort of allergies, you might wonder: how much attention is being paid to this composable stuff?
According to <a href="https://www.zengenti.com/" target="_blank">Zengenti</a>, the company behind <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contensis-cms-looks-ahead-with-headless-focuses-on-performance-interview-with-ceo-richard-chivers/">Contensis CMS</a>, part of the answer lies with Google. Based on recent monitoring, the search volume for the keyword phrase “composable CMS” has doubled – or even tripled – over the last few months, reflecting a sharp rise in the market's interest. 
<h2>So what’s the buzz about?</h2>
For more detail on how the honey was made, Zengenti provided a peek inside the beehive.
In data collected between November 2022 and January 2023, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/google-announces-sunset-of-google-optimize-and-optimize-360/">Google</a> searches for the term “composable CMS” were up by a substantial 300% in the United Kingdom and 150% in the United States. The sampling was tracked using the <a href="https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7337243?hl=en" target="_blank">Google Keyword Planner</a>, and Zengenti applied the query to 15 different countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
While the U.K. and the U.S. realized the most dramatic increase, Germany also doubled its percentage from previous months. When applied to all 15 countries, the total global uptick was 143%.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-chivers-34a36b11/" target="_blank">Richard Chivers</a>, chief executive officer of Zengenti, weighed in on the buzzworthy increases.
“While the term ‘composable’ in the context of digital systems and content management has been around for a couple of years, we are now seeing it enter our combined consciousness on a much greater scale,” Chivers said. “It’s not surprising. We believe that as an agile-aligned technology, it will be transformative for enterprises of all sizes, ushering in a period of even greater and more rapid digital innovation.”
<h2>What is a composable CMS?</h2>
A <a href="https://enonic.com/blog/composable-architecture-the-cms-as-your-digital-experience-orchestrator#:~:text=A%20composable%20CMS%20is%20the,and%20can%20be%20continuously%20improved." target="_blank">composable CMS</a> is an API-driven content management system that marshals the capabilities of a headless CMS with an API orchestrator – sometimes referred to as a composer – all in one. Rather than behaving as just another endpoint in an API-based ecosystem, a composable CMS helps teams work more efficiently by eliminating the monolithic vendor limitations while still enabling integrations with other platforms.
Unlike a composable DXP, which includes headless CMS as a layer and an endpoint, a composable CMS might also provide traditional functionality that marketers rely on for websites – such as in-context previews, inline visual editing via WYSIWYG, and more – all while handling integrations and APIs. 
“For many site owners, particularly those in medium and large businesses, they are operating dynamic websites with multiple third-party integrations, and with multiple technologies co-existing in different programming languages,” said Chivers. “Embracing composable systems will make it much easier to give oversight and complete control to rapidly set new features live or roll-back functionality."
Experts believe <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-roundtable-focuses-on-composability-and-innovation-as-economic-activators-in-2023/">composability</a> will be one of the defining technology trends of 2023, <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Is-composable-business-the-most-essential-technology-trend-to-meet-the-challenges-of-2023-and-beyond" target="_blank">including Gartner</a>, which believes 70% of medium and large businesses will feature it as a key criterion when planning applications this year.
As global markets remain unsettled – and the likelihood of a recession looms on the horizon – many businesses are focusing on optimization and productivity across their digital properties. While investments in enterprise software are already softening, composable solutions are presenting an opportunity to improve agility and accelerate time to market for content and digital experiences. 
"Especially at a time of economic uncertainty, [composable CMS] makes it possible for businesses to be more agile," said Chivers, "giving customers what they want quickly all while delivering a better experience.”
The hive mind is certainly buzzing with interest in composability. Will it continue to bloom in 2023?
In the recently published <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/webinar/445907/1051512" target="_blank">Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXPs</a>, it's evident that many of the same vendors are still dominating the leadership quadrant – and embracing a composable position. How will that impact evaluations and decision-making for CMS platforms, particularly as the composable CMSes become a more attractive play?
Maybe when the pollen clears, we'll see what's ahead. Stay tuned. 
<h2>About Zengenti</h2>
UK-based company, Zengenti, is the creator of Contensis. Contensis is a headless Content Management System (CMS) with an integrated deployment platform. Contensis provides a single place to create, maintain and deliver content. Its content modeling, authoring, and governance features help teams to create and keep on top of well-structured content. Open APIs make integrating with leading platforms and products easy to deliver immersive digital experiences for audiences. Contensis powers websites for world-leading organizations across various industries, such as higher education, local government, and the private sector.

Composable CMS Gains Traction as Google Search Volume Triples in Recent Months

mk-patterson

Composable CMS as a keyword search term in Google

For better or worse, <a href="https://www.google.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google</a> has a long history of "optimizing" things. And not just on the tech side of the fence.
Consider how <a href="https://abc.xyz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alphabet</a> – the publicly traded parent of the search giant – <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/18/investing/google-alphabet-stock-split/index.html#:~:text=But%20the%20split%20has%20two,prestigious%20Dow%20Jones%20Industrial%20Average." target="_blank" rel="noopener">split its stock in 2022</a> to improve its market capitalization. The company has a market cap of over $1 trillion and is still considered one of the most valuable on the planet. But the move made it even more attractive to main street investors while enhancing its position on the exchanges. 
On the negative side, the company recently "optimized" its workforce, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/google-parent-lay-off-12000-workers-memo-2023-01-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cutting 12,000 jobs</a> after what it called a "pandemic hiring spree." It plans to refocus its budget on AI initiatives, no doubt in response to the recent explosion of <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/microsoft-and-openai-working-on-chatgpt-powered-bing-in-challenge-to-google" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ChatGPT and the announcement from Microsoft</a> that it will weave the bot's intelligence into its <a href="https://www.impression.co.uk/blog/bing-differ-google/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bing</a> platform. For reference, Bing represents less than 10% of the search market (Google owns almost all the rest). 
When it comes to its products, Google is also wrestling with a bevy of optimization challenges, most notably the sunsetting of its eponymous <a href="https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11583528?hl=en#:~:text=On%20July%201%2C%202023%2C%20standard,Google%20Analytics%204%20going%20forward." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Universal Analytics (UA)</a> as of July 1, 2023. Companies have been scrambling to get its replacement, <a href="https://www.solodev.com/blog/digital-marketing/how-to-make-the-leap-from-universal-analytics-to-google-analytics-4.stml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Analytics 4 (GA4)</a>, up and running. Despite its touted new features and "optimizations," many digital marketing and SEO professionals have confronted significant challenges with the new platform. 
As if that wasn't enough, Google is now retiring two more of its products: <a href="https://optimize.google.com/optimize/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Optimize</a> and <a href="https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/optimize-360/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Optimize 360</a>. The company recently announced that beginning September 30, 2023, users will no longer have access to either product and that it was “investing in A/B testing in Google Analytics 4."
How will these changes impact users? It's hard to say. But in a world where Google's grip over search and analytics is being threatened by fragmentation and competition – all ignited by advanced AI – there may be more "optimizing" ahead for everyone. 
<h2>The dawn of a new A/B testing and personalization era</h2>
While Google Optimize and Optimize 360 have a strong and proven legacy, Google Analytics has long been the data source of truth for millions of websites. The upgrade was highly anticipated by marketing and SEO professionals, but there have been swelling questions about how the rollout would affect the broader ecosystem – including the interplay with the Optimize products.
As noted, the shift to GA4 has been fraught with controversy, particularly around the limitations of migrating historical data. To be fair, Google has been strongly encouraging customers to make the switch to GA4 as soon as possible, so they have ample time to build historical data in the new platform. But don't panic: your legacy data can be exported as CSVs, and UA will still be in effect until July 1, 2024.
Google said its rationale for sunsetting Optimize, a five-year-old product, was rooted in "developing something better" for customers. According to the company, many users were requesting features and services not currently available for experimentation and testing. Google said it wanted to invest in more robust and effective solutions to meet the evolving need – and no doubt, to compete with more expansive customer analytics platforms like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/amplitude-announces-new-testing-and-analytics-tools-for-making-smarter-product-decisions-at-scale/">Amplitude</a>. 
Optimize users are encouraged to download their historical data before September 30. For more information on how to access that data or how this will affect a current Optimize and Optimize 360 contract, visit <a href="https://support.google.com/optimize/answer/12979939#:~:text=Google%20Optimize%20and%20Optimize%20360,on%20that%20date%20will%20end" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Support</a>.
<h2>“The Times They Are a-Changin’”</h2>
What <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times_They_Are_a-Changin%27_(song)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bob Dylan</a> so eloquently penned in 1964 still holds true. The times are a-changin'.  And like the musical poet of yesteryear, Google has withstood the test of time in our modern digital era and become a cultural icon. (Worth noting: a search for "Bob Dylan" returns over 122,000,000 results).
At the same time, Google is facing the fierce headwinds of change as an aging brand and ecosystem, one that has achieved a monolithic status in the tech stack. New and innovative products are forcing the company to evolve, and that's good. But change – as Dylan would agree – is like a hard rain falling. 
As Google executes its sunsetting and upgrading, we're already getting a glimpse of how analytics will look in the future. The field of data science is exploding, and analytics have become more important than ever. At the same time, measuring across different platforms and applications has become exceedingly more difficult.
Google Optimize and Optimize 360 will be remembered as transformative tools in the A/B testing and experimentation narrative. While we're not expecting any love songs to be penned for their eulogy, they have impacted how marketers think about testing and its scalability. Google has indicated its lofty ambitions to incorporate more of these personalization functions into GA4, but when?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind. 
<h2>So…what now?</h2>
Get GA4 up and running! You have time to download and export your legacy Optimize and UA resources, but GA4 really needs historical data to thrive – so set it up ASAP. Just a reminder: Google has remained firm on not making any extensions for the programs they are retiring. That could change, but it's best to assume the worst. 
It's likely that GA4 will introduce its new A/B testing features in 2023. But if you don’t like the idea of “wait and see,” there are also other platforms to explore:
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/?s=optimizely">Optimizely</a> is choosing to celebrate the news by offering Google Optimize customers a <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/google/optimize/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">special deal</a> for keeping their experimentations running smoothly.
<a href="https://business.adobe.com/products/target/adobe-target.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adobe Target</a> is another leading product that has similar functionality to Google Optimize, but with more features. It predictably integrates with Adobe Analytics, rather than Google Analytics.
<a href="https://vwo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visual Website Optimizer</a>, <a href="https://www.abtasty.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AB Tasty</a> and <a href="https://www.dynamicyield.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dynamic Yield</a> are also good options to explore, even with smaller market share in this field.
With just a few months left to use Google Optimize, it might seem daunting to consider a new alternative, but it’s also nice to have options. Not to get too poetic (though we have already mentioned Dylan), but each sunset does bring the dawn of a new day. And it looks like we’ll just have to wait and see what Google shines a light on next.

Google Announces Sunset of Google Optimize and Optimize 360

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A departure from the normal CMS and software related posts I normally do but I recently managed to acquire a <a href="https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_16gb" target="_blank">Google Nexus 7</a> Android tablet, one of few that are available worldwide and I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my opinion of this new Android tablet in this Nexus 7 review. The Nexus 7 Android tablet contains a quad core Tegra 3 processor, 16G of storage (in the model I have anyway), 7” 1280×800 HD display (216 ppi), 1 GB RAM and the usual wifi and Bluetooth connectivity options. It has a front facing camera as well which can be used for apps like Skype or Google+ Hangouts.
What makes this Android tablet unique is the amount of power that you get the for overall cost of the tablet. Weighing in at around $260 if you buy it new here in Canada, this is a crazy cheap 7″ tablet. Obviously, it was brought to market to help compete with Amazon's already popular Kindle Fire tablet. What makes the Google Nexus 7 different, however, is that Google has made it available in Canada and other countries straight from launch. The Kindle Fire, however, is still not available in Canada and some other countries which I consider to be a huge mistake on Amazons' part.
If buying the tablet new, you get a $25 credit to Google Play (the Android store) which can be used on any of the following: books, movies, music, apps or games. This makes the value of the Nexus' $260 price tag feel even better. &lt;informercial voice&gt; But wait! There's more! &lt;/infomercial voice&gt; you also get a free digital copy of the movie, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399103/" target="_blank">Transformers: Dark of the Moon</a> as well as a free ebook edition of <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Robert-Ludlums-TM-Bourne-Dominion/dp/1455510300/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1343662634&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Bourne Dominion</a>. Not bad for $260 is it?
Now, I know a lot of people love hacking their devices and I'm certainly one of those people who frequents places like the amazing  <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1673" target="_blank">Nexus 7 development forums @ XDA </a>but in this case, I chose to keep the tablet stock so I could experience things as Google intended them. I would strongly recommend that if you do end up getting a Google Nexus 7, you bookmark the above forums as there are tons of great threads on apps, accessories and usage that I frequent and found helpful.
On with the Nexus 7 review!
<h2>Battery Life</h2>
First off, let's talk battery life since this tends to be what most people concern themselves with first when it comes to these types of devices. This tablet has been running with WiFi connected and an intermittent Bluetooth connection to my phone (a Samsung Galaxy Note) for <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apdroid.tabtalk" target="_blank">Tablet Talk</a> for about 2 days now. I am at 41% battery life and haven't charged the tablet at all.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/screenshot_2012-07-30-09-03-29-620x992_zjzcjt.png" alt="Nexus 7 review" />
I'd consider that pretty good given that I've spent that time checking email, updating apps via the Play store, web surfing, reading news and playing some seriously sweet games like <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.DefiantDev.heroescall.THD" target="_blank">Heroes Call THD</a> (highly recommended if you are a fan of games like Diablo). I'd consider this pretty decent for an Android tablet and certainly have no complaints here.
<h2>Interface</h2>
The interface is, in my opinion, pretty attractive. I'm a fan if minimalism so I don't have a ton of widgets on the home screen and like to keep things simple. I'm a huge fan of how smooth Android feels. Moving between menus and the home screens is literally just like they planned and I can understand why they called the interface “Project Butter”.  It certainly impressed me.
The fact is, to me, everything simply feels faster and more fluid on the Google Nexus 7.  It feels the way a tablet should feel and the integration of Google's amazing array of services is something I've been longing for for quite some time. The interface is so smooth that it makes me want to use it, even if just to flick between screens every once in a while.
Here's how my home screen currently looks:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot_2012-07-30-08-10-28-620x992.png" alt="Nexus 7 review" /> 
Another impressive feature with the interface is the improved Google Search and the introduction of Google Now. Google Now brings with it a number of “cards” that show up when you click in the search bar.  These cards can give you anything from the local weather to sports scores and traffic details.
Here's an introduction video explaining how Google Now works:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pPqliPzHYyc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Here's how the Google Search with Google Now integrated looks on my Nexus 7:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot_2012-07-30-08-57-06-620x992.png" alt="Nexus 7 review" />
As you can see, it shows my last web searches (these come from my desktop but since I have web history enabled, I get them on my device as well), the current weather conditions (can be configured to use AccuWeather or Google for forecasting) and the Traffic conditions for my commute home.
The notifications pull down has changed as well with Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1) and is much more visually appealing. For emails, it shows excerpts and if you take screenshots like I did for this review, they show up as well.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot_2012-07-30-09-05-03-620x992.png" alt="Nexus 7 review" />
As you can see in the screenshot above, the words Screenshot Captured appear, followed by a preview of the screenshot and a share button which, when clicked, allows you to share via a number of services (depending on what you have installed). In my case, I have the option to share via Bluetooth, DropBox, Evernote, Facebook, Flipboard, Gmail, Skitch, Google+, Picasa, Skype or Twitter.
Using the tablet day to day, I've found Android 4.1.1 to be fluid and well implemented. This is something that was definitely missing in previous versions of Android but I'm happy to say, I think they are making the right amount of progress and are definitely distancing themselves from the competition with this latest release.
<h2>Hardware</h2>
The Google Nexus 7 was designed in collaboration between Google and Asus. The latter has been a top tablet manufacturer since they started to get popular and I'm glad to see that Google chose Asus as their partner for the Nexus 7.
The screen on the Nexus 7 is a 7″ 1280×800 HD backlit IPS display designed using scratch resistant Corning Glass, which, in my opinion, is nicer than those found on the Galaxy devices. Having said that, there are some who would argue that Super Amoled Plus is better. I've personally always found IPS more appealing to my eye but it's something you are going to have to try for yourself. I'd recommend taking a look at a Nexus 7 and then a Galaxy Tab and seeing which suits you more. I also like the idea of running on Official Google hardware myself, but that's just me and others may feel differently.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/tablet-gallery-front-620x390.png" alt="Nexus 7 review" />
I find the colors to be clean and bright enough to satisfy my needs and haven't had much issue seeing the screen outdoors. In direct sunlight, of course, it certainly isn't easy to see but I don't normally try to read my tablet under the blazing sun so this doesn't bother me at all.
Build quality feels excellent. The tablet is light (weighing in at only 340g) and the 7″ form factor really is exactly what I've been looking for in a tablet. The back of the Nexus 7 is covered in a nicely textured rubber that makes it easy to hold and grip and doesn't make me nervous about putting down on a counter. With other devices such as my previous Asus Transformer Prime, I was always worried about scratching the tablet whenever I put it down.  With the Nexus 7, I don't think about it at all given the rubber backing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/tablet-gallery-back-620x390.png" alt="Nexus 7 review" />
The Nexus 7 has volume rockers on the right side below a power button (which You can see in the screenshot above) and a micro usb charging port on the bottom with a headphone jack. So far, I've got no complaints with the way things are laid out.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this Nexus 7 review, this tablet packs a powerful quad core Tegra 3 processor and it's definitely proving itself to be no slouch, as far as I'm concerned. I haven't found any instances where things have become slow and I'm a fairly heavy user. It's also the top of the line as far as current processors are concerned so I'm not feeling unsure about future performance either.
Overall, I have to say that I love this tablet. The Nexus 7 is exactly what I was hoping it would be and much more. I've had a hard time putting the thing down and, when paired with my phone, it makes for the perfect setup for my needs. If you were on the fence before reading this, I hope I've convinced you to try one out. Obviously, given the worldwide shortage of these devices, there is definitely a demand for them and I think you can see why. If you get the opportunity, pick on up. You can also order from the Play Store here: <a href="http://www.google.com/nexus/" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/nexus/</a>
Questions about this Nexus 7 Review or the tablet itself? Drop me a comment and I'll do my best to answer them. Have one yourself and want to share your experiences? I'd love to hear your thoughts below.

Nexus 7 Review - An Amazingly Good Tablet for an Amazingly Good Price

mike-johnston

CMS Kickoff 26

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