Why these four

Google and Meta handle the majority of programmatic ad spend for small and mid-market advertisers. LinkedIn is the dominant B2B intent surface. TikTok has disrupted short-video CPMs faster than any platform since Instagram. Together they cover most use cases SpendSignoff is built for.

SpendSignoff has Google Ads and Meta live today. LinkedIn and TikTok are on the near-term roadmap. The comparisons below hold regardless of which client you use to manage them.

Google Ads

Keyword-intent auction, live today in SpendSignoff.

• Model — search (keyword intent), display, shopping, Performance Max. Bidding is mostly keyword-level or product-level.
• Strengths — high-intent search traffic; direct response converts well; deeply measurable with first-party conversion tracking.
• Costs — CPCs range from under $1 for informational queries to $50+ for competitive finance and legal terms. Quality Score affects both rank and price.
• SpendSignoff coverage — reads campaigns, ad groups, keywords, bids, budgets, and performance. Operator drafts bid changes and budget reallocations.
• Where it gets complex — Performance Max black-boxes a lot of targeting logic. The operator can read aggregate signals but cannot inspect the individual placement mix.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

Audience-interest auction, live today in SpendSignoff.

• Model — audience-based targeting across Facebook and Instagram placements. Campaign objective (awareness, traffic, conversions) determines the optimization signal.
• Strengths — broad demographic reach; strong for awareness and retargeting; creative variety (static, video, carousel, Reels).
• Costs — CPMs are broadly lower than LinkedIn but vary sharply by audience competition. iOS 14+ tracking changes mean conversion data is modeled, not precise.
• SpendSignoff coverage — reads campaigns, ad sets, budgets, audiences, and spend. Operator drafts budget shifts and bid floor changes.
• Where it gets complex — Advantage+ campaigns automate creative and audience selection; the operator reads outcomes but has limited lever access inside Advantage+.

LinkedIn

B2B professional-intent auction, SpendSignoff roadmap.

• Model — professional demographic and company targeting. Objective-based bidding (awareness, website visits, lead gen, conversions).
• Strengths — the only platform where job title, company size, and seniority are first-party signals, not inferred.
• Costs — the highest average CPCs of any major platform, often $6-$15 for B2B audiences. Cost is the most common barrier for smaller budgets.
• SpendSignoff coverage — coming soon. API read access is confirmed; write access is in validation.
• Where it gets complex — LinkedIn campaign performance decays faster than Google or Meta without fresh creative. The operator will flag pacing anomalies once live.

TikTok

Short-video algorithm-driven auction, SpendSignoff roadmap.

• Model — video-first, algorithm-driven distribution. Creative quality is the primary factor in CPM outcomes — targeting is secondary.
• Strengths — young audiences; lower CPMs than Meta for comparable reach in certain verticals; organic virality potential adjacent to paid.
• Costs — CPMs broadly lower, but effective cost-per-acquisition depends heavily on how well the creative fits the feed. Poorly made ads waste spend fast.
• SpendSignoff coverage — coming soon. Marketing API access is in validation.
• Where it gets complex — unlike search or social-interest platforms, TikTok results are driven by creative iteration more than bid optimization. The operator can flag spend efficiency, but creative production is outside its scope.