Current State — 2026-04-30

Trust framework is target-state. Warm-up playbooks activate per platform as paid validation campaigns launch.

5Platforms
4 wkWarm-up cycle
10-20%CPM advantage
$0Pre-warm cost
Active for MVP

Persona v2 thesis

Tools-as-moat is encoded into brain pipeline: proof_mechanism_id FK on every cell, content-only cap on Stage R composite, tool-driven angle weighting per persona priority-1 signal. Architectural-level trust shipped before any paid spend.

First paid validation

Bing Search first

Per STATUS.md: lower CPC, higher-income/older audience, partner-tier path Member → Select at $10K/90d. Bing fast-import Google structure with -30% bid adjustment. Trust signals + EDU sensitivity apply the moment spend turns on.

Per-platform expansion

Meta + Google + TikTok

Meta 4-week warm-up ($0 → $5 → $25 → $50+/day). Google 4-week (Max Clicks → Max Conversions → Target CPA). TikTok 3-week (UGC-first, Spark Ads). Each warm-up activates with provisioned account.

Awaiting scale / partner

Native + multi-vertical

Native (Taboola/Outbrain) at $5K/$25K mid/premium thresholds. Meta Verified pre-warm. Multi-vertical social pre-warming. Activates per vertical as expansion lands.

📚 Trust signals + EDU compliance restrictions per platform below are evergreen reference material — they hold whether or not we're spending today. The intel section + Two Auctions Thesis + per-platform sensitivities apply the moment paid spend turns on.
5
Ad Platforms
4 wk
Warm-Up Cycle
7
Social Profiles
10-20%
CPM Advantage
6
Intel Sources
$0
Pre-Warm Cost
1
The Two Auctions Thesis
Every ad platform runs two auctions simultaneously. Most media buyers only optimize one.

The Visible Auction

Your bid, targeting, and creative competing for impressions. This is what most media buyers optimize.

Bid strategy → Audience → Creative → Ad rank

The Invisible Auction ← This One

Your account trust, page quality, and advertiser history determine what inventory you're even allowed to compete for.

10-20% lower CPMs • Faster review • Higher spend limits • Better inventory • Dedicated support
2
Platform Trust Signals -- Deep Intelligence
What each platform actually measures (not what they tell you) and how to influence it.
Meta / Facebook
📘
Hidden Trust MetricHiVA: Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum
Spending consistencyGradual ramp, never $0→$500 overnight
Policy adherenceHistorical violation rate
User experienceHide/report rates on ads
Page qualityDaily posts, <15min response
Landing pageSpeed, mobile UX, content-ad match
Feedback Score (0-5)Below 2.0 = delivery restrictions
Account Health0-100, below 70 = danger zone
Get Meta Verified ($14.99/mo) immediately. Removes 2-post/month limit, adds verified badge, enhanced support.
March 2026: High-spend accounts forced off credit cards to monthly invoicing. Tool-based CTAs pass review; dollar-amount promises don't.
Google Ads
🔍
Quality ScoreExpected CTR + Ad relevance + Landing page XP
Account historyLong-term CTR + landing page quality
Partner status$10K/90d → Partner badge + rep
Optimization score70%+ required for Partner
VerificationIdentity (AIV) + Business Ops
AI Max14% more conversions at similar CPA
EDU = SENSITIVE CATEGORY. NO remarketing, NO Customer Match, NO custom segments, NO video interaction audiences. First-touch conversion is everything.
DUNS number speeds up verification. Get it now -- blocks ad account activation otherwise.
TikTok Ads
🎵
Trust hierarchyUnverified → Verified Biz → Managed
Content nativityUGC outperforms polished by 40-60%
Spark Ads+30-40% CTR vs standard in-feed
Completion rateFront-load hook, keep 15-30 seconds
Landing pageTikTok crawls more aggressively than Meta
Strict EDU compliance. Blocks "financial aid" and "free money." Approved: "explore education options," "check your eligibility." Tool-based CTAs pass well.
Microsoft / Bing
🔷
Audience advantage35-65, higher income, more desktop
CPC discount30-40% lower than Google
LinkedIn targetingExclusive: job function, industry, company
Partner tiersMember → Select ($10K/90d) → Elite
SitelinksUp to 6 shown (vs Google's 4)
Import from Google, adjust bids -30%. Same RSA format. But trust doesn't transfer -- expect 2-4 week fresh learning phase.
Native -- Taboola / Outbrain
📰
Landing page quality1,000+ words, genuine editorial
CTR performance>0.15% or gets throttled
Post-click behaviorLow bounce = better inventory
Domain reputationReal site with real content
Taboola mid-tier$5K/mo
Taboola premium$25K/mo
Outbrain mid-tier$10K/mo (manual approval)
Outbrain premium$25K/mo
Your 54 pages + 10 tools + 291 parity tests = strong signal. Start Taboola first (easier onboarding) post-MVP launch. Add Outbrain with proven CTR data.
3
Account Warm-Up Timelines
Gradual trust building. Never increase budget >20%/day. Never edit during learning phase.
📘 Meta Warm-Up (4 weeks to full conversion)
PREP
Days 1-3
$0
Setup, pixel, domain verify, organic posts
ENGAGE
Days 3-7
$5-10/d
Engagement campaigns, tool highlights
SOFT CONV
Days 7-14
$15-25/d
Traffic/lead campaigns, max +20%/day
FULL CONV
Days 14-30
$50+/d
Conversion optimized, Highest Volume
SCALE
Day 30+
$200+/d
Cost Per Result, normal ops
← HIGH RISKLOW RISK →
🔍 Google Warm-Up (4 weeks to Target CPA)
SETUP
Days 1-3
$0
Verification, tracking, campaign build
LEARN
Days 3-14
$50-100/d
Max Clicks + CPC cap, Search only
TRANSITION
Days 14-21
$100-200/d
Max Conversions (need 15+ conv)
OPTIMIZE
Days 21-30
$200-500/d
Target CPA (need 30+ conv)
SCALE
Day 30+
$500+/d
+ AI Max experiment + PMax
🎵 TikTok Warm-Up (3 weeks to conversion)
VERIFY
Days 1-3
$0
Biz verification
ENGAGE
Days 3-8
$20-50/d
UGC/Spark, engagement
CONVERT
Days 8-21
$50-100/d
Tool CTAs, conversions
SCALE
Day 21+
$200+/d
Full matrix
4
Trust Progression -- 24-Week Roadmap
Where each platform's trust level should be at each milestone.
Week Meta Google TikTok Bing Native
0 Setup + Meta Verified Account + AIV verify -- -- --
2 Engagement $5-10/d Search $50/d Biz verification Import from Google --
4 Conversion $50+/d Max Conv → tCPA Engagement $20-50/d Learning phase --
8 ~ Silver HiVA Partner spend ($10K/90d) Converting $50-100/d Select Partner --
12 ~ Gold HiVA Partner achieved Verified Business Select Partner Evaluate Taboola ($5K)
16 Maintain Gold AI Max scaling → Managed Account LinkedIn targeting Taboola mid-tier
24 Gold/Platinum Premier evaluation Managed Account Elite evaluation Premium access
5
Weekly Intelligence System
Automated monitoring of policy changes, algorithm updates, and executive signals. ~$0.25-$0.50/week via Agent SDK.

Tier 1: Official Sources (Automated)

Meta Ad Policies -- weekly Firecrawl diff
Google Ads Policy -- weekly Firecrawl diff
Meta Engineering Blog -- algorithm changes
Google Ads Blog -- product launches
TikTok Business Blog -- platform updates
Federal Register (EDU) -- regulatory changes

Tier 2: Expert Sources (Curated)

Jon Loomer -- tests every Meta change
Andrew Foxwell -- real CPL data at scale
Mike Rhodes -- Google Ads + PMax testing
Search Engine Land -- industry aggregation
Social Media Today -- policy change alerts

Tier 3: Executive Signals (LinkedIn/Threads)

Andrew Bosworth (Meta CTO) -- tech direction
Jason Yim (Meta) -- scoring changes
Jerry Dischler (Google VP Ads) -- roadmap
Vidhya Srinivasan (Google VP) -- AI in ads
Blake Chandlee (TikTok Pres) -- shop + ads
Weekly Intelligence Digest (every Monday):
├── Meta: [policy changes?] [new features?]
├── Google: [policy changes?] [new features?]
├── TikTok: [updates detected?]
├── Industry: [key insider posts this week]
├── Regulatory: [Federal Register EDU changes?]
└── Action items: [changes to make based on intel]
6
Brand Pre-Warming -- $0 Cost, Future Insurance
Create social profiles for future verticals NOW. When you're ready to advertise in 3-6 months, pages are aged with posting history.
🎓
DegreeSource
ACTIVE
7 profiles
Daily posting
<15min response
🚗
Auto Insurance
PRE-WARM
5 profiles
2x/week curated
15 min/week
🏥
Medicare
PRE-WARM
5 profiles
2x/week curated
15 min/week
💰
Financial Sharks
PRE-WARM
5 profiles
2x/week curated
15 min/week
Total pre-warm cost: $0/month • Total time: ~1 hour/week for all 3 future verticals
7
Weekly Intelligence System
Three tiers of monitoring. Tier 1 automated via Firecrawl cron. Tier 2 curated weekly. Tier 3 executive signals.
Tier 1: Automated Sources (6 weekly crons)
Meta Ad Policies — facebook.com/policies/ads/ (Monday)
Google Ads Policy — support.google.com/adspolicy/ (Monday)
Meta Engineering Blog — engineering.fb.com (Wednesday)
Google Ads Blog — blog.google/products/ads-commerce/ (Wednesday)
TikTok Business Blog — business.tiktok.com/blog (Friday)
Federal Register (EDU) — federalregister.gov/api/v1/ (Monday)
Tier 2: Expert Sources (manual + selective Firecrawl)
Jon Loomer (jonloomer.com) — Tests every Meta change, documents undiscovered features (Weekly)
Andrew Foxwell (Foxwell Digital) — Tests Meta strategies at scale, real CPL data (Weekly)
Mike Rhodes (WebSavvy) — Google Ads testing at scale, PMax expertise (Biweekly)
Search Engine Land — Industry news aggregation (Weekly)
Social Media Today — Platform policy change aggregation (Weekly)
Tier 3: Executive & Insider (LinkedIn/Threads)
Andrew Bosworth (Meta CTO) — Threads — Sets technical direction for ad system
Jason Yim (Meta Client Solutions) — LinkedIn — Confirmed Feedback Score update Oct 2025
Jerry Dischler (Google VP/GM Ads) — Google Marketing Live — Product roadmap signals
Vidhya Srinivasan (Google VP Ads) — Blog posts — AI integration direction
Blake Chandlee (TikTok President GBS) — Conferences — Shop + ads convergence
8
Trust Tracking Schema (Directus + Metabase)
4 new Directus collections feed 5 Metabase dashboards for trust progression and brand health.

platform_accounts

platform, account_id, vertical
status (setup/warming/active/restricted)
trust_tier (HiVA/Partner/Verified)
health_score (0-100)
warm_up_phase, days_active
daily_spend_limit

platform_health_log

account_id → platform_accounts
date, health_score, spend
impressions, ctr, cpl
disapproval_count, frequency_avg
feedback_score (Meta 0-5)
optimization_score (Google 0-100)

brand_social_log

vertical, platform, date
followers, follower_change
posts_published
engagement_rate
link_clicks (UTM tracked)
response_time_min

platform_intelligence

date, platform, change_type
summary (what changed)
impact (high/medium/low)
action_required (bool)
action_taken (filled later)
source_url

5 New Metabase Dashboards

• Platform Trust Progress (trust tier over time) • Account Warm-Up Tracker (phase, spend trajectory) • Brand Social Health (followers, cadence, engagement) • Platform Intelligence Feed (weekly changes, actions) • Setup Checklist (verification milestones)