If you’re already running a successful Google Ads campaign, one of the first questions I would ask is pretty simple: why aren’t you running Microsoft Advertising too? I still hear people call it Bing Ads,...
FRACTIONAL CMO If you’re already considering a fractional CMO, you’ve probably moved past the question of what one does. Now you’re trying to answer...
Most businesses start thinking seriously about holiday marketing when the holiday season is already here. Budgets increase, promotions go live, traffic picks up, and...
Originally published March 2025. Updated August 2026 to reflect changes in Google Search, AI search, content strategy, technical SEO, and search measurement. SEO has...
If you’re already running a successful Google Ads campaign, there’s a pretty simple question worth asking: why aren’t you running that same campaign on...
Originally published April 2017. Updated August 2026 to reflect changes in programmatic buying, audience data, privacy, inventory quality, measurement, and attribution. Programmatic advertising has...
SEO, AI search, paid advertising, analytics, websites, and marketing leadership. The focus is practical guidance you can use to make better decisions.
Where should a small business start?
Search for your current challenge or choose a topic above. If you want a broader introduction, explore the SEO guide or use the free marketing tools.
Can you help put these ideas into practice?
Yes. I offer consulting, implementation support, training, and fractional marketing leadership. I keep my client roster limited. Tell me about your business, and we can discuss the right scope.
Ready to put a plan in motion?
Let’s find your next step.
If you need help improving visibility, measuring what matters, or deciding where to focus, we can start with a conversation about your business.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
You can find more information in our Cookie Policy and .